Ride & Handling, Steering - Fiat Palio Stile 1.1 road test

Palio has very good ride quality, but involving handling as well.

Ride & Handling, Steering

The Palio has only recently lost its crown for the best ride quality in the small car segment to the Indica Vista. No matter how big the pothole, it'll thump through without upsetting the occupants of the cabin. This doesn't mean that it has bad handling – slightly tall tyres notwithstanding, it'll turn in oh-so-sharply and steer itself on the throttle if you want it to. It'll also stay rock steady at whatever speed you choose. The steering wheel is extremely chatty – you can feel everything that's going on when you're corner-carving, but the tallish profile of the tyres and low power assist can be a pain at parking speeds. The Palio is reasonably high off the ground, and coupled with the 165/80 R13 tyres and a fairly flattish underside, ground clearance is never a problem.