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Old 15th March 2011, 16:03   #16
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Re: Premier Rio : Quick drive!

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Originally Posted by mayankk View Post
I wouldnt be so dismissive.
People have taken up worse cars as projects.
capabilities are definitely there.
---[Manteros]---: My Off-Road Perodua Kembara
Why would you spend 6 lakhs on a vehicle "which is allegedly capable" when you can buy a Gypsy or Thar with ready capability? With due respect, I highly recommend you to visit the 4x4 section and read up on solid axles, articulation, low range gearboxes etc. And don't forget robustness. Rios are suffering from problems running on tarmac itself. God help the 4x4 Rio that attempts a rock climbing session. It has a purely onroad McPherson strut & coil spring front setup for heaven's sake!!

Don't let the shape of a "tall hatchback" misguide you into thinking it can offroad.
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Old 15th March 2011, 16:27   #17
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Re: Premier Rio : Quick drive!

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Originally Posted by GTO View Post
Why would you spend 6 lakhs on a vehicle "which is allegedly capable" when you can buy a Gypsy or Thar with ready capability? With due respect, I highly recommend you to visit the 4x4 section and read up on solid axles, articulation, low range gearboxes etc. And don't forget robustness. Rios are suffering from problems running on tarmac itself. God help the 4x4 Rio that attempts a rock climbing session. It has a purely onroad McPherson strut & coil spring front setup for heaven's sake!!

Don't let the shape of a "tall hatchback" misguide you into thinking it can offroad.
The point you are missing is that if a bowler can be made from such a generous donor as a range rover sport, I'm sure if someone wished so, they could use this.
I know big money, fat buyers, resources etc. not available to the plain jane enthusiast.
I mean, that is the whole point of a project car, aint it(not just for 4x4, but any car/restoration)
Anyway,it was POV offered.
Will definitely try and see what the 4x4 section is about.
Cheerios
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Old 15th March 2011, 16:49   #18
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Re: Premier Rio : Quick drive!

@PK, remove that chrome lip on front & it could move up one step in the looks department.

65PS / 152Nm looks good on paper. But does it really have 16" wheels ?
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Old 15th March 2011, 17:02   #19
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Re: Premier Rio : Quick drive!

I was looking forward to reading something on the Rio. No did not plan on ever buying it.

Premier has a long way to go if they are going to get back into some sales in the Indian market. And surely the Rio is not the way to go. Remember this is a nineties vehicle, so it definitely cannot stand up to current competition, no not even the ford figo or the alto from maruti for that matter.

Even if one does buy the vehicle i am pretty sure the after sales support would not be upto to the mark, which is equally important as the car itself. Also a huge concern would be reliability, and with stories of breakdowns, and several components being replaced with unfortunate owners. That really seems to be a HUGE deal BREAKER!

Definitely would be better off buying one of the fabulous hatchbacks on sale from more reliable manufacturers.

Thanks for the review though, as i said earlier was looking forward to reading something on the Rio.
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Old 15th March 2011, 17:02   #20
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Re: Premier Rio : Quick drive!

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Originally Posted by GTO View Post
Lets leave the looks aside, as design is anyways a subjective matter.

There is no other way to say this : The Premier RIO is R-U-B-B-I-S-H. A jugaad vehicle by a jugaad car manufacturer. A car made in China by a new automotive company that in all probability knows nothing about car making, sold in India by a brand that has previously duped their buyers, powered by a 20 year old reworked diesel engine which now has a turbocharger bolted on by an inexistent R&D department.

At the same price, you can buy a Swift, i10, Ritz, Figo, Vista, Polo and others....cars which are more modern, have 10X superior build / finish / quality, quicker performers, safer, offer excellent ride, handling or both and are known to last 1,00,000 kms.
I completely second you thought.


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Whoever has bought the Rio is crying today because of frequent problems and nearly zero parts support.
I know a few people who bought it as their first vehicle saying that it looks macho and all, today they agree that it is standing in the garage and that is not macho!

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Please don't use the term "airbags' so loosely. Do you think adding airbags to my 15 year old Jeep or an Ambassador will make it safe? More important than airbags is the safety structure, crumple zones and impact-absorbing capability of the vehicle. Let me assure you that any other modern hatchback will be much safer than this piece of junk. Airbags or no airbags.
OMG! this is exactly the point i was trying to make a few days ago, The mahindra Scorpio is such an example where it has failed in the US crash tests and still sports airbags which are tauted to be safety features!

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Originally Posted by GTO View Post
4x4? Do you seriously think the Rio will even benefit from the 4x4? Who in their right minds will ever take a Rio 4wheeling?!!

