This is also a copy of my earlier post on www.dogstail.wordpress.com
Its been some time since I have been active on the site, given my extremely lazy and laidback attitude to life and everything else. Some time back I wrote a piece on comparison between Fiat Palio mjd and Maruti Swift Ldi/ Vdi, which has been very popular. After the analysis I then went and purchased a Maruti Swift Ldi in late Mar, 2008 based on the reasons that you can read here.
I wanted to write something about owning a Swift Diesel. Now whenever one experiences anything it is coloured by the persons previous experiences. My motoring experience is coloured by the fact that I owned an Esteem for some time, then I went for a Wagan R, then drove Fiat palio for 4 long years and then have now bought a Swift LDi. In between I had an opportunity to lay my hands on a Santro, Indica, Alto and even a Maruti Omni. Since most of life on wheels has been spent behind steering wheel of a Fiat palio 1.2 ELPS, naturally I will tend to compare my experiences with the very superior performance of the Fiat in almost all departments.
I purchased Swift Diesel, because I wanted more mileage and Fiat was sleeping on its Palio MJD and Grande Punto Launches and also I have had some very bitter experiences with the Fiat Service. I was a bit apprehensive about Swift as Most Maruti Cars tend to be flimsily build with very little tolerance for bad roads and rough driving.
Now that I have driven more than 6000 Kms since 25th March, 2008. I have had some good surprises and some of the prejudices about Maruti have remained.
The looks are pretty unconventional and the reactions also are on extreme side. You can either love it or hate it, there is no middle path for this car. Some people like me even though they do not like the looks, have bought the vehicle, only goes to show the superior characteristics of the vehicle compared to others in same class. By same class I mean similar size, engine and seating capacity. Pricewise this vehicle is much more expensive than the competition, with almost Rs. 20000.00 lead over the Palio multijet and more than Rs. 1 lakh on the Indica. The looks are further spoiled by the thin 165 size tyres on the otherwise very chunky profile. It looks like a Sumo wrestler suffering from Rickets. Maruti has tried to squeeze maximum out of this vehicle. Thats why you get see such cheap cost cutting measures. I wonder how much more does it cost to put a 185 size tyres than 165, when bought directly from OEM. Some basic equipment like Tachometer and Prismatic rear view mirror are not available on the LDi model.
Swift like all Maruti's is delicately built with lot of plastic staples holding the inside door panels and the carpeting. The plastic staples invariable start coming out after some time, especially if your door panels have been opened for fitting the remote locking and power windows. This reults in very annoying door rattles, while driving on rough roads and when careless co-passengers slam in the doors. The bumpers have started to come loose after driving on some rough Kerala roads.
Leg room is adequate for medium sized passengers, but reduces significantly if the driver is above 6 ft and uses all the available back slide. The drivers seating position was difficult to get used to, as the seat itself is flat and the lumbar support is not exactly where the lumbar vertebrae are, and is located slightly higher up, which results in very awkward seating positions for the driver, which has actually caused some back-aches during slightly long drives. Now after much experimenting I have arrived at a relatively comfortable driving position. In this postion the AC & Stereo controls are too far off and I have to bend forward to reach them. Of course in Fiat the seat encloses you in its embrace and no position is bad for your comfort.
The switches and knobs are high quality and have soft luxurious action. Gear throw is short and crisp and makes this vehicle a delight to handle on quick overtakes.
The engine is the same 1248 CC Multijet that the Fiat uses albiet Maruti uses a different gear box, which allows it to have Overdrive ratios in 4th and 5th Gears. For the mechanically challenged Overdrives are gears which allow the drive shaft to rotate faster then the engine, therefore theoretically being more fuel efficient. Maruti Swft also has larger wheels, which means that it covers more distance for same number of rotations, which also makes it more fuel efficient. I am normally a very placid driver and therefore get more than average mileage out of any vehicle that I drive. In my first tankfull I got 20 kmpl, and after that the figure has been progressively on the rise and the car is now consistently delivering around 24 Kmpl. The driving is a mixture of town, open highways, winding roads. AC is on during day time. You can read further on getting more mileage out of your vehicles here.
The engine is enourmously torquey and allows me to take-off in first gear with full AC, without pressing the A pedial. Initially when the vehicle was new it was quite noisy but now it has mellowed down quite a bit. As the A pedal is pushed it is possible to make out the slight whine of the turbine as it spools up, when you leave the pedal the turbo whines down. It is much fun to push the pedal to varying degrees and hear the different sounds that the turbine makes. Just around 1500 rpm the turbocharger becomes effective and the results can be heard in sudden increase in engine clatter. In first and second gears the turbocharging does not result in back pushing acceleration, but as the driver pushes 1500 rpm in 3rd gear and beyond the acceleration is phenomenal. Enough to overtake anything blocking your view on the road. The torque with turbocharging is such that I can climb gradients in 5th gear, which in a similarly powered Petrol vehicle I would have struggled in 3rd. Of course a small momentum has to be built up before attempting any high speed climbing.
