Fiat Linea 1.4 FIRE Emotion Pack

hii everyone that was my car....hope u all like the pics..please do reply.

Siddharth, that's a nice car.  How about you putting up a review exclusively on your experiences - here.

Siddharth

Lovely pics of a lovely car !!

Are these pics recent ones or taken when you purchased it in Jun'09. As your car looks brand new in the pic even after 8 months

19th April, 2009 (10 days of Linea Ownership - continued...)

To add to previous update, Automatic Climate Control works very well. With temp set to 20 - 21 degrees, it gives uniform cooling. Only issue is, every time when you switch it ON, by default, the internal Car circulation if Off taking outside air in & I've to manually switch it ON everytime.

For 1st & 2nd Gears, I realised that with my earlier car, while changing gears I'm used to release clutch & pressing accelerator suddenly instead of gradually. In Linea, doing this makes car losing the power & feels dead starting in next gear. When I gradually release the clutch & simultaneously gradually press accelerator, the power-loss issue is almost not there. will come back with further observation after a few more days of ownership

Though Linea comes very close to my earlier car Ford Ikon in terms of Ride, Hadling, Manuevering & driving ease, well, Ford is a Ford & I'm missing it a bit. My friend whom I sent the car to sell it, called back & said its very good & he wants to keep it. Now I realise its good that I didn't choose SX4 or Verna.

After sales Service exp is a mixed bag. While there is no major issues with service guys who are found quite humble with good intention, the finnesse is missing & their ability is a question mark. While interacting at service station, I found parts of Linea are not that easily available as expected though regular parts may be available. e.g. those chrome tapes/ plates on front bumper are not available & will take 4-5 days in case it needs to be replaced in my car. I heard this comment from 2-3 guys at service station. Keeping fingers crossed. the silver lining is long service intervals means less visits to service station & gradually with customer base increasing all parts may be available of-the-shelf

(As on 19th April, 2009)

Hi Sidharth,

    wellcome to carwale,thanks for liking our comments and posts,our comments on Linea is honestly neutral.Your car looks lovely and royal,nice pics,the chrome strips looks best in this color and black lineas.Happy motoring 

Amit,

 you had disliked the long turning radius,but you liked the ride,which is partly due to the long wheel base,which is the reason for long turning radius,so can not have the cake and eat it too!!

4th May, 2009 (Crossed 1000 kms)

1000 kms update (4th May 2009)

Tank-full to tank-full mileage - 9 kmpl (90% in Mumbai bumper-to-bumper city traffic with AC ON 100%)
MID Mileage shows - 9.2 kmpl
Avg Speed on MID - 18 kmph

I took her out on highway to free her up for 2 small bursts/ trips, details for that from trip B MID as under:

KM's travelled - 80 km's (30% within city, 70% on Highway)
Mileage on MID - 11.8 kmpl
Avg Speed - 34 kmph

My guestimate is it would give me 8.5 to 9 kmpl in Mumbai & around 12-13 kmpl on highways. Anyway Mileage is not of much concern to me.

Most of the Pro's & Con's I've mentioned earlier in this thread remains unchanged except for following:

I would be wrong if I say it does not lack Power. It lacks power & this statement is not on absolute terms but on comparative terms.

I was using Ford Ikon 1.3L nxt earlier. Compared to even that car, I feel less power in Linea & Ikon 1.3L was not considered a real "powerful" car, right? In Linea, I do not feel Lack of power when I'm cruising at Higher Speed / Higher RPMs. It is felt - 1) at pick up from 1st/ 2nd gear & 2) when you are going in 4th/ 5th gear & the speed is lowered (not as low as to warrant shifting gear down to lower gear) & then again she has to pick up.

Point 2 above, in defence to Linea, I still feel my perception/ experience may get changed after some time as its possible that I may not be lowering the gear at right speed/time, probably I'll have to get used to lowering the gear at higher speed than what I'm anticipating right now.

In Mumbai traffic, there is a fight for every inch & my Ikon was not allowing any other car to raise its nose ahead from side-lane to enter into the lane I'm driving & to come ahead of my Ikon. With Linea, I've seen that happening a number times. By the time I accelerate & gain momentum, the side-lane guy leaves his lane & enters my lane as there is a gap & there is that fraction of a second time he has. Here again, in defence to Linea, it might be entirely possible that I'm driving her carefully/ cautiously than what I was driving Ikon.

Handling is very good, I feel its 90% to that of Ikon. But it seems that will change over next 1-2 months & I feel I would say it has matched or even exceeded that of Ikon.

Manuevering is brilliant - comparable to Ikon, if not better.

And all those Features & Beautiful curvy looks are Big Big positives.

Overall, am not much concerned on lower power as it is heavily offset-ed
by overall brilliant packaging with all the features & looks.

After all, Where can I get such a car in Rs. 8 Lacs?

Mileage in Mumbai normally suffers.  But on highway, I think it should return better.  To my understanding, Linea generally returns mileage of 10/11 in city & 14-16 on highway.

27th May, 2009 (1800 kms update with ref to 1000 kms 4th May,09 update)

The high standards set by Ford Ikon in terms of Driving Pleasure, Ride quality, Maneuvering etc was preventing me to enjoy Linea thoroughly. Here is what I mentioned in earlier update:

The car has grown on me. It seems she has suddenly waken up from a slumber & became silky smooth. May be crossing 1500 kms, may be the short-bursts I gave her to free her up or may be I got used to her with my driving style more aligned to Clutch-Geat-Accelerator combo/ config. But I must say that now she has surpassed Ford Ikon in Driving Plwasure, Ride Quality, Maneuvering. I'm now driving her like a toy, able to maneuver her brilliantly - here, there, left, right so on & so forth absolutely like a toy. This is the biggest pleasure for me as these qualities are very imp to me, relieves few of my worries, makes me so happy.

...Contd on next post - 27th May,09 - 1800 kms update

..Contd fm Prev post (27th May, 2009 update)

All my earlier reservations about Power (or lack of it) has now gone out of the window. Somehow she became so silky that even the 2nd gear doesn't seem to let me feel any lack of power. And like Ford earlier, in B2B traffic, now she does not allow other cars to intrude & come in front of her lane from adjoining lane !!!
What is amazing is that in 5th Gear above 2000 RPM's, from a speed to 50 - 60 kmpl, if you press the accelerator, she just surges ahead like a jet & very smoothly. Brilliant, Brilliant.
Poise, Stability is top notch even when I throw her in corners.

The only "less power" I now feel is when I'm driving her in 5th gear & due to traffic the speed reduces (have not noted what reduced speed -may be around 40 - 50 kmph - have to check), it takes some time to recover the lost speed. This may be felt more on highways in overtaking, though again in Linea's defense, I'll have to wait for some time to check if its due to my driving style.

I had a driver earlier whom I let go when I purchased Linea as wanted to do run-in for initial 1500 kms myself. After enjoying the rides in Linea, am seriously reconsidering not to hire a driver now.

Have yet not taken her on a Long Drive, eagerly waiting for it.
Last but not the least, 2 days back I parked my car near my home & was getting out. A motocyclist passed, crossed 100 meters, took a U turn & came to me to ask about Linea. 1st question he asked is what is the Price. Next question what is the FE? Third question - is diesel available & what price?
Second instance - yday the washer guy when he was washing the car showed me that everybody stares at her while going past!!
Admiration Guaranteed!! (27th May, 2009 update)

Absolutely.

Mileage (City & Highway both) has improved Leaps & bounds over a period of time which I shall cover later