And which enthusiasts would want to buy such a slow car, that can't handle to save its life? I don't see any "enthusiastic" side to a Rio with 4x4 and / or more power.
To all those who are new to this topic let me tell you'll that the Rio is not even capable to run on our usual roads, the niggles are very prominent.
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Old 15th March 2011, 17:08   #21
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Re: Premier Rio : Quick drive!

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Originally Posted by mdsaab View Post
Thanks for the review though, as i said earlier was looking forward to reading something on the Rio.
Same here. One thought though, why in the name of god was this even made and even worse is being sold. If the car is not good on fronts like safety, performance etc buyers are putting their lives at risk! I am sure fiat is not planning to quickly make some money before people realize what they have got into!
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Old 15th March 2011, 17:32   #22
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Re: Premier Rio : Quick drive!

Rio is absolutely the worst car sold in our country today, earlier it was the San Storm. A Raised hatchback does not become a SUV on it's own. Rio was already a poor product, then the choice of the engine- a decade+ old loud clattery Diesel IDI engine(It struggled in a light car like Zen D) with a last moment jugaad turbo job has made it even worse.

I'd rather buy a new Ambassador than this one. Atleast the Ambassador has the old world charm.
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Old 15th March 2011, 17:41   #23
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Re: Premier Rio : Quick drive!

which is surprising, cos as the cami has moved from japan to malaysia, and now to china from where it has ended up here as the rio, there's been a marked decline in performance figures...toyota was handing out 140 bhp in 99!
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Old 15th March 2011, 18:05   #24
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Re: Premier Rio : Quick drive!

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Originally Posted by mayankk View Post
cami has moved from japan to malaysia, and now to china from where it has ended up here as the rio
Yes, the original design is from the first gen Daihatsu Terios /Toyota Cami
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Old 15th March 2011, 19:19   #25
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Re: Premier Rio : Quick drive!

Now just for a thought, if Premier sorted out the niggling issues / quality issues. tackle their distribution. It would be a giant leap.

Now further imagining, they hire some consultant for the engineering, and guess even manage to get 1.3 liter Fiat Multijet Engine wouldn't that be nice.

After all the looks are not that bad and if required we have enough home grown talent to sort out things on the aesthetic front.

But all of this if Premier (PAL) has money in their banks. Once an Iconic Company now nothing.
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Old 15th March 2011, 19:58   #26
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Re: Premier Rio : Quick drive!

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Originally Posted by GTO View Post
Please don't use the term "airbags' so loosely. Do you think adding airbags to my 15 year old Jeep or an Ambassador will make it safe? More important than airbags is the safety structure, crumple zones and impact-absorbing capability of the vehicle. Let me assure you that any other modern hatchback will be much safer than this piece of junk. Airbags or no airbags
Of course all of the other points you mention are more significant. I merely comment on the safety feature list on their website. While I am considering a mini SUV, there is no way that I would even touch this product with even a barge pole. The only relevant entry worth considering could be the mini Xylo/ CS.
If nothing else is available, I would have to go in for one of the zillion hatchbacks
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Old 15th March 2011, 20:08   #27
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Re: Premier Rio : Quick drive!

@GTO- Your post made my day. I was just going to post "Who's going to buy this piece of junk from Premier Automobiles of all people" but thought I might incur an infraction! You said it, mate!
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Old 15th March 2011, 20:56   #28
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Re: Premier Rio : Quick drive!

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@GTO- Your post made my day. I was just going to post "Who's going to buy this piece of junk from Premier Automobiles of all people" but thought I might incur an infraction! You said it, mate!
Looks like everyone is jumping the gun at this car

Why are we so generous with the Maruti's, none of them were safe when they were launched, few of them even today are dangerous. Why so much negativity towards the Rio.

As per the company guys, they have sold 10 RIO's in Bangalore in the month of Feb. They say, since its an tried and tested old gen engine, there is no mechanical niggles the Rio has.

All it has is troubles with Fit and Finish.

99% of people who have reacted would not even have seen the RIO in person.

I dont get the logic.

If its bad, it will surely fail.

Someone mentioned about the San Storm, Atleast we could see a TRUE convertible on Indian Roads because of them, Since it was not a VFM preposition it failed.

Surely looks the Rio is taking that route, on T-BHP atleast.

Can anyone provide details of numbers of Rio's sold....!

Last edited by PAVAN KADAM : 15th March 2011 at 20:58.
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Old 15th March 2011, 23:10   #29
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Re: Premier Rio : Quick drive!

