Hi team,
I thought of typing - Palio 1.6 Tested and ripped, but then I hadnt really ripped the car.
BU Bhandari called me at 2:30 saying that they'll bring along a new 1.6 Stile Sport (that's a long name, 1.6 from now on) for a test drive at 3.30 today. At 3.30 they gave me a call saying "sir the car has come, we're parked at Infosys cirlce at Hinjewadi phase 1". It was raining, and the place was wet, but the 1.6 looked like a beaut! Those drops of water on the body made the car extremely desirable. In the pics i thought the retro was better looking, but now i prefer the Stile!
Exterior
Exterior - great looks! The front three quarter view or the full front view is where the car looks the best. Va va voom.
Opened the bonnet - the front grille is new, and then the internals looked the same as My Fiat Siena (my cousin and i bought it together, and he's the majority shareholder). Checked the tyres - 175 R 14 Tubeless GoodYears. Nice.
The side indicator was a streak, rather than a dot - on the retro. The door handles are the pull type - similar to the corolla - nice looking. All in all a pretty car. GTO is right, the exterior of the 1.6, even in the Stile avatar is sexy!
The Insides
Now on to the interior, got into the driver's seat, and shut the door, it shut with the same reassuring thud. Nice again. The beige interiors did lots to spruce up the insides, although the familiar Fiat dials are a let down. It felt better in the 1.6 than in the Siena though. I liked this cockpit better than the Siena's.
The driving experience
Started the car, and put her in first and drove off. The first thing that struck me was that the gear shift is hard. The clutch was ok, the gear shift was tight in comparison with the Siena. The shifts were positive however.
There was a slight incline, and i was in 3rd, with the engine rpm being about 1500, ac on as well, and 4 people in the car. The car pulled steadily, but once it crossed 2500 rpm it took off. Similar to the Old Palio. Nice again. Super in fact.
I came across some broken tarmac, the Palio just rushed across the road, the only things filtering through to the cabin were muffled (extremely) thuds, the steering was great, and the ride awesome - better than the Siena (the siena's covered 65 k+ kms and probably the comparison isnt correct). Body roll was much lesser and I liked the car more and more!
Decided to put it to a test - stopped the car, put her in first and let go of the throttle - grippy tyres (i smoke the siena ever so often) and the acceleration was progressive. She did make rapid movement, and then I pressed the brake - gone was the spongy feel of the Siena, it seemed like I was in the Civic, the brake acted immediately and I almost felt like I hit a wall. Took a few seconds, but I got used to the brakes, and I think these brakes are a lot better! I like this baby.
Cons
1) Still limited storage space - lack of cubby holes and places to keep knick nacks
2) The fascia - or the dashboard - it's still the same. However I thought the beige on the steering wheel would be yuck, but it looks nice. I liked it the moment I saw it, maybe photos dont do it justice.
Overall -
If i had the money, i would buy it now!
BU Bhandari
I requested a test-drive on Friday afternoon, in the evening I had a call from BU Bhandari. I asked them to call me on Monday afternoon. Bang on - Monday afternoon, i had a call, they asked me if 3.30 was ok for them to come by, it was fine. They were outside my office at 3.30.
After the test drive, they thanked me, gave me the brochures and price list. Once I came back in the office, there was an email from them, again thanking me and providing me with contact details. Wow.
Team,
Apologies for the lack of photos - I didnt have a camera. And this is my first post of a test drive - I noticed that no one had tested the 1.6 Stile, so if there are errors, forgive them this once!