The engine noise does go up with turbocharging but at high speeds does not intrude much into the cabin. In 1st and 2 nd gears you know that its a diesel motor. 3rd gear onwards the sound & vibrations progressively reduce. in 5th between 60 and 80 kmph you wonder why people buy petrol vehicles. It is very easy to get addicted to the torque after 60 kmph. Just a tap of Acc pedal and the vehicle lunges forward. Sometimes absent mindedly I try to shift into the non-existent 6th gear. There is so much of torque. The top speed compared to the petrol variant I think is limited by the gear box and the fact that Diesel motors are low revving compared to Petrol ones.
It is possible to feel the high torque and the Engine Management System, if you try to stall the vehicle at low speeds say in 3rd gear. The computer tries to maintain a constant rpm of around 900 and pushes the vehicles and you can actualy feel the vehcle accelerating hard without pressing the A pedal. It is also possible to idle at 50 kmph in 5th gear. The combination of high torque and computers does not allow the engine to stall, though it should not be practiced as the vehicle vibrates a lot.
My complaint regarding poor road holding and stability when compared to Fiat remains. The vehicle bounces on rough patches, and is decidedly nervous when turning on a rough road. With full load of passengers it is Ok though.
The nice small cubby holes in the dash are good for storing knick-knacks, but a larger glove box is sorely missed. The dash itself is very chunky and when opening the glove box, you would expect a larger storage area but you are greeted by a small sliver of a drawer, which can hold your service booklets and very little of anything else. The boot is only 35 ltrs less than Fiat but feels smaller as the usable area decreases sharply due to tapering profile of the vehicle. It is difficult to put large suitcases in the boot, but more stuff can be forced in if packed in smaller and softer luggage.
AC is a delight and it chills immediately. Infact it is better to use it with thermostat slightly above the full cool setting to prevent freezing. Power steering is soft and razor sharp. The vehicle goes precisely where pointed to and does not need constant adjustment. the 4.7 mtr turning radius, a full 40 cms less than Fiat helps in tight parking lots. A 20 cm shorter length also aids in easy maneuverability.
The service at Kottayam Popular was professional and courteous. A far cry from Fiat service. A service supervisor comes and takes over the vehicle, asks and checks for problems. He himself delivers back the vehicle, washed and nicely cleaned, after confirming that the problems mentioned earlier have been corrected. Though they love to profer useless services and stuff such as underbody coating, fibre floor mats etc. Dont listen to them if you dont want to. Overall good service. Maruti recommends oil change every 10000 kms, which further reduces the cost of maintenance. Although they could have done better with finer oil filters, thereby increasing the oil change period to 30000 kms as they do in Europe.
Maruti has gone ahead and built what they have never done before. A Car that actually drives and feels like a European vehicle, though they still fall short on many parameters, but they have improved the model with each passing year. If you drive the first batch of Swifts and then drive the current models then the differences are immediately apparent. The body rattle is significantly reduced. Clutch action is much better and softer.
Verdict, Buy if you have spare cash and drive at least than 800 Kms per month otherwise the fuel economy of diesel is quickly eroded by interest costs of alomost Rs. 80000.00 that you pay extra for the diesel. Buy if you are a crazy drag racer.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
How ro get Maximum Mileage out of your Fiat Palio or any vehicle for that matter...
This is another copy of my earlier post on www.dogstail.wordpress.com
Read On
This column is about how to get more mileage out of your Fiat Palio. Why Fiat Palio. Because I have one and I have perfected the art of getting Maximum mileage out of the machine. The tips here apply to most other Indian Cars also.
Fiat Palio in India is a much maligned model. To top its gas guzzling reputation the dealers and company left the customers in a lurch. Last year I read a news article in which the head of Fiat India was proudly announcing launch of online spare parts ordering system, wherein the dealers can go online and order the spares. They can also check a VOR (Vehicle Off Road) button and spares will be despatched on priority. The cynic in me didn’t fail to notice that why allow vehicles go off road in first place. It’s a shame that a vehicle of such calibre as Fiat Palio is allowed to remain off road as some Italian clowns didn’t have time to maintain adequate inventories. OK Fiat bashing is besides the point which can become a topic for another article.
