[yatin]

Recently, I took my car to Kukke (near Mangalore). I drove on quite a few types of roads, and learnt a few things too.

4 of us left Bangalore on a Friday at around 11 AM in my 1.1 Stile. That morning, I had tanked up (41 litres) and reset the trip meter. We reached Mysore (150 kms) around 1:30 PM. 2.5 hours is par for the course on this route, as the roads are quite good and wide with a divider. We lunched at the well-known Dasaprakash in the centre of town.

Leaving around 2:30 PM, we reached Madikeri (in Coorg, 120 kms) around 5 PM. The roads were not perfect and there was no divider (not more 60-70 kmph possible). We still made good time as traffic was a trickle. We had a quick ice-cream in the town.

Leaving around 5:30 PM, we went to Sulya and took a right turn to Kukke. The distance was only 80 kms overall, and the roads were very even. It still took 2.5 hours as almost the entire route is full of twists and turns and a few U-turns. I really enjoyed the grip of the car driving into those corners at 30-40 kmph, and the engine was good too as it managed all this in 3rd gear. The downside was severe neckache by the time we reached, and a good night's sleep was necessary to get back into shape.

We just had some religious things to do there, and left shortly after 3 PM after a decent lunch and rest. Some moron at the hotel we stayed in, recommended a different route as a shorter one; as we discovered 10 hours later, it wasn't ... knowing how my car handles in the ghats was the only use of this unnecessary deviation from the planned route.

We went towards Dharmastala, then Ujire and then right towards Charmadi ghats. These ghats are reasonably (not extremely) steep, but are narrow as usual and have 2-way bus and truck traffic too. Although my car managed to do all but the most demanding U-climbs in 2nd gear, I needed to keep revs well up for about half an hour. The engine temperature gauge was past 50% most of this time.

We exited the ghats past 6 PM, but it took till 8 PM over average roads to get to Belur 80 kms away. Again narrow two-way average-quality roads. Did 40-50 kmph most of the time. We had a relaxed and light dinner, and left for Bangalore via Hassan around 9 PM.

I was a little sleepy at this time, but a small break for a phone call and face-hydration got me back to driving condition. Another break at 11 PM at Coffee Day on the highway also helped. Drove non-stop after that. The entire stretch was a huge disappointment; compared to a 4-lane-with-divider high-quality road 3 years ago, it is under repair and is 2-lane-without-divider average quality throughout. The continuous truck and bus traffic doesn't help. Reached Bangalore outskirts (Peenya) around 1 AM, but it took 1 more hour through truck traffic to get to our destination in South Bangalore.

Overall, 350 kms of good roads onward, and 380 kms of mostly average roads with a ghat section in between. Almost 800 kms. Estimated FE is atleast 17 kmpl - quite good for a newish 1.1-litre 1-ton car on this route.

I learnt/noticed a few things.
- trip meter being 3 digit looks more stupid now that ever. How much *did* Fiat save on cost there!?
- on the return journey, I figured out a more relaxed driving posture, and felt like going on and on and on ... at 2 AM, after almost 10 hours of driving, I was only sleepy, not tired
- cornering at medium speeds is fun on this car; adding a stabilizing bar up front might only improve things
- need a lot of care in ghat sections; I missed honking at a U-climb, and a descending truck had to brake late to avoid impacting me sideways. Never fail to honk in such situations. Thankfully, I did not lose momentum anywhere.
- high-beam is a delight; I saw, for the first time in action, the high-beam focussed differently than the low beam, and it is just so much better than the typical beam in increasing far visibility without impacting short-range beam spread.
- highway cruising ability proven - I liked it!
- on 2-way roads, its overtaking limitations were severely exposed; with constant oncoming traffic, it took more than 2 minutes every time to find the time and confidence to overtake a truck doing 30-35 kmph
- everyone was fresh as a daisy at the end of the onward journey; they were a bit grumpy after the return journey but a 11-hour travel ending at 2 AM accounts for most of that. Overall passenger comfort is great!
- tyres are squealing a bit more now during stationary turning of the steering
- brakes were squealing after the 1st service at Green Tracks; they said it was the water from the pressure wash, but I doubt water stays in 2 weeks after servicing, and after 2 days of 350 kms+ driving. Need to see about it.