I have seriously considered buying a Rio few months back before it was launched in Hyderabad and before I actually saw it on road. Here are my reasons,

I needed a second car, primarily chauffeur driven and occasionally me. Rio had more legroom in the back than my Scorpio. More importantly the reclining seats caught my attention.

I always prefer high seating position and I was not interested in a car. Rio had high seating position compared to cars and yet very compact and comfortable for Hyderbad city driving.

I had a Zen diesel before which had the same engine and for me, the TUD5 is rock solid and high reliable much beyond a lakh kilometres. It will not take you from 0 to 60 in 5 seconds, but it can keep pace with other cars in city driving even with the A/C on. With regards to the sound, I was very comfortable in Zen. Even if you compare a Zen diesel with Indica of that time(which was without turbo), zen diesel had higher and predictable power(It was ofcourse much louder). Actually I wrote a big mail using the feedback form on Premier Rio website asking them to relaunch Premier Padmini with TUD5(laugh at me for that, ) and said I said I'll be the first one to buy(I stand by this even today). I love them individually and the combination would be just right.

TUD5 is such a wallet friendly engine, I could not ask for more on a chauffeur driven car(our use is like the car will be running all day, some one or the other will be using it if there is a driver).

I prefer a car with low technology, no electronics involved. I think these will be the easiest to maintain for the kind of use we have. This is necessary since we do not usually change cars. Even after buying a new one, the old ones will be put to use for something else. Even when I bought my Scorpio CRDe SLX, I preferred M2DI to CRDe. But the interiors, lack of body cladding and inferior plastics and other stuff made me go for the CRDe. I did not mind the sound. If Mahindra stops production of CRDe and M2DI today, M2DI can easily be maintained for few more decades. I wonder if it would be possible with CRDe even for a decade.

Interiors are far better compared to the Bolero I owned. So interiors were not of a big concern. Even if we compare todays thar, I think Rios interiors are far better.

Though Bolero was a good option for me, Rio had more car like interiors.

Things I did not like,
Front end - very pathetic - I was seriously considering a custom crash guard to cover most of the front part and give it a much better look immediately after purchase.

Some of the interior plastics, example the power windows system looks so cheap.

Why I did not go for it,
I thought PAL will come out with proper sales and service network. But it came out with pathetic network. This made it clear the state of PAL. Though I like the car, why should I buy it only to realize that none of the parts are available after 6 months(except for that engine). I was all excited about the launch, but the excitement did not last. So far I have seen only two Rios in Hyderabad(may be I've seen the same one twice, ). God knows what will happen to them. This reminds me of the Sipanis Dolphin.

Thats about it. I still think its a good one, but it can be good only when backed properly. It will be great if the company changes the front end. I'm sure there will be like minded people, or others with different reasons, who will be inclined to buy this one if backed properly.
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Old 15th March 2011, 23:16   #30
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Re: Premier Rio : Quick drive!

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Originally Posted by PAVAN KADAM View Post
Looks like everyone is jumping the gun at this car
Everyone who knows a fair bit about cars knows Rio is clearly the worst car sold in our country. If you know a even worse car, please name it.

Quote:
Why are we so generous with the Maruti's, none of them were safe when they were launched, few of them even today are dangerous. Why so much negativity towards the Rio.
Agreed Maruti sold dated cars for decades, but i do not find anything wrong with the current line up expect Omni, Gypsy and 800. None of the newer cars fail miserably on the safety front. Remember, when Maruti had Esteem and Zen D with the same TUD5 Diesel engine, they could not find any takers.

This TUD5 engine was firstly launched in the 90's under the hood of Peugeot 309 in the 90's. This engine is as antique as it gets, for this age when we have the brilliant Common Rail engine under the bonnets of each and every Diesel car, it's unacceptably loud and weak(even with the Turbo).


Quote:
As per the company guys, they have sold 10 RIO's in Bangalore in the month of Feb. They say, since its an tried and tested old gen engine, there is no mechanical niggles the Rio has.
Do you really trust the figures quoted by sales staff? They are trying to sell a car with a hopelessly outdated engine by tagging it reliable and tested. Would you buy a Swift/Ritz today with this engine in this age and time?

Quote:
99% of people who have reacted would not even have seen the RIO in person.
This is the company's fault, they do not have prominent sales outlets. How good is their after sales setup? Do you really trust them to take care of the car if you happen to buy it?

Quote:
Someone mentioned about the San Storm, Atleast we could see a TRUE convertible on Indian Roads because of them, Since it was not a VFM preposition it failed.
San Storm was poorly built, it had Zero support, it had a weak engine. Even normal hatchbacks like Maruti Zen and Fiat Uno were much more fun to drive.
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