You would like to ask how much mileage I am getting in a 1.2 ELPS (petrol) , model which is marketed in India. I am managing 15 Km/ Ltr on mixed roads, which includes bit of city, bit of open highway and bit of hilly roads with AC on 50% of the time. My Palio has been delivering this ever since I am running her. This is very much contrary to the general feedback that I have from people that they are barely able to get 10 or 12. Recently my father-in-law drove the same car and he could barely manage 9.
What’s the secret? It is all very simple actually….. First you must know your vehicle.
Fiat is a very spirited vehicle and if you are bit heavy on the right pedal then the motor just revs on and begs to go faster.
You do not notice speed because of excellent noise damping, suspension and body work which does not shake or rattle as you rev up the vehicle, and you do not hear the engine until you have already burnt a lot of gas. Rarely any of us see the tachometer (which is the rev-counter).
So if you desire higher mileage then you must learn & practice as I have done. These can be applied to almost all the vehicles.
1. Do other things that they routinely tell you. Maintain good air pressure, service regularly, keep all fluids topped up and use good petrol. If possible us ones with cleaning additives.
2. Learn to be one with the vehicle, which is a slightly Zen concept, but just learn to feel the vibrations. Cars communicate through subtle vibrations through steering, seat & pedals etc. It is always not possible to check on the meters regularly.
3. Starting up : DO not press the accelerator pedal while starting, which is a hangover for us middle aged drivers who have grown up on Carburetted engines. The fiat and most other vehicles have MPFI engines, which do not need pedal pressing while starting.
4. After putting the vehicle into first gear, let in the clutch gently, feel it bite the drive train and then only push the race gently. Most cars including fiat are sufficiently powerful to take on the vehicle load without accelerating in 1st gear. In fact I do not press the race till the vehicle has actually started moving.
5. Move into 2nd gear quickly at about 10 kmph
6. Move to 3rd at about 30 kmph
7. Move to 4th at about 40 kmph
8. Drive in 5th gear at all speeds beyond 50 kmph. Almost all cars including the humble Maruti Alto, is able to pull from this speed upwards in 5th gear.
9. Off course you may not be the first one of the block on a red light, but that’s not our aim here.
10. Switch on the AC once you have driven for about 2 mins.
11. In heavy traffic I generally put my vehicle in 1st gear and allow it to coast with the pace of traffic without touching the accelerator. If required I coast in 2nd gear.Fial Palio can take this load with full AC. But it requires a gentle pedal if you are staring from stop with AC on.
12. While changing down shift from 5th to 4th only when you reach 40 kmph, 4th to 3rd at 30 kmph, 3rd to 2nd at 20 kmph, In a moving vehicle 1st gear would be required only if you are slower than 10 kmph.
13. While driving uphill increase your gear changing speeds by 5 kmph to take care of momentum loss due to gradient. Mostly it will be very difficult to pull any decent gradient in anything more than 3rd gear. DO not try to drive at 60 to 70 in 5th gear at a gradient in full throttle. The vehicle might climb but after burning huge quantity of gas. As a thumb rule if you need to open more than 30% of the throttle then shift down into lower gear. The vehicle is very comfortable at these speeds without any unusual strain, vibrations or noise.
14. I have specifically not given any speed limits as the Palio and most vehicles easily reach above 80 kmph with barely 20% open throttle
15. Someone might follow the speed limits in each gear but still get less mileage. The key is acceleration. As a rule of thumb in normal driving do not open more than 20% of the throttle in normal driving. Allow the vehicle to gently accelerate to the indicated speed and then change up. Cruise with maximum 20% throttle, which is sufficient for 80 to 90 kmph on a decent road.
16. You can also open full and reach the indicated speeds faster but will also burn a lot of gas in the process.
17. Also there are other things such as anticipate your traffic and braking and drive accordingly. Don’t be surprised. Surprise leads to abrupt accelerations and braking which lead to excess fuel burnt.
18. For example if you are approaching dense traffic , let go of the pedal and coast to slower speeds and the drive on rather than running with throttle pressed till last moment, then slamming the brakes and again accelerating hard out of the traffic.
To sum it up the key is not low speeds, you can easily cruise at 80, 90 or 100 and still get good mileage provided you reach that speed gently without pushing too hard. In palio it is very difficult to know when you are pushing too hard because it is never too hard. You always want to go faster and the vehicle allows you to, without a hiccup or a stray sound. Key as I said before is to learn to listen with your hands and feet and your bums as you car tells you its time to shift up.
