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Ok here it is; my 2 cents on the Petrol Linea. Had been waiting for a while to get my hands on the petrol version and so was quite excited when the dealer here in Delhi called me up to say that I could get a TD of the petrol engined Linea. I must say that before the TD , my mind was biased towards it being a sluggish car based on the Tech specs; 1.2 tons and only 89 bhp to power it? I had my doubts, but then again the old Honda City(not the VTEC) was only 77 bhp and well, nobody said nothing about that being a slowcoach!!!
Start the car, and one would have to listen hard, and I mean really hard, to hear the engine ticking over in the bonnet. Instantly , one gets the feeling that this car belongs to a segment higher than the one it is in. Slot the gear into 1st, and the car pulls away effortlessly. It's not going to pin you to the back of your seat when you suddenly hit the pedal to the metal, but it surges ahead gently, which will definitely be appreciated by the co-passengers as they wont get to experience that jerkiness which one would experience with sudden acceleration.
{ At this point, I think I should make one thing clear that I'm not looking to emulate a certain M.Schumacher or even trying to set a new lap record in my Grand Prix to nowhere. No Sir ; This car is being evaluated as a family sedan that will be comfortable, luxurious, and safe for the three of us(me, the mrs. and our 2 year old baby girl). For all my racing aspirations, I have a 1.6 GTX Palio with a free flow air intake, dual Elevo air intake superchargers and of course the headers with the free flow exhaust.}
OK back to Linea drive. The steering is definitely lighter than in its diesel engined sibling and the FIRE breathing car also feels much lighter and quicker to drive, simply because of the absence of turbo lag. But the thing that really blew me away was this; 4 people in the car, 3rd gear, 20 kmph speed and the car never felt like it was gasping for air; instead, it was crawling along peacefully in the traffic that we encounter in our daily commute. Step on the gas, and the linear acceleration of the Linea pulls you away with a kind of smoothness that is yet to be experienced in a car of this segment. As the speed builds, so does the confidence. Didn't have to think twice or stamp on the brakes, to negotiate the almost 90 degree corner at speeds nearing the 90 kmph mark; instead, the process was very straightforward; just point and shoot and the Linea held its line without any hint of understeer(something that front wheel drive cars are famous for) .
Big smile on my face, scary look of disbelief on the sales executive's face, and we proceeded sedately back to the showroom. Time to calm him down and what better way than to play some soothing music on 6 speaker Blaupunkt system. Luckily I'd carried my cd of "Death Cab for Cutie" and proceeded to fine tune the bass, treble and equalizer settings to my taste. While most people would be happy with the quality of sound, but honestly I feel something is missing; like maybe a 12 inch bass tube and a couple of 4 channel and monobloc amps to really feel the music. The guy said that any modification to the electrical system of the car(read wiring) would deem the warranty null and void . Hmm, I guess then I'll have to have all this done by the dealership itself which didn't seem to be problem with him. I'd also wanted first hand to check out the Trip computer with all its special functions but these can't be accessed through the buttons on the steering wheel. Instead one has to use the button that is located on the windshield wiper control stalk to the right of the steering. One needs to press it again and again to cycle through the menu on the Trip computer display; not very user friendly, at least for me.
But what about spares and after sales service ? The great thing is that the Linea needs to be serviced at intervals of 15k, which means that you could finish the three free services for a brand new Maruti while there would still be 5k km to go before the Linea is even due for an oil change!!! Spares ? According to the dealer, Fiat cant afford to screw up this time and they've taken steps to ensure no problems in this dept. I want to believe him, I really do, but I wont till i see it for myself. But this is a brand new dealership in Okhla, Delhi. Everything looks clean, polished and i made sure to explore the service area and was quite impressed by the manner in which the cars were being treated.
Happy, with what I had seen and felt, I now have to finally decide whether to trust Fiat again with my hard earned money. Will they be able to love and care for my car the way I do ? What about the resale value of the car? Such questions come to mind but then.... its settled. The Linea, true to it's catch line, is a very attractive car. It has a kind of magnetic personality, a charisma which just draws one to it. The Italians have always been known to make beautiful things; and who doesn't love beautiful things. I'm a full blooded man and yes, mine will be the Flamenco Red one.
" I'm a war, of head versus heart,
And it's always this way.
My head is weak, my heart always speaks,
Before I know what it will say."
Update 17/06/09 :. The Red got very common and I wanted mine to be special, one in a Billion! Went for the vocal white instead!Yes, I have my very own Emotion Petrol to add to my Palio GTX. So, she's in the workshop now getting transformed. Hope to get her back by the weekend in her new avtar. Will write about the detailed "Transformation" .
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