[VikCho]

Searching Fiat linea on the net I found some sites saying it will be launched with 1.3L(90 Bhp) diesel and 1.4L(77 Bhp in 8 valve and may be 120 Bhp TJet 16 valve) petrol engine but some other sites says it will be launched with 1.9L(150 Bhp) diesel and 1.8L(140 Bhp) petrol in India. Do anyone have proper information regarding specifications and price.
VikCho

[Yeldo]

@ sameel:

Well, that's a bold way of putting forth your driving style- no worries about being "politically correct", eh?

The Verna is a cracker as far as the engine goes, but regarding overall packaging, I think the newest City may be more than a match. I had one City each of the previous two generations. The last gen City had excellent backseat, but its dismal ground clearance forced me to sell after just 4000km.

My Verna is now 18 months old. I've done 16,000km and shall replace it by New Year. Though a gentle and careful driver, I'm hearing some rattles and squeaks. The FE is also down, but I'm not sure, just a doubt.

I'm going to take a TD of the newest City. I hear they have addressed the clearance issue somewhat. It's either a City or a new face-lifted Innova.

Earlier, I had considered an SX4 in place of the Verna, but Team BHP members nearly blasted me, and I backed off.

[gouravsinha]

Originally Posted by karanraheja

7.Well Verna s steering wheel does look cheap. ANHC s instrument cluster & steering wheel are surely better than Verna s . Other than that ANHC interior quality is surely not upto the mark. But i wouldnt say Verna interiors are better. Fiesta interior quality is better than ANHC.

If you compare the Verna Crdi Sx then the interiors of Verna is much better except the steering which is better of AHNC.

I am also confused between the same decision AHNC and Verna Crdi, waiting for TD of AHNC looks wise verna is better but dont know how is the good is the pickup of AHNC compared to verna crdi.

[Path_Finder]

Originally Posted by VikCho

Searching Fiat linea on the net I found some sites saying it will be launched with 1.3L(90 Bhp) diesel and 1.4L(77 Bhp in 8 valve and may be 120 Bhp TJet 16 valve) petrol engine but some other sites says it will be launched with 1.9L(150 Bhp) diesel and 1.8L(140 Bhp) petrol in India. Do anyone have proper information regarding specifications and price.
VikCho

VikCho, check out the Fiat Linea thread – it is long story!
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...ing-india.html

[VikCho]

Originally Posted by Path_Finder

VikCho, check out the Fiat Linea thread – it is long story!
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...ing-india.html

It's a 45 pages thread. It will be difficult for me to read all of it but if you can tell me some particular pages or can give your final words on it, that will be great. Do you know what engines are they going to launch in India?
VikCho

[VikCho]

Finally yesterday I received call from Honda dealer to come and take the TD. I was really very excited. I carried my cheque book along with ID card to book the car just after the TD. The TD vehicle was polished metallic (dark grey) in color. The car was looking really good in the color.
Finally, I was given the keys. The following are the points which I noticed during the TD:

1. The car's Pick-up was below my expectations. At 118 Bhp the drive was certainly much better then the NHC but when compared to my Ikon it was just average.

2. The Millage the sales guy claimed was like 13+ minimum. But after sitting in the car I checked the last trip average that the guy who TD before me managed, it was only 11.5 Km/l. Then I drove the car approx. 5 to 7 km at different pace to check it's power and torque, I was not focused towards FE but I managed 11.7 Km/l on the meter. The sales guy response was you drive fast(well I never go over 80 Kmph mark during the TD). Also the sales guy added other people have managed up to 16 Km/l (I thing mere a salesman claim).

3. The worst part of the car to me was the Suspension even the smallest of pebble which came under the car's tyre made it's presence felt to both front and rear passengers. Even my dad sitting in the rear seat complained that driving at low speed on a decent road the car is not smooth. I personally feel as the GC is only 160 mm so to avoid the car from rubbing on speed breakers the suspension has been made stiff.

4. The Setting position, I am 5'10" and have to adjust the driving seat's hight approx. to the max to have the best view of the road. The gap in my head and the roof was not more then 1.5" at that time. Otherwise the driving position was ok. But rear seat Lumber support was poor and as we go to a outstation trip once a year with family, my dad said it will not be comfortable for long distance.