So drive gently and intelligently and see you mileage figures change. In the process you can also help cut on green house gasses emmision and pollution.
Read On
This column is about how to get more mileage out of your Fiat Palio. Why Fiat Palio. Because I have one and I have perfected the art of getting Maximum mileage out of the machine. The tips here apply to most other Indian Cars also.
Fiat Palio in India is a much maligned model. To top its gas guzzling reputation the dealers and company left the customers in a lurch. Last year I read a news article in which the head of Fiat India was proudly announcing launch of online spare parts ordering system, wherein the dealers can go online and order the spares. They can also check a VOR (Vehicle Off Road) button and spares will be despatched on priority. The cynic in me didn’t fail to notice that why allow vehicles go off road in first place. It’s a shame that a vehicle of such calibre as Fiat Palio is allowed to remain off road as some Italian clowns didn’t have time to maintain adequate inventories. OK Fiat bashing is besides the point which can become a topic for another article.
You would like to ask how much mileage I am getting in a 1.2 ELPS (petrol) , model which is marketed in India. I am managing 15 Km/ Ltr on mixed roads, which includes bit of city, bit of open highway and bit of hilly roads with AC on 50% of the time. My Palio has been delivering this ever since I am running her. This is very much contrary to the general feedback that I have from people that they are barely able to get 10 or 12. Recently my father-in-law drove the same car and he could barely manage 9.
What’s the secret? It is all very simple actually….. First you must know your vehicle.
Fiat is a very spirited vehicle and if you are bit heavy on the right pedal then the motor just revs on and begs to go faster.
You do not notice speed because of excellent noise damping, suspension and body work which does not shake or rattle as you rev up the vehicle, and you do not hear the engine until you have already burnt a lot of gas. Rarely any of us see the tachometer (which is the rev-counter).
So if you desire higher mileage then you must learn & practice as I have done. These can be applied to almost all the vehicles.
1. Do other things that they routinely tell you. Maintain good air pressure, service regularly, keep all fluids topped up and use good petrol. If possible us ones with cleaning additives.
2. Learn to be one with the vehicle, which is a slightly Zen concept, but just learn to feel the vibrations. Cars communicate through subtle vibrations through steering, seat & pedals etc. It is always not possible to check on the meters regularly.
3. Starting up : DO not press the accelerator pedal while starting, which is a hangover for us middle aged drivers who have grown up on Carburetted engines. The fiat and most other vehicles have MPFI engines, which do not need pedal pressing while starting.
4. After putting the vehicle into first gear, let in the clutch gently, feel it bite the drive train and then only push the race gently. Most cars including fiat are sufficiently powerful to take on the vehicle load without accelerating in 1st gear. In fact I do not press the race till the vehicle has actually started moving.
5. Move into 2nd gear quickly at about 10 kmph
6. Move to 3rd at about 30 kmph
7. Move to 4th at about 40 kmph
8. Drive in 5th gear at all speeds beyond 50 kmph. Almost all cars including the humble Maruti Alto, is able to pull from this speed upwards in 5th gear.
9. Off course you may not be the first one of the block on a red light, but that’s not our aim here.
10. Switch on the AC once you have driven for about 2 mins.
11. In heavy traffic I generally put my vehicle in 1st gear and allow it to coast with the pace of traffic without touching the accelerator. If required I coast in 2nd gear.Fial Palio can take this load with full AC. But it requires a gentle pedal if you are staring from stop with AC on.
12. While changing down shift from 5th to 4th only when you reach 40 kmph, 4th to 3rd at 30 kmph, 3rd to 2nd at 20 kmph, In a moving vehicle 1st gear would be required only if you are slower than 10 kmph.
13. While driving uphill increase your gear changing speeds by 5 kmph to take care of momentum loss due to gradient. Mostly it will be very difficult to pull any decent gradient in anything more than 3rd gear. DO not try to drive at 60 to 70 in 5th gear at a gradient in full throttle. The vehicle might climb but after burning huge quantity of gas. As a thumb rule if you need to open more than 30% of the throttle then shift down into lower gear. The vehicle is very comfortable at these speeds without any unusual strain, vibrations or noise.
14. I have specifically not given any speed limits as the Palio and most vehicles easily reach above 80 kmph with barely 20% open throttle
15. Someone might follow the speed limits in each gear but still get less mileage. The key is acceleration. As a rule of thumb in normal driving do not open more than 20% of the throttle in normal driving. Allow the vehicle to gently accelerate to the indicated speed and then change up. Cruise with maximum 20% throttle, which is sufficient for 80 to 90 kmph on a decent road.
