[DreamOpus]

Hi everyone
I was planning to buy my first car but was too confused to choose from the lot. I came across this great forum and it made my job easy to decide my car.

My requirements were,
-Safety
-reliability
-space
-back seat comforts
-Decent mileage
-Looks
-Budget 5 Lakhs

And following the forum I decided to go for this hot beauty fiat Palio Stile 1.6sport F1 Red

Purchase Date 31st of July 2008
On Road Price INR 4.92 lakhs
Free Stuffs – car cover, car mats, car perfume, Idol
Dealer - Concorde Motors, Near Dairy Circle, Bangalore
Color – F1 Red

Even though it’s my first experience of buying car I found that people were friendly and cooperative in Concorde motors

I joined the driving classes after the purchase of my car. I started driving my car after a few weeks. I find the car very comfortable & smooth - am happy that all my expectations are met.

The first servicing is done at Green Tracks after 800 Kms. Met Mr. Babu, he explained critical parts of the car, answered my queries with lots of patience. He is Excellent!

In October went for a long drive from Bangalore to Mangalore first time (450 kms one way). It took me around 10hrs to reach since the road is in a pathetic condition after Shiradi Ghat till Mangalore (stretch of around 100kms). Driving this car is fun and I really enjoyed it and the best part I was not tired driving. Now I have done 2500kms

Mileage:
For city driving I got an average of 9 Km/L with 50% AC
And for highway got around 14 Km/L with 70% AC
All with tank full to tank full.

During my Mangalore trip I noticed strange noise at the tailgate; found 2 screws were got loose, fixed it at the TATA service center.

Before signing off, a few things I would like to know from Palio stile 1.6 owners,
That in city driving bumper to bumper traffic or at turns I drive using ‘2nd gear with clutch’ when the car is at too low speed is this fine or should I change to the 1st gear. Which practice will give me better FE? At what RPM the gear shift will give better FE and your suggestions to better FE.

Thanks to all for your support,
DreamOpus

[gemithomas]

Congrats on the new ride.

you should shift to first. Ont drive on half clutch you'll end up shelling out money for a worn out clutch. Never let engine "lug". If you feel that the engine is shuddering due to low rpm sift to a lower gear immediately.

DOnt worry about F.E till 2nd service. Here are some points
- Maintain tyre pressure aroud 28-30psi
- Maintain rpm above 1000 and below 2000 while driving. I mean shift to higher gears as soon as you reach 2K and shift down as soon as you reach 1K
- Avoid Instant acceleration and braking
- Dont floor the accelerator pedal. Its enough to use just around 25% MAX.

[deepgautam_qa]

Congratulation DreamOpus!

Yours is one of the better hatch-backs ever sold in India.
4.5 years ago having the similar requirements as yours I was also looking for my first car and the search ended on Petra 1.6. My car has clocked more than 40K km and I am really happy over my decision of going for this car. Welcome to the FIAT Club!

Pictures of your Red Beauty are awaited.

Cheers!!!

[Lalvaz]

Congratulations on your new ride, DreamOpus. The 1.6 Palio is a fantastic car, and makes you pine for those long highway rides.

As for your query, please downshift to first gear in such situations. Watch the RPM's as suggested by gemithomas or just listen to the engine noise. But dont worry too much about FE. You're anyways getting pretty standard figures for the 1.6, and riding your clutch will just mean a fried clutch.

Wish you many years of driving pleasure in the Italian beauty. Take good care of her.

[hillram]

@DreamOpus...First of all,Congratulations on acquiring what i call a practical car.I myself am a user of Fiat Palio 1.6 GTX for last few years.
Your FE seems to be good.
Fiat Palio has one of the smoothest gear box and the gears shift like butter.Ideal RPM while driving is 1200 and i suggest you use 90% AC and FE will be more effective.Good

[hillram]

@DreamOpus...First of all,Congratulations on acquiring what i call a practical car.I myself am a user of Fiat Palio 1.6 GTX for last few years.
Your FE seems to be good.
Fiat Palio has one of the smoothest gear box and the gears shift like butter.Ideal RPM while driving is 1200 and i suggest you use 90% AC and FE will be more effective.Good Luck and Happy Motoring

[rudrah]

Congrats for owning this beauty!

Its a perfect Highway cruiser! As said by Gemi..maintain the gear shift within the said RPMs along with correct Tyre pressure and it will improve your FE. Also avoid maximum use of clutch ofcourse you cant help in bumper to bumper traffic!

I achieved a 9.95 FE with 100% AC in City almost touching the 10 mark!

Haven't yet checked the highway figures but it should return a 14+ for sure!

FE depends on the road/driving conditions and the way you drive the car!

Seems Banglore is quite tough to drive in city limits than Navi Mumbai/Mumbai!

Drive safe and wear your seat belt always!

Cheers~

[pawan_pullarwar]

City mileage is very much depends on driving style, my friend gets 11.5+ that too driving Hinjewadi IT Park from his GTX. At the same time I get 11.3 from my 1.2, all tank full to tank full.

[CtrlAltDel]

Originally Posted by hillram

Your FE seems to be good.

eh, kya?

please explain how it is "good"?

Originally Posted by @DreamOpus

your suggestions to better FE

using clutch a lot reduces FE, apart from spoiling the clutch mechanism.

have a thumb (or a "foot"?) rule - if u feel the need for the clutch it means that the speed is too low for that gear. downshift at once and release the clutch.

you can find the minimum RPM/speed for every gear by slotting the car in that gear and letting go the accelerator and clutch. the car would move by itself at a certain speed for each gear. engine would not "lug" at that speed and it would not slow down unless brakes are pressed (when it may "lug" or shudder). this is the threshhold speed/RPM for that gear.

after that whenever you go below the treshhold RPM/speed for any gear downshift instantly and release the clutch.

this should improve the FE.

also remember to inflate the tyre pressure correctly. not ripping it everytime would also help in improving FE

[coolbareilly]

Congratulations DreamOpus. Man you rocks. This car is seriously amazing. I have its big brother (Seina: Palio 1.6 with boot). Driving this car is FUN and I love the roar of its engine.

Please do keep us posted on personal experiences, actual FE figures, etc.

And please always wear seat belt and drive safe

[planet_rocker]

i have not got more than 9kpl in city - 90% of time/kms shifting @ 2k and 10% of time/kms shifting at 5k with 50% AC.



Welcome to the 1.6 club cheers:

[crn12]

This Car Rocks mate, & one of the best cars in its class, don't use your clutch too often, & shift to 1st gear for bumper - bumper traffic. Appreciate if you upload some pics as well

[amaan]

Congrats. I myself have a Stile 1.6 Sport that gives a pretty good fuel efficiency of 10+ km/ltr in city driving in Hyderabad.
Its a great car to drive in the city as well with awesome torque to navigate through city traffic.
Enjoy your new ride.
Regards
Amaan

[finneyp]

Congrats pal for owning the Red Hot hatch!

Enjoy driving!

[DreamOpus]

Thank you friends for your support


I had in my mind that at bumper to bumper traffic using first gear will consume more fuel and had doubt whether it’s the right method. My intention is to get optimum mileage by improving my driving skills and not to harm the engine. Want to get the same mileage claimed by other palio stile1.6 owners. (10 kmpl in city driving and 15 Kmpl in highway at 100%AC)


However safety and comforts were my first priority and then a decent mileage at my budget. I was very much aware of the mileage of this car before buying.


@ gemithomas, CtrlAltDel thank you for your precious advice I will keep it in mind.


DreamOpus