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Linea Facelift - 2014 Likes- The facelift still looks good compared to the competition, but bring the older Linea into picture, the older one looks far more clutter less and the timeless design stands out.
- High quality chrome on the exterior
- The interiors have been revamped with the dashboard being new and brings in the freshness to the cabin.
- A couple features have been added on the already feature rich car. The in built navigation and reverse camera would have been icing on the cake
- All the positives of the earlier Linea are very much present in the facelift. Excellent build quality, the ride quality and handling, steering feedback, superb braking ability are to name a few.
- The Linea facelift comes with the 1.4 Tjet motor as standard in the petrol engine department
- The car finally gets 3 bottle holders at the cost of the arm rest space
- Huge 500 litre boot
- The reverse parking sensors are standard on the dynamic and emotion variants.
- The Automatic Climate control is good, but the not as effective as the ones that were available in the Tjet and Tjet+ Variants that were launched in 2010. The AC vents have directional as well flow control now.
- Placement of the Aux and USB port, it's no longer a trouble to use
- 3 Year standard warranty with an option of 2 years extended warranty with coverage for 150,000 kms
Dislikes- The Linea facelift deserved to have the 1.6 MJD under the hood for the diesel segment
- The interior space packaging not as great the Japanese counterparts.
- The lesser headroom in the rear for taller people
- The low speed ride might put off the chauffer driven kind of customers, but they will appreciate the ride when the speeds increase.
- The arm rest is more or less present just as a requirement as the space is sacrificed for a bottle holder
- The spare wheel is now a steel wheel and not an alloy wheel unlike the pre 2013 models for emotion variant.
- Increased weight on the facelift across variants and more so on the top end variant
PS: I would like to thank Vecto Motors wholeheartedly for providing the opportunity to review the Linea facelift.
With the facelift what has been done to the existing engine line up? None actually. The Linea facelift comes with the same but very capable 1.4 Tjet and the same 1.3 Multijet. The top end emotion variants gets the cruise control as standard.
1.4 Tjet
The 1.4-liter Tjet is rated at 114 PS (112.4 BHP) at 5,000 rpm and a diesel like torque of 207 NM at 2,200 rpm. The turbo starts spooling around 1700 rpm and once reaching 2000 rpm there is sufficient pull to make brisk progress. Like all turbo petrol engines, there is lag below 2000 rpm, while in traffic one may needs a downshift to keep up the pace. The mid range punch is quite strong due to the max torque coming in at 2200 rpm, the strong pull continues all the way till around 5500 rpm. The engine note is quite sporty. Though we did not time the runs, the Tjet does make quick progress even with the increased weight. Fiat has not come out with any official 0-100 numbers for the facelift Linea. Unlike the diesel counterpart, the gear ratios are nicely selected to give the best of both worlds. The gears do slot nicely but there is rubbery feel to the way the shift happens. The gear lever feels smaller in length; this may be due to the gear console itself being a little higher. The Tjet can cruise quite comfortably at 120 kmph speeds without breaking a sweat. The punchy mid-range makes overtaking a piece of cake on the highway.
The current positive traits of ride, handling and steering feedback have been carried forward in the facelift too. The ride is a little stiff at lower speeds; however, this is due to the stiffer suspension to counter the increase in ground clearance. As the speeds increase, the suspension dismisses the uneven road surfaces like nobody's business. There is increased body roll compared to the pre-2012 suspension set up. However, the Linea is still one of the best handlers in the segment even with the 190 mm ground clearance. With grippy tyres, one will have to push hard to make the car lose its mechanical grip and make the tyres squeal. The Tjet gets all wheel discs, it not only does go fast, but also has outstanding braking capabilities.
The real life fuel efficiency would not be too different from the current Linea Tjet, but one may see a marginal drop in the mileage due to the additional weight.
Cruise Control
The cruise control is now standard on the top end emotion variant. During the 60 odd kms drive that we did, we had ample opportunities to test the cruise control. The cruise control once turned on will get activated after attaining a speed of 30 kmph or more. Note that the cruise control won't engage in the first and reverse gear for safety reasons. There is no visual display in the MID of the set cruise control speed. Given the opportunity of an open highway the cruise control does work well and keeps the stress off the right leg and helps in getting better fuel efficiency due to the better control over the throttle by the ECU. On the flip side, bring in the normal scenario of the traffic on Indian highways, the cruise control will see very less usage. For example, the 20 odd kms drive on the NICE road section for saw us cutting off the cruise control quite a few times due to the slow moving traffic.
Instructions on how to use the cruise control from the owner's manual. PS: The Linea facelift with multijet engine is yet to be driven. The drive report will be posted after the drive.
Moderator's note: Thread moved from Assembly Line section. Thanks for sharing.
What an awesome review Krishna. There's no better person to do a Linea facelift review than an existing Linea owner who knows the car inside out.
Wow awesome pics and awesome review. The linea is back in a new avatar (ish), it still maintains its 1.3 mjd disappointing not to see the 1.6 mjd. Too bad turbo lag kills the fun a bit but it's beautiful and you could use it as a garden decor piece. Thumbs up but I wouldn't buy it purely because of the same engine.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nkrishnap
(Post 3382563)
|
Excellent review nkrishnap. Is this new T-Jet driven mostly on the highways? Because i see a mileage of ~13kmpl in the new car(Considering the car has run 109km totally as displayed in the console) . Or is there any change in the engine characteristics that lead to higher mileage in the new 2014 model T-jet?