16. You can also open full and reach the indicated speeds faster but will also burn a lot of gas in the process.
17. Also there are other things such as anticipate your traffic and braking and drive accordingly. Don’t be surprised. Surprise leads to abrupt accelerations and braking which lead to excess fuel burnt.
18. For example if you are approaching dense traffic , let go of the pedal and coast to slower speeds and the drive on rather than running with throttle pressed till last moment, then slamming the brakes and again accelerating hard out of the traffic.
To sum it up the key is not low speeds, you can easily cruise at 80, 90 or 100 and still get good mileage provided you reach that speed gently without pushing too hard. In palio it is very difficult to know when you are pushing too hard because it is never too hard. You always want to go faster and the vehicle allows you to, without a hiccup or a stray sound. Key as I said before is to learn to listen with your hands and feet and your bums as you car tells you its time to shift up.
So drive gently and intelligently and see you mileage figures change. In the process you can also help cut on green house gasses emmision and pollution.
Fiat Palio Multijet Vs. Swift DDis
This is a copy of my post on www.dogstail.wordpress.com.
I just thought I should shift my all auto related content to a single specialised blog. So here it is.
I am a great fan of Fiat Palio. I owned one for the last 4 years before deciding to move onto something more economical like a Swift Diesel. Not that my Palio was a thirsty baby, just that it used to run on Petrol and given the way Petrol prices are I thought I should switch to Diesel.
You can read my older entry on Fiat Palio mileage HERE
I loved my Palio 1.2 ELPS extremely smooth ride and amazing handling. It took a really bad stretch of Road to perturb my baby. Most holes and ruts could not be felt at all, many were just a small sound, some were a bit of a wobble but it took it in its stride without a jerk, jars, tail twisting or loss of direction. I could really throw it around the curves at 60 -80 kmph, without any fear, whatsoever. With curves I mean curves on Kerala roads, which are a bit more curvaceous than most. I agree that I achieved the feat with 185 size tyres, which are a definite improvement on the stock 165.
Actually I was waiting for Fiat to launch the Grande Punto at the end of 2007, but that was getting postponed indefinitely, meanwhile I landed a good buyer for my old Palio and I decided to let her go, with some grief in my heart. I then immediately booked my next set of wheels in the form of a Swift DDiS. Immediately after my booking Fiat launched their own Multijet Palio. I thought that I should check out this vehicle before I take delivery of the Swift DDiS.
So I landed up at the Tata Fiat showroom in Cochin and the test drive vehicle was immediately available. I looked and saw this Silver Grey shape which looked similar to Palio. Now the old Palio had a nice muscular, thickly curved bonnet, which lent it a very aggressive stance. The new vehicle's bonnet seems to have been flattened a bit and the curves toned down, I think maybe to improve visibility. The grill looks good but looks like an afterthought rather than an organic part of the vehicle.
I opened the door and was greeted by a familiar layout complete with the Blue oval key. Only change is the Beige colour which they have tried to incorporate to lend a slightly modern look, but given the quality of plastic used looks a bit cheap actually. Cheap plastic looks better in dark Grey shapes rather than beige. If a company should use beige then the plastic should be similar to ones used in Chevy Aveo at least. Anyway......the layout is completely same as old Palio, they have not even given a digital odo/ trip meter. AC controls are same with heating and direction controlled by rotary controls.
Once I turned the key there was an earthquake and the whole Car shook once and then settled into a steady tak-tak-tak of a Diesel motor. The sound actually intrudes quite a bit into the cabin and the vibrations could be felt right through the steering wheel and the seats.
The ride quality remains as good as ever. Though the original fitment 165 tyres dont do much justice to the handling capabilities of the Palio. Under normal driving they are OK though, and the low profile of the vehicle and lower passenger seating helps bring down the centre of gravity and helps to hug the road . On Swift DDiS the 165 size tyres are positively dangerous, lacking in grip and frequently skidding under hard braking. Only when Swift is carrying four passengers it feels attached to the Road. So if you normally drive solo on bad roads, the the tyres should be upgraded to at least 185/ 70, or drive very carefully.
The Palio gear lever is the same though I feel with a smaller and cheaper gear knob. Gone are the precise gates and slick shifting. The lever is all wobbly and the gates are wide and sometimes difficult to find. Engage the first gear and release the clutch and you need not press the Acc pedal, the clutch immediately bites and the vehicle shoots of the mark. In-fact it is quite disconcerting. There is very little gap between fully disengaged and when it starts to engage, which means that the clutch needs to be fully pressed before engaging the gear and that it may be slightly difficult in bumper-to-bumper traffic where I drive only with the clutch. Also if the clutch is not released very smoothly the engine can also stall, like I managed to do once, even with a 1 lac kms plus experience on fiats. Swift on the other hand have come up with nothing I have seen on Maruti before. The gear lever is delightfully short throw, with nice smooth shifts, which click in with lovely TIK sound. The clutch also is light and has a good gap between fully depressed and when it starts engaging.
