Hello T-BHP!!

surbhit · 18th December 2008, 12:57

Hi I am Surbhit from Saharanpur, currently working in Chennai. Well as a kid I always used to think why my father was all the time reading magazines (in those days only Auto India was there)? It was his interest in cars which resulted in me becoming a car and bike enthusiast to the core.

I have seen lots of cars(Contessa, Baleno , Palio 1.6GTX ,Palio S10, Chevrolet Optra Magnum TDCi) from my childhood till now. Except the Contessa I have driven all of them . It was I who convinced my father to go for Palio 1.6 instead of 1.2 and it prooved to be a good decision . It was due to Palio 1.6 only we had to sell Baleno as it did not have the same driving pleasure.

The decision of buying S10 came when we heard that a dealer is offering huge discount as in those days(2003) Fiat Palio sales were on decline. We got it for 3.75lac and till now it has not given any trouble. In fact both the Palios have been rock solid. Though the Palios have almost similar outputs they have different performance characteristics.The 1.6 GTX has great punch after 3.5k RPM whereas S10 builds good power right from the bottom(due to slightly shorter gear ratios maybe). I prefer the 1.6 GTX (though the S10 would beat it in straight line drag) because of the terrific top end performance. I still find it very hard to digest that a car like Paio 1.6GTX could not do well in India as it gives better handling and performance than petrol mid size cars which cost almost double it's price.

Both the Palios now seem to have paled(in straight line performance) after the arrival of Optra Magnum. This car has amazing pickup , few months ago we got the Pete's box and green cotton air filter installed which has made a significant improvement in performance. Now this car takes you to odd speeds in no time. It just takes off from 80kmph in 5th gear and the speedometer just keeps on spinning till 160-170kmph

and frankly we have not tried to go faster. Mileage has taken a beating though , now it gives 11-12kmpl on highway. The only flaw in this car is handling (when compared to Palio).

Well it has been a very long intro and I hope everybody has enjoyed reading it....

VIPER_SRT · 19th December 2008, 01:42

Great Intro Surbhit. So you still have those palio's or Optra is a new addition to your family. I was interested in Palios but looking at the after sales service feedback from lots of friends who owned them, I changed my decision. I guess Tata took over the service few years back.
I hope you will enjoy this forum. Welcome to T-BHP

surbhit · 19th December 2008, 12:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by VIPER_SRT

Great Intro Surbhit. So you still have those palio's or Optra is a new addition to your family. I was interested in Palios but looking at the after sales service feedback from lots of friends who owned them, I changed my decision. I guess Tata took over the service few years back.
I hope you will enjoy this forum. Welcome to T-BHP

Thanks!!
We still have both Palios , they are built to last forever

...

18th December 2008, 12:57	#1
surbhit BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Gurgaon Posts: 40 Thanked: 19 Times	Hello T-BHP!! Hi I am Surbhit from Saharanpur, currently working in Chennai. Well as a kid I always used to think why my father was all the time reading magazines (in those days only Auto India was there)? It was his interest in cars which resulted in me becoming a car and bike enthusiast to the core. I have seen lots of cars(Contessa, Baleno , Palio 1.6GTX ,Palio S10, Chevrolet Optra Magnum TDCi) from my childhood till now. Except the Contessa I have driven all of them . It was I who convinced my father to go for Palio 1.6 instead of 1.2 and it prooved to be a good decision . It was due to Palio 1.6 only we had to sell Baleno as it did not have the same driving pleasure. The decision of buying S10 came when we heard that a dealer is offering huge discount as in those days(2003) Fiat Palio sales were on decline. We got it for 3.75lac and till now it has not given any trouble. In fact both the Palios have been rock solid. Though the Palios have almost similar outputs they have different performance characteristics.The 1.6 GTX has great punch after 3.5k RPM whereas S10 builds good power right from the bottom(due to slightly shorter gear ratios maybe). I prefer the 1.6 GTX (though the S10 would beat it in straight line drag) because of the terrific top end performance. I still find it very hard to digest that a car like Paio 1.6GTX could not do well in India as it gives better handling and performance than petrol mid size cars which cost almost double it's price. Both the Palios now seem to have paled(in straight line performance) after the arrival of Optra Magnum. This car has amazing pickup , few months ago we got the Pete's box and green cotton air filter installed which has made a significant improvement in performance. Now this car takes you to odd speeds in no time. It just takes off from 80kmph in 5th gear and the speedometer just keeps on spinning till 160-170kmph and frankly we have not tried to go faster. Mileage has taken a beating though , now it gives 11-12kmpl on highway. The only flaw in this car is handling (when compared to Palio). Well it has been a very long intro and I hope everybody has enjoyed reading it....
	() Thanks

19th December 2008, 01:42	#2
VIPER_SRT BHPian Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: PA Posts: 439 Thanked: 189 Times View My Garage	Great Intro Surbhit. So you still have those palio's or Optra is a new addition to your family. I was interested in Palios but looking at the after sales service feedback from lots of friends who owned them, I changed my decision. I guess Tata took over the service few years back. I hope you will enjoy this forum. Welcome to T-BHP
	() Thanks