[gatsri007]

Hey buddy i missed this thread for a while.. I got my slx deliverd on 17th JAN. I have done 1500 km. My first service was done with pain. Perana OMR made it sad. Will explain this later.
Your post will surely make people understand about palio 1.1. This will serve as a good guide to peoople who are confused about this car. continue posting your experience.
Coming to our 1.1, I have the similar experience as you have mentioned. Even i hear those break noises in my front right wheel( at times). The delear says its because of water, that does'nt convince me. Here is my brief review about my initial experience. I have also posted some pics there.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...ml#post1149029

I remember we discussing about the music system in a different thread, I am still waiting for mine. Perana promised me and still hoping on them. I will soon post a detailed report after completing 2000 KM

[yatin]

Recently, I got to measure FE between 1000kms and 2000kms on the ODO.
I used a tank-full-to-tank-full method, based on physical confirmation of the petrol level being full (maybe better than auto-cut-off - anyway enforced by auto-cut-off not working).

I got 1048 kms with a 50-50 highway-city split, from 61 litres, which works out to 17.2kmpl. This has to be the 1 undeniable reason for the existence of the 1.1.

To spoil this happy picture, somebody ripped the blue Fiat logo off the rear end of the vehicle. I am left with no logo, and with open holes where the screws fitted in. I have to get the logo before water gets in and play havoc with the electricals

[sups]

Originally Posted by yatin

Recently, I got to measure FE between 1000kms and 2000kms on the ODO.
I used a tank-full-to-tank-full method, based on physical confirmation of the petrol level being full (maybe better than auto-cut-off - anyway enforced by auto-cut-off not working).

I got 1048 kms with a 50-50 highway-city split, from 61 litres, which works out to 17.2kmpl. This has to be the 1 undeniable reason for the existence of the 1.1.

Thanks a lot for keeping the post updated.

What is the A/C usage for the mileage you have reported?

Can you give me some idea how much mileage it is returning in pure city traffic with A/C? Some rough figure would do.

[yatin]

A/C usage is < 10%, which is why I forgot to mention it. I usually drive with the windows down, unless I am near an open sewer ... I have not been able to measure the city mileage yet, w/ or w/o A/C, but I am sure it is > 12kmpl.

[gatsri007]

City miliage - I get 12-13 km with 50% AC Highways I got 16+ KM 100% AC on.

[rudrah]

uhhh @Sups

Your post has appeared gibberish! Please do not post texts directly from Word or Excel.

Instead you can attach the sheet as an attachment to your post.

Cheers~

[sups]

Originally Posted by gatsri007

uhhh @Sups

Your post has appeared gibberish! Please do not post texts directly from Word or Excel.

Instead you can attach the sheet as an attachment to your post.

Cheers~

Sorry I messed it up. Please see now the excel file as attachment for price comparison.

[yatin]

@sups:
If these figures are accurate, the body-work costs and the spark plug costs seems humonguous! But note that the Indica has several similarly priced parts body parts (no pun intended), so maybe its a family thing!

I think things like service costs come into consideration only when you are comparing similar cars. The only cars with similar space are the Indica and the Getz, and the better-fit-n-finish Getz is costlier upfront. The 1.1 Stile cannot compete on performance with the Swift or the Spark. In terms of comfort, ride and cost-feature ratio, I think only the Indica is comparable. So, spare part price comparision is most useful if done with only cars on the buyer's shortlist.

[rudrah]

As you might not be aware, Palio parts are still not 100% localized. Some of the parts are shared from Brazil for ex: Rear windshield, inside console.

Hence probably the prices are higher than its other members!

They are still in the process to make it 100% localized.

[phamilyman]

Sups,

please realise a palio bumper is 3x stiffer than a swift bumper. You get quality man. Chill.

[sups]

Originally Posted by rudrah

As you might not be aware, Palio parts are still not 100% localized. Some of the parts are shared from Brazil for ex: Rear windshield, inside console.

Hence probably the prices are higher than its other members!

They are still in the process to make it 100% localized.

I asked the same question to the salesman here in B U Bhandari, Pune (as I myself stay in Pune). He said that earlier many parts were imported, now they are ALL locally produced in Ranjangaon. Anyways, I do not have any resource to verify it.