Both vehicles pickup is awesome with huge tank like roar filling the cabin as you push in the A pedal. The noise starts to get bothersome very early in the Palio and by around 1500 rpm in Swift and may actually intrude in the driving pleasure as I love to listen to some music while tootling along.
Once you have reached a decent speed you need to brake. The Palio brakes are powerful and have an immediate bite like the clutch. I feel there should be smooth gradient in the brake force starting with a touch to some hard pressing. Old fiats had this nice gradient. With the pressure you could smoothly vary the braking force. Here the pressure comes all of sudden. A peculiar thing which I noticed was that brakes don't disengage immediately when I released the pedal. There was just a fraction of a second delay before the wheels felt free from the iron grip. THe sales person said that it could be a problem with this vehicle only. Swift's Brakes are also quite good and have the nice gradient which I have mentioned earlier.
AC is good and does not affect vehicle performance much in both cases, but pick-up from low rpms in high gears becomes slow, but that is hardly important as it is very rarely that I need to it. Palio says 184 Nm torque compared to Swift's 190, but its impossible to make out the difference.
Palio also has this nice double barrel head lamps which illuminate the road nicely, though in true European fashion are highly focussed, designed not to blind the fellow coming from opposite side. But in India we have lot of ignorant and arrogant drivers who drive with high beam on. Swift's headlights are a nice cure for such drivers. It throws a very wide diffused high beam which can blind such drivers coming from the opposite side and motivate them to dip their own lights.
Swift for all its good looks is built quite flimsily with door panels that actually stretch when the door is closed. Something or the other keeps making a nagging rattling sound. The bumps which could not even be felt in a Palio are a heard and those that could be felt, positively make a jarring noise in the Swift. If the road is rough when you are taking a turn, you might end up loosing control of your tail, as it bounces out tangentially. Suspension is very hard and 36 psi of tyre pressure in the front does not help at all.
Swift seating is high with a lot of visibility, which helps handle this very wide vehicle. The seats are OK though not as comfortable as a Palio. The driving position is also not very good. I with 6 ft of height have to stretch for every control if I adopt a relatively comfortable driving position. Palio's controls are within easy reach, I could comforably adjust AC controls by resting my hand on the gear shift.
Swift may probably have little advantage in Fuel economy as it rides on bigger diameter tyres and has overdrive in 4th and 5th gears, whereas Palio has it only in the 5th. Palio though may have better city driveabilty, but with almost maximum 19 Kgs of torque (same as Skoda 1.9 TDi) both vehicles can be driven comfortably in any gear. Frankly with so much of Torque available, Palio could have done better by having Overdrive gears in 4th also. This when previous 1.2, 1.6 all had overdrives in both 4th and 5th gears.
Swift is serviced by Maruti, which has very wide network of fully equipped Dealer workshops and they have been servicing the vehicles for more than a year now, whereas in case of Fiat, all Tata dealerships have yet to get Fiat products and many still dont service them.
Multijet is a sophisticated engine and I would rather trust Maruti with the service than some Fiat trained Tata dealer workshop who is used to working on miniature truck engines.
Feature for feature Palio MJD wins hands down, with the top end SDX being almost Rs. 20000.00 cheaper than the Swift VDi. Come to think of it the Swift Ldi does not even have basic safety features like the passenger seat head restraints, Central Locking, Tachometer and prismatic rear view mirror and luxuries such as power windows and cigarette lighter, which even Palio SDE comes with.
Anyway my test drive was over and I decided to take delivery of my Swift DDiS.
First impressions of the Palio Multijet ?? It makes a lot of noise and vibrates a lot, I feel even more than the old 1.9 Palio D. Even Swift makes similar sounds but they don't intrude into the cabin until around 1500 rpm, which is where I do most of my driving. At least I could not feel the vibrations in Swift. Palio seems to have forgotten some of its good points, while Maruti seems to have picked up a lot..
As much as I loved my Palio 1.2 I cannot forget that once it took Fiat 2 months to arrange for a rocker arm, and all the while I had drive with a damaged Rocker arm. Its only a Palio that could have survived being driven around with a damaged Rocker arm and it could have been only Fiat, which could have left its customers in a lurch like that. I could have forgotten that had they come up with something superlative, but this is quite ordinary, even though it costs less than the comparable Swift.
