Fiat Palio

Fiat is hoping to revive the Palio — and customers’ faith in it — with the talented Multijet diesel under its hood. Fiat has always had a good car in the Palio, it has got a solid build and a comfortable cabin. Never mind the after- sales support, the 1.1l petrol didn’t have enough in it to hustle the car along and the 1.6 was a true hot hatch, but burnt a hole in the pocket with the fuel bills.

Well, now you can get the best of both since Fiat India has introduced the 1.3 Multijet engine (which it developed and has given to Suzuki under license) on the Palio. Yes, it’s the same engine that has everyone raving about the Swift diesel. There are a few exterior changes to the Palio, the most prominent being the new grille and logo. Apart from these, the design is the same as the petrol Palio Stile. On the inside, this car doesn’t feel like any other hatchback; it is solidly built. But sadly the interiors have been left unchanged and clearly look outdated, especially when compared to the modern Swift.

Look closely and you’ll notice some cost-cutting too — the moulded roof-lining doesn’t extend down the B-pillar and the handbrake looks and feels cheap. Ergonomically, the cabin is very good. Both front and rear seats offer good legroom and support all around.

Start the engine and you can tell it’s a diesel under the hood, but it isn’t as noisy as the diesel engine Fiat once offered on the Palio. It is quite smooth and the light clutch and gearshift make it quite stress-free to drive. The initial throttle response is sluggish, but after 2000rpmthat it thrusts forward till 4000rpm after which power tails off.

In fact, the Palio’s ride and handling can even put a few saloons to shame.

Fuel efficiency figures are expected to be comparable to the Swift diesel’s, considering both cars have a similar kerb weight. We expect Palio to undercut the Swift Diesel on price and that makes it good value. However, don’t forget that the Fiats don’t hold resale value as well as Marutis do, so that might even out in the end.

The Palio diesel deserves to succeed, with the promises it makes of fantastic build quality, ride and handling, and a fun yet frugal engine. Only time will tell if it will.