I was seeing in the Linea thread the spare part cost of Linea. Look at the headlight price, it is almost half of that of Palio. Now, lot of parts of Linea are imported as well till now. So, the logic does not work.

Next, the cost of Palio headlight (pre-stile era) were about 3K. It might have been imported even then. So, why each head light now costs more than 6K. I do not have an answer.

[sups]

Originally Posted by yatin

@sups:
If these figures are accurate, the body-work costs and the spark plug costs seems humonguous! But note that the Indica has several similarly priced parts body parts (no pun intended), so maybe its a family thing!

I think things like service costs come into consideration only when you are comparing similar cars. The only cars with similar space are the Indica and the Getz, and the better-fit-n-finish Getz is costlier upfront. The 1.1 Stile cannot compete on performance with the Swift or the Spark. In terms of comfort, ride and cost-feature ratio, I think only the Indica is comparable. So, spare part price comparision is most useful if done with only cars on the buyer's shortlist.

Yatin,

I am mainly comparing with Getz and Swift pricing for accident repair parts. The other cars I have mentioned just for information. Some of the parts like, bonnet, front bumber, head light costs 100% more than that of Getz. This is becoming difficult to digest.

By the way, pricing is almost same for stile1.1 and 1.6.

[yatin]

Originally Posted by sups

I asked the same question to the salesman here in B U Bhandari, Pune (as I myself stay in Pune). He said that earlier many parts were imported, now they are ALL locally produced in Ranjangaon. Anyways, I do not have any resource to verify it.

I was seeing in the Linea thread the spare part cost of Linea. Look at the headlight price, it is almost half of that of Palio. Now, lot of parts of Linea are imported as well till now. So, the logic does not work.

Next, the cost of Palio headlight (pre-stile era) were about 3K. It might have been imported even then. So, why each head light now costs more than 6K. I do not have an answer.

I would doubt salesperson speak. The guy who handled my purchase said even the diesel engine was imported! That is not true, from what I have heard.
If the Linea headlight is cheaper, Fiat is extracting its pound of flesh for the low sale price of the Stile! Worth complaining about.
The pre-Stile version had different headlights. Are you sure they weren't manufactured locally? Anyway, the Stile headlight has 2 bulbs and the levelling mechanism motor; if you add inflation, the cost was bound to go up.

Apart from all this, I think spare part prices keep fluctuating a bit, so you never know how much you will end up paying when for which part ... no matter who the manufacturer is.

Originally Posted by sups

Yatin,

I am mainly comparing with Getz and Swift pricing for accident repair parts. The other cars I have mentioned just for information. Some of the parts like, bonnet, front bumber, head light costs 100% more than that of Getz. This is becoming difficult to digest.

By the way, pricing is almost same for stile1.1 and 1.6.

Atleast the headlight seems a more complicated assembly than the Getz, so would be costlier. All in all, it does look like Fiat may have more margins (hopefully, it is not more inefficiency!), but you have to see if the possibility of paying around 10K more than the competition on unpredictable repairs outweighs the car's advantages (including the lower purchase price).

I am beginning to see less and less use of this line of discussion now. If there is a sane TCO metric over, say the 1st 3 years of car ownership, why don't we just compute the TCO of the cars in question? A spare-parts-only discussion is getting nowhere.
* TCO-based-on-regular-requirements + body-work-cost + overhaul cost *
could be useful.

[yatin]

I recently got 460 kms out of 39 litres of petrol => 11.8 kmpl. Note that this is 100% city, frequent stop-and-go traffic and 40% A/C. Fuel tank fullness measurement was visual.

@gatsri007:
How did you measure FE to report 12-13 kmpl in city with 50% A/C?
Or maybe I need to get fuel from a different bunk!

I was losing pressure in one of my front tyres from the 1st month of ownership. I verified that there is no puncture. Recently, I have regularly observed that the problem persists - every 2 weeks when I get the pressure checked, that tyre would have lost 10-12 psi. Part of my not-so-great FE in the city should be blamed on this.

Can I get this problem addressed under warranty? I am not sure if its the tyre that's a lemon or the wheel? Note that I had asked for, and didn't get, any warranty documentation for the tyres (none for the wheels either ).