So even though I am diehard fan of Fiat and my heart says Palio, my brain ruled in the favour of Maruti Swift in-spite of all the wekanesses, for the sheer peace of mind that comes with it. I will allow Fiat some time to grow and become more experienced in manufacturing, selling and servicing before spending my lakhs of Rupees with them Maybe it will be a beautiful Linea.....or something absolutely ravishing like the Bravo. But that is in future
I just thought I should shift my all auto related content to a single specialised blog. So here it is.
I am a great fan of Fiat Palio. I owned one for the last 4 years before deciding to move onto something more economical like a Swift Diesel. Not that my Palio was a thirsty baby, just that it used to run on Petrol and given the way Petrol prices are I thought I should switch to Diesel.
You can read my older entry on Fiat Palio mileage HERE
I loved my Palio 1.2 ELPS extremely smooth ride and amazing handling. It took a really bad stretch of Road to perturb my baby. Most holes and ruts could not be felt at all, many were just a small sound, some were a bit of a wobble but it took it in its stride without a jerk, jars, tail twisting or loss of direction. I could really throw it around the curves at 60 -80 kmph, without any fear, whatsoever. With curves I mean curves on Kerala roads, which are a bit more curvaceous than most. I agree that I achieved the feat with 185 size tyres, which are a definite improvement on the stock 165.
Actually I was waiting for Fiat to launch the Grande Punto at the end of 2007, but that was getting postponed indefinitely, meanwhile I landed a good buyer for my old Palio and I decided to let her go, with some grief in my heart. I then immediately booked my next set of wheels in the form of a Swift DDiS. Immediately after my booking Fiat launched their own Multijet Palio. I thought that I should check out this vehicle before I take delivery of the Swift DDiS.
So I landed up at the Tata Fiat showroom in Cochin and the test drive vehicle was immediately available. I looked and saw this Silver Grey shape which looked similar to Palio. Now the old Palio had a nice muscular, thickly curved bonnet, which lent it a very aggressive stance. The new vehicle's bonnet seems to have been flattened a bit and the curves toned down, I think maybe to improve visibility. The grill looks good but looks like an afterthought rather than an organic part of the vehicle.
I opened the door and was greeted by a familiar layout complete with the Blue oval key. Only change is the Beige colour which they have tried to incorporate to lend a slightly modern look, but given the quality of plastic used looks a bit cheap actually. Cheap plastic looks better in dark Grey shapes rather than beige. If a company should use beige then the plastic should be similar to ones used in Chevy Aveo at least. Anyway......the layout is completely same as old Palio, they have not even given a digital odo/ trip meter. AC controls are same with heating and direction controlled by rotary controls.
Once I turned the key there was an earthquake and the whole Car shook once and then settled into a steady tak-tak-tak of a Diesel motor. The sound actually intrudes quite a bit into the cabin and the vibrations could be felt right through the steering wheel and the seats.
The ride quality remains as good as ever. Though the original fitment 165 tyres dont do much justice to the handling capabilities of the Palio. Under normal driving they are OK though, and the low profile of the vehicle and lower passenger seating helps bring down the centre of gravity and helps to hug the road . On Swift DDiS the 165 size tyres are positively dangerous, lacking in grip and frequently skidding under hard braking. Only when Swift is carrying four passengers it feels attached to the Road. So if you normally drive solo on bad roads, the the tyres should be upgraded to at least 185/ 70, or drive very carefully.
The Palio gear lever is the same though I feel with a smaller and cheaper gear knob. Gone are the precise gates and slick shifting. The lever is all wobbly and the gates are wide and sometimes difficult to find. Engage the first gear and release the clutch and you need not press the Acc pedal, the clutch immediately bites and the vehicle shoots of the mark. In-fact it is quite disconcerting. There is very little gap between fully disengaged and when it starts to engage, which means that the clutch needs to be fully pressed before engaging the gear and that it may be slightly difficult in bumper-to-bumper traffic where I drive only with the clutch. Also if the clutch is not released very smoothly the engine can also stall, like I managed to do once, even with a 1 lac kms plus experience on fiats. Swift on the other hand have come up with nothing I have seen on Maruti before. The gear lever is delightfully short throw, with nice smooth shifts, which click in with lovely TIK sound. The clutch also is light and has a good gap between fully depressed and when it starts engaging.
