Fiat Linea Vs Honda City

Its not so Sahib, Fiat are well known for making sturdy cars with great engines, its coz of bad support from dealers which has given sort of bad image to the brand. Just for record, Fiat has registered better sales with Tata and after sales support has been getting better. Fiat Linea is a celebrated car in west and it should be a great hit in India. Its worth the buy car- one who understand mechanics of cars will certaily buy fiat linea

cheers

goks

I have driven both the Honda City and the Fiat Linea. I actually drove the Linea twice.

The Honda city feels definitely more refined. The engine is good but the whole driving experience is soul-less. The driver seat ergonomics are also better than the Linea. But, the steering feels so unconnected to the road. The whole package is insanely priced and just doesnt make sense. The interiors are built like the suzuki swift, thin plastics with sharp edges...not at all robust..perhaps Japanese weight management through optimum design. The Honda is also a let down on features.

The first time I drove the Linea, I sat a bit forward because the clutch pedal travel is too much. In just a minute or two of driving, my right ankle started hurting. The engine pulls well in first but as you shift to second it completely loses steam. But shift to third and the Linea starts pacing, gaining ground fast. The gear shifter throw is also excessive and slighty rubber like. I just did not appreciate the shift quality of the Linea. The braking was very good. The multijet diesel sounds more on the inside than the outside but in my view that adds to the enjoyment of driving. Fiat has not cut any corners on the features offerred on the Linea.
The second time I drove the Linea, I sat a little more to the back and then it felt more comfortable, but you still feel that the clutch pedal travel is excessive. The ride at very slow speed is hard but as you pick up speed the Linea just absorbs all the shocks and very little creeps inside. It also corners so well.

I have driven a Fiat Siena 1.6 for the past 5 years and never had any service issue...perhaps just lucky or everyone is exagerating some bad aspect of Fiat service. I am bored with the hard feel of this european car but the engine and handling still amaze me. Also, with the 1.6 litre engine I have consistently got  10-11 km/lt tank full - tank full. I was seriously considering a change to the new Honda City S manual but even the test ride was boring. I drove the Honda to nearly 110Kmph accelerating very hard but it did that so boringly.....boringly fast and not at all reassuring. On the other hand the Fiats (my Siena and the Linea) feel so rock solid and there is a sense of immense safety in the way they cover ground. The Honda feels like a tin box while the Linea feels very solid. Here again you are getting more metal and plastics for less.

On the styling front I would say that both cars are impressive. They both talk a different formal language, the Honda being an experiment in the futuristic aesthetic while the Linea being contemporary and sensuous to a certain degree. I feel that the headlamps on the Linea could have been more restrained.

India is a very different car market where even Hyundai Santros get sold by the millions and demand great resale values. So there is no doubt that we associate run of the mill Honda Citys with prestige. The Fiats are also ordinary cars worldwide but one has to admit that they are better built ordinary cars.
At the prices they are offering the Linea, one gets nearly a lakh rupees worth of additional equipment at half a lakh rupees lesser than the City S manual. And ofcourse a diesel..thats a steal.

Any latest update by users as to what is fuel efficiency or average on Fiat Linea(Diesel) and Hona City present model CVT for city driving and high way driving.

Regards

jagdeep,

Can you please send me you full view on Fiat Linea Diesel Emotion PK as I am interested in it. Please send it to jben1962@gmail.com.

Similarly if any other friends want to send their views about Linea (actual views from those who have purchased would be better instead of just test driving and writing the views)

Regards

Benedict

Yea id heard about the Tata and fiat tie up ,but seriously guys why should TATA provide good service to Fiat ? its not like theyll not do it well but ....comparing it to Honda or Maruti ...

And the spare parts ? well i went for a ride in both the cars Linea for a test drive and my friends New city and Linea has a hollowness to it , ESPECIALLY THE ORANGE COLORED LEDs ...

not happening......and think about it ,if a company is selling a C segment Car which provides so much at 6.5-7 (incase of petrol) and another company (in case of Honda) for 8lakhs , there has to be a reason to support it ,

and noone can Overlook The V-tech

hello jagdeep

how is your experience with linea. which model. what about its driving comfort, mileage etc..  dealers claims 18+. what about u. how is its power. share ur pictures and full view with us

Hi Everybody

I am writing about features which gives feel good factors in LINEA.

I will post my reviews about other things later on

Blue&Me

First of all I want to praise LINEA blue&me system. I want to tell you that I am a technology freak and an Electronics engineer & prefer products from LINUX platform instead of Microsoft. But this time I am amazed with the Kind of voice recognition system that Microsoft added to LINEA. Believe me there  is no need to train the system to recognize your voice as this is required in most other voice recognition softwares. It just works out-of-box. Now I just press windows button and say “ call rohit” the call is placed. If no is not in phonebook then I have to say “dial”. The blue&me will ask for number and I spell whole no in 1 go like “9872938883” and system dial perfectly without any error. The other thing is I never need to touch my phone while driving to receive call, make call or read incoming messages. When I am driving with my friends then I can pick my call by using phone easily for privacy, no need to disable Blue&Me.

The message reader in this system is also good and we play with it by sending hindi/Punjabi SMS which seems to be some foreigner speaking in hindi.

I am using sony ericcson w350i phone which costs  around 7K. I have sold my big N80 to buy this slim and easy to carry phone. Before buying the car I was in doubt that I have to change my phone and perhaps Blue&Me require only Windows Compatible phone. But this phone works good with it.

Speed warning:

The salesman told me to drive the car under 70km/h for first 1000km. Although there is nothing like this written in owner manual but I still agreed to follow his advice. So what I have done set the speed warning indicator on 65 so automatically informs me when I am over-speeding.

Control switchs:

Almost all switches inside linea are electronic i.e. no mechanical switches

Parking switch, boot release, front/rear fog lamps, high beam etc.

Vanity mirror:

Vanity mirrors are on both side has two very cool lights around each mirror.

Automatic Climate Control:

The ACC is full automatic is also intelligent. Let us say outside temperature is 15c and I want to maintain 21c inside and the car is just started so the there will not be enough heat to send warm air inside cabin. So in this case the Fan will be run low speed and automatically speed increases as it is able to send warm air.

About fuel economy it gives me 19.4 for 700km journey

TripA distance 700km (500km highway + 200km city + 1hr in traffic jam in Ludhiana)

mostly driven @ speed  70km/h on highway

Fuel Consumed 36lts (Rs 1150 @ 32.xx rs diesel)

So gives me the average consumption of 19.4 km/l . I think it is good because it is a mix of city and highway driving.  

But figures will change when i drive at higher speed but still i will not stuck in long jams because in chandigarh probability of jams is not so high.

 and will post pictures tomorrow

Excellent initial review there Jagdeep!

Do write in with more driving experiances and the rear seat headroom personal take.

Would love some pictures-as yours is the first Linea on the forum!

Jagdeep,

Cool review. I like the fact that you stressed on the 'tech' part of the car. I made a geek like me happy.

Congrats on being the first buyer of Linea. Cheers.

Update us more on handling, driving, comfort and last but not the least 'the audio'.

It would be a lot of help to the prospective buyers.

Please do create a new thread in the 'Review' section. Do put tonnes of pictures.

mucho gracias. update more on ride, driving comfort and handling."tech" part was nice.