I am just making my decision between the Swift and the Palio 1.6 and test drove both cars in Bangalore today. Still this morning I was biased towards the Palio, which looks a little larger, stronger and like the better deal with that huge 42k RS discount available at the moment. Until I took them both through town.
The Palio looks larger than it feels, while the Swift is actually larger than it looks. I felt space economy in the front row is way better in the Swift than with the Palio. In the Palio my head was almost in the sun blinds (seat can not be height adjusted) while the Swift has a lot more headroom and more room towards the front. I did not expect that. Built quality of both did not impress me, the Palio had some visible flaws while the Swift was just a little better.
The engine clearly goes to Fiat. The 1.6 has good torque from the low end and willingly revs up, nice little engine. But the brakes - the worst I ever found in a modern car, clearly not up to par with the engine. The brakes just don't grip, even going full force (like: bang!) on the breaks I did not manage to lock the wheels - no wonder there is no ABS, the brakes are so weak you won't need an anti-locking feature
And Palio's cornering - dreadful! That to me is the major letdown with that car. I am from Germany and have driven plenty of good and fast cars, my last car before I moved to India was an M3, so I am spoiled with car handling. There was just no handling at all with the Palio. Abrupt manoeuvres upset the balance and the car goes everywhere but not where you want it. I would not recommend to do any wild things with the Palio if you go 100+ kmh. If there was posh smoothness of the ride one could say, well they sacrificied handling for comfort. I did not even find the Palio particularily comfortable. Potholes really hit and upset the car, disappointing. Something went really wrong with that suspension setup, Fiat has done much better in the past - maybe the flaw is in the adaptation for the Indian market.
The Swift felt like a much more mature car in comparison. The handling is quite good, abrupt manoeuvres yield just what you expect - it is a well balanced car with a plausible suspension setup and a lot of feel for the road. It drives a bit like a go-kart, I like that. The brakes were good, a whole league better than with the Palio. The engine, well, is not where the Palios 1.6 is but still it is good enough. To me handling is more important than raw horsepower.
The design, well, to me both cars look reasonably sharp - while I find the Swift better looking, the sheer amount of Swifts on the streets makes the car loose some personality. The interior of the Palio to me lacks plausibility, it is not bad but not convincing either. The Swift, being more straightforward to me looks like the better interior design package.
But it was how they feel on the roads which flipped the coin. Having driven both, each with a sales guy first turning deep pale and then to a concerned green in the passenger seat, I changed my mind today and will go for a Swift.