Both vehicles pickup is awesome with huge tank like roar filling the cabin as you push in the A pedal. The noise starts to get bothersome very early in the Palio and by around 1500 rpm in Swift and may actually intrude in the driving pleasure as I love to listen to some music while tootling along.
Once you have reached a decent speed you need to brake. The Palio brakes are powerful and have an immediate bite like the clutch. I feel there should be smooth gradient in the brake force starting with a touch to some hard pressing. Old fiats had this nice gradient. With the pressure you could smoothly vary the braking force. Here the pressure comes all of sudden. A peculiar thing which I noticed was that brakes don't disengage immediately when I released the pedal. There was just a fraction of a second delay before the wheels felt free from the iron grip. THe sales person said that it could be a problem with this vehicle only. Swift's Brakes are also quite good and have the nice gradient which I have mentioned earlier.
AC is good and does not affect vehicle performance much in both cases, but pick-up from low rpms in high gears becomes slow, but that is hardly important as it is very rarely that I need to it. Palio says 184 Nm torque compared to Swift's 190, but its impossible to make out the difference.
Palio also has this nice double barrel head lamps which illuminate the road nicely, though in true European fashion are highly focussed, designed not to blind the fellow coming from opposite side. But in India we have lot of ignorant and arrogant drivers who drive with high beam on. Swift's headlights are a nice cure for such drivers. It throws a very wide diffused high beam which can blind such drivers coming from the opposite side and motivate them to dip their own lights.
Swift for all its good looks is built quite flimsily with door panels that actually stretch when the door is closed. Something or the other keeps making a nagging rattling sound. The bumps which could not even be felt in a Palio are a heard and those that could be felt, positively make a jarring noise in the Swift. If the road is rough when you are taking a turn, you might end up loosing control of your tail, as it bounces out tangentially. Suspension is very hard and 36 psi of tyre pressure in the front does not help at all.
Swift seating is high with a lot of visibility, which helps handle this very wide vehicle. The seats are OK though not as comfortable as a Palio. The driving position is also not very good. I with 6 ft of height have to stretch for every control if I adopt a relatively comfortable driving position. Palio's controls are within easy reach, I could comforably adjust AC controls by resting my hand on the gear shift.
Swift may probably have little advantage in Fuel economy as it rides on bigger diameter tyres and has overdrive in 4th and 5th gears, whereas Palio has it only in the 5th. Palio though may have better city driveabilty, but with almost maximum 19 Kgs of torque (same as Skoda 1.9 TDi) both vehicles can be driven comfortably in any gear. Frankly with so much of Torque available, Palio could have done better by having Overdrive gears in 4th also. This when previous 1.2, 1.6 all had overdrives in both 4th and 5th gears.
Swift is serviced by Maruti, which has very wide network of fully equipped Dealer workshops and they have been servicing the vehicles for more than a year now, whereas in case of Fiat, all Tata dealerships have yet to get Fiat products and many still dont service them.
Multijet is a sophisticated engine and I would rather trust Maruti with the service than some Fiat trained Tata dealer workshop who is used to working on miniature truck engines.
Feature for feature Palio MJD wins hands down, with the top end SDX being almost Rs. 20000.00 cheaper than the Swift VDi. Come to think of it the Swift Ldi does not even have basic safety features like the passenger seat head restraints, Central Locking, Tachometer and prismatic rear view mirror and luxuries such as power windows and cigarette lighter, which even Palio SDE comes with.
Anyway my test drive was over and I decided to take delivery of my Swift DDiS.
First impressions of the Palio Multijet ?? It makes a lot of noise and vibrates a lot, I feel even more than the old 1.9 Palio D. Even Swift makes similar sounds but they don't intrude into the cabin until around 1500 rpm, which is where I do most of my driving. At least I could not feel the vibrations in Swift. Palio seems to have forgotten some of its good points, while Maruti seems to have picked up a lot..
As much as I loved my Palio 1.2 I cannot forget that once it took Fiat 2 months to arrange for a rocker arm, and all the while I had drive with a damaged Rocker arm. Its only a Palio that could have survived being driven around with a damaged Rocker arm and it could have been only Fiat, which could have left its customers in a lurch like that. I could have forgotten that had they come up with something superlative, but this is quite ordinary, even though it costs less than the comparable Swift.
So even though I am diehard fan of Fiat and my heart says Palio, my brain ruled in the favour of Maruti Swift in-spite of all the wekanesses, for the sheer peace of mind that comes with it. I will allow Fiat some time to grow and become more experienced in manufacturing, selling and servicing before spending my lakhs of Rupees with them Maybe it will be a beautiful Linea.....or something absolutely ravishing like the Bravo. But that is in future
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