5. The Performance in terms of pick-up as I mentioned earlier was not up to the mark, also the frequency of gear shift required in city traffic was also annoying. The torque figures are good but while speeding down from 70 Km/h of 40 Km/h I was not comfortable in 4th gear and has to goto 3rd.

6. The Accessories are now available for the car. The price Honda have decided for them is totally out of this world. The front chrome grill is for 13k, fog lamps around 30k, alloys for around 12k each. I don't really know how can Honda expect this much price from us Indians.

Verdict:
What I can say most defiantly is that ANHC is not worth the price tag it carries. Also in terms of performance it's not up to the mark. The person who can not think of going for anything else then Honda can conceder it an option, otherwise from my side it is a good looking big car but a worthless car.

These are my personal views and may be difficult for the Honda fans to digest. But my intention is not to hurt any one's feelings but I myself was more disappointed and felt bad, so I liked to share my views with all the members who have devoted there time in helping me decide my future car.
VikCho

[Tejas@perioimpl]

Nice TD review VikCho. Now wait for the linea launch and TD.
I guess, you are now back to the verna option...

[karanraheja]

Thanks for the review Vikcho. So what have you decided now ?

[sj_koova]

Nice review VikCho
In your words it is not a drivers car.
Looks like ANHC will also have an initial hype like civic, but will not fare well like Old HC.

I was sure the 118 BHP and stuff are just gimmicks.

[VikCho]

Originally Posted by karanraheja

Thanks for the review Vikcho. So what have you decided now ?

I am still waiting for Linea's launch, hopefully Fiat launch it soon. But my dad is now saying that cars like Fiesta, SX4, NHC and now even ANHC did not satisfy you and as there is market slump all over the world, so lets settle for a more economical car, which also offers you some status feel. He now wants to go for Skoda Fabia 1.2 L petrol model. He took me to Skoda showroom after the TD of ANHC and told me to TD the Fabia. Fabia is more comfortable then ANHC and performance was also good for a 1.2 L engine. Also interior was more luxurious with features like Climate control AC and better ICE as company fitted. The boot space of 300 L which can be further increased by folding the rear seat to almost above 1100 L was also great for a car that size. I can't believe my ears when I played FM on the ICE with only 2 front speakers. It felt like an amplified speaker system with sub. woofer output.
I am certainly going to wait for Linea, if they can launch it soon. But I would like to know your opinion on Fabia 1.2 L petrol also.
Regards
VikCho

[karanraheja]

@Vikcho- Im quite surprised you found 1.2 Fabia quite powerful ! I frankly wouldnt recommend the Fabia 1.2 . I would suggest you wait for Hyundai i20 launch in Dec/ Jan along with Linea launch in Dec.

[Path_Finder]

Originally Posted by VikCho

Finally yesterday I received call from Honda dealer to come and take the TD. I was really very excited. I carried my cheque book along with ID card to book the car just after the TD. The TD vehicle was polished metallic (dark grey) in color. The car was looking really good in the color.
Finally, I was given the keys. The following are the points which I noticed during the TD:

1. The car's Pick-up was below my expectations. At 118 Bhp the drive was certainly much better then the NHC but when compared to my Ikon it was just average.

2. The Millage the sales guy claimed was like 13+ minimum. But after sitting in the car I checked the last trip average that the guy who TD before me managed, it was only 11.5 Km/l. Then I drove the car approx. 5 to 7 km at different pace to check it's power and torque, I was not focused towards FE but I managed 11.7 Km/l on the meter. The sales guy response was you drive fast(well I never go over 80 Kmph mark during the TD). Also the sales guy added other people have managed up to 16 Km/l (I thing mere a salesman claim).

3. The worst part of the car to me was the Suspension even the smallest of pebble which came under the car's tyre made it's presence felt to both front and rear passengers. Even my dad sitting in the rear seat complained that driving at low speed on a decent road the car is not smooth. I personally feel as the GC is only 160 mm so to avoid the car from rubbing on speed breakers the suspension has been made stiff.