Wonderful pictures and review, Krishna :thumbs up. Thanks for letting me tag along and get a drive of the new T-Jet. You have aptly summarized most of the differences vis-a-vis the older T-Jet, so there is hardly anything left out to add at all :D.
- As a present T-Jet owner, I felt that the facelift has addressed most of the minor flaws of its predecessor - the interior fit and finish, quality of plastics, refreshed dashboard, better looking and better sounding ICE (and controls).
- Mechanically, the only new feature I can recollect is the presence of cruise control. This is a welcome addition to cruise on expressways for longer duration journeys and will save some fatigue for the driver. However, what I didn't like was there was no visual notification on the MID for what speed the CC is set at. We have to manually watch the speedometer and release the lever at whatever speed we want; it holds the speed at that point. Also, the acceleration when holding '+' on the CC stalk is as though someone floored the throttle pedal. It should be more gradual than a hurried scramble, from what I've seen in other cars.
- The gear shifts definitely felt like they had a shorter throw than the outgoing version. Shift quality still has a rubbery feel to it though, which they ought to have addressed first. I don't believe there are any changes made to the gear ratios. There was nothing wrong with the T-Jet's gearing anyway, so I am not complaining. It was the MultiJet which had shorter ratios and needed amendments.
- The interiors have been spruced up with the footwell neons/LEDs, new instrument cluster and backlit dash panels. They could have chosen white or yellow as a more subtle shade for the footwell lights though in my opinion. Blue is a bit bold and may not be to everyone's taste.
- Steering feel felt lightened compared to the 2011 versions and same as the 2012 facelifted version. It still retains the famous feedback and connected feel.
Overall a nice upgrade to the outgoing model where they have got rid of most of the frequently bashed areas, but they really needed to get that 1.6 MultiJet version stepping in now into the lineup. Is it a case of too little too late?? Only time can tell.
P.S - is the 1.4 FIRE version discontinued officially now??
Quote:
Originally Posted by azhar915
(Post 3383517)
Is this new T-Jet driven mostly on the highways? Because i see a mileage of ~13kmpl in the new car(Considering the car has run 109km totally as displayed in the console) . Or is there any change in the engine characteristics that lead to higher mileage in the new 2014 model T-jet? |
There are no changes in the engine specs with the new version. On one stretch, we drove on a highway at constant speeds while testing the cruise control feature, and that's probably the reason the MID is reporting higher numbers.
A couple of other things that I noticed today during the unveiling of the Linea facelift is.
- The blue LED footwell lights are not standard and so is the illuminated door sill on the multijet top end variant. The spoiler too is absent on the Multijet.
- The beep volume of the reverse parking sensors is adjustable through the mycar settings. This is now integrated with the buzzer volume.
- The white Linea gets black grill, which makes it look better
A couple of pics from the event today. Please excuse the mobile picture quality.
Quote:
Originally Posted by D'Artagnan
(Post 3383489)
Too bad turbo lag kills the fun a bit but it's beautiful and you could use it as a garden decor piece. Thumbs up but I wouldn't buy it purely because of the same engine. |
At 93ps and 209Nm- the engine is still competent. What spoils the fun is the gearing on the Multijet versions. 1st and 2nd gear ratios are chosen very weirdly, and as any Punto or Linea diesel owner will tell- fun begins only from 3rd gear.
Amazing review NKP. As Vidd mentioned, no one but a Linea owner can do a perfect justice to check out the face lift.
Few questions/clarifications?
- Any changes to ICE? Are the new speaker better or the same?
- Rear AC vents?
- What tyres do they come with now? Any changes there?
- Sad to see, the spare is not an alloy.
- Rear power outlet if any?
- How is the cruise control? Looks like will take quite a lot to get used to it. I checked out the Fiesta. Felt it to be much easier than the way you described it for Linea. Did you get a chance to test it out?
Great review overall .
Still that elusive 1.6MJD.....!
Thanks for sharing this excellent review with us nkrishnap. I think removing that Fiat logo from the front grille and putting on the bonnet will make the Linea look much smarter. Also, the horizontal slants on the grille need to go along with that rear spoiler. It is just spoiling the solid look of that wonderful boot. I love the new alloys. The scuff plates looks very aftermarket, but the fog lamp bezel reeks quality.
The interior looks much better now, but the fit of that plastic casing over the steering column is still amiss even after all these years. Please don't take this as a rant, I am just feeling very sorry looking at it. And the old instrument panel was a work of art! Too bad they have replaced it. Also, I would have also preferred the original color theme of black and grey on the inside.
Very good to know that Fiat has extended the excellent T-jet across the range and the car is still a hoot to drive. :thumbs up That petrol power pack ought to get sold more.
Wonderful review! Sorry, I could not make it yesterday.
The cruise control seems to be a welcome addition. The interiors look better than my T-Jet, but I fancy the exteriors of the one that I have. All in all, it looks good. The old Linea was so good looking and well proportioned that it is quite a challenge to come up with a facelift.
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