4. The Setting position, I am 5'10" and have to adjust the driving seat's hight approx. to the max to have the best view of the road. The gap in my head and the roof was not more then 1.5" at that time. Otherwise the driving position was ok. But rear seat Lumber support was poor and as we go to a outstation trip once a year with family, my dad said it will not be comfortable for long distance.

5. The Performance in terms of pick-up as I mentioned earlier was not up to the mark, also the frequency of gear shift required in city traffic was also annoying. The torque figures are good but while speeding down from 70 Km/h of 40 Km/h I was not comfortable in 4th gear and has to goto 3rd.

6. The Accessories are now available for the car. The price Honda have decided for them is totally out of this world. The front chrome grill is for 13k, fog lamps around 30k, alloys for around 12k each. I don't really know how can Honda expect this much price from us Indians.

Verdict:
What I can say most defiantly is that ANHC is not worth the price tag it carries. Also in terms of performance it's not up to the mark. The person who can not think of going for anything else then Honda can conceder it an option, otherwise from my side it is a good looking big car but a worthless car.

These are my personal views and may be difficult for the Honda fans to digest. But my intention is not to hurt any one's feelings but I myself was more disappointed and felt bad, so I liked to share my views with all the members who have devoted there time in helping me decide my future car.
VikCho

Ha! Ha! I could not help laughing on reading your TD report. This is exactly as I had predicated as you will feel when you TD it. So that is one more knocked down..

[VikCho]

Originally Posted by karanraheja

@Vikcho- Im quite surprised you found 1.2 Fabia quite powerful ! I frankly wouldnt recommend the Fabia 1.2 . I would suggest you wait for Hyundai i20 launch in Dec/ Jan along with Linea launch in Dec.

@karanraheja-
Frankly even I am not 100% convinced for Fabia but this car is my father's choice. Well I said good performance for a 1.2 L engine not powerful. The initial pick-up was good and acceleration was overall satisfactory. It's true that I can not compare it with a car having 1.5 L engine or higher. Also I would like to add that it's a loaded car at a price almost 3.25 Lacs cheaper to ANHC. The difference being 200 L of boot space and 46 bhp less powerful engine but as weight of car is also less 70 Bhp power feels good enough.

Now can you tell me about some negatives of Fabia?
Is it's clutch assembly's life bad as Octavia Diesel?
Are spares expensive and car high on maintenance?

Now Fabia come into picture only if Linea TD also fails to satisfy me in performance as ANHC did.
VikCho

[marlinspike]

Good that you got the ANHC out of the way. I did not like the looks of the car either so forget performance.

No GM cars.
Ford -Brand fatigue
top end still stops below Cedia.
So that leaves Fabia, I20 and Linea in the fray.
Out of these three Fabia 1.2 HTP is the better buy.

Even if Linea has better features we cannot be sure if it will be launcehed on time and there is a small matter of waiting for deliveryand then Fiat's bug bear in India A**.

i20 would be good and would not fail as car. It may even get even with Swift on the petrol front unless Suzuki plonks a better engine but it would a segment below Fabia in terms of what it offers, only area where i20 can pip Fabia is on the hp/torque and A** front.

When you did consider buying ANHC I don't think you would settle for i20.

Go ahead with the Fabia 1.2, I was pretty close to buying Fabia 1.2 Ambient in June '08 till the sales guy banged the TD car in a bad moment and lost all interest in selling the car.

It looks great, It would retain its exclusiveness compared to the other two as not everyone will be able to understand/accept the value proposition that Fabia offers at its price point and Skoda brand is still worth a premium of 50K on top of Hyundai and certainly hold its resale better that either Fiat or Hyundai. Spare part costs be damned.

So wait till Dec 4th when year end price list and discounts would be out. May be the Linea would be out by that time too. you can do a TD just in case its as good as its expected to be.
.( The 1.4 petrol is for those who probably have Superb/ E-class and want some thing to take them to go to mall/local grocery store)

Get the Fabia 1.2 HTP Ambiente. -It will be a a decision you would be happy with.

[harry10]

Nice review Vik. Seems ANHC is more of a show than the performance. I will TD sooner than later. Linea is again a mystery which will be unfolded by mid of dec so you got short time to consider options. Otherwise Verna Crdi is very good. Did you took the Fabia diesel drive as well with Petrol as its more refined and am sure you will like it better.