Fiat India introduced Palio 1.3 NV, which, apart from the NV badge on the boot, looked familiar as ever. It also sported a Fiat centenary logo on the hatch. The car’s catalytic converter has been brought closer to the exhaust manifold, which makes for better controlled emissions during cold starts, and improved fuel efficiency. Other notable changes include a modified temperature regulator for the air-conditioning system which is supposed to reduce the compressor’s load on the engine (again affecting mileage), and a new air dam under the front bumper. The NV also gets a tachometer (earlier available only on the 1.6), door-open indicators linked to all four doors, and a roof light with delayed cut-off, which allows it to fade out gradually. There is also a Sport variant, and the Sport NV gets 14-inch alloys and 175/65 rubber (already standard on the 1.6 GTX), both of which are likely to improve the cars’ handling and road holding characteristics. It’s not a high-tech common-rail unit, but the 1900cc mill is a workhorse and certainly the best in its class.

 

 

The Kenwood FM/tape-player was not bad at all, fit and finish was quite okay, there were no rattles or squeaks from any part of the car. The NV quite good fun to drive. It has been quite easy on fuel consumption too. The car seems to be averaging approximately 10 - 10.5 kpl with the AC on, which is fair enough. The best figure was 15.44 kilometers to a litre on the expressway. The city figures have been decent too — 10.4kpl was the best it gave, which is not bad considering that the air-con was on all the time.

 

It has the build quality of the car. Bad roads don’t begin to disturb the ride quality, and all big potholes are dispatched with a distant ‘thunk.’ One of the first tests it was called on to perform was our alloy wheel test, to find out if the lighter weight of these wheels actually made a difference in the fuel efficiency figures of a car. The lucky Palio got its steel rims replaced with a set of snazzy-looking Aura alloy wheels. Each alloy wheel weighed 1.5 kilos less than the steel rim; the wheels did make a difference, but only marginally.

 

The air-con has been just too good at keeping the occupants cool during the recent heat wave. The only criticism is faced was the trip meter packing up — this was fixed when the car was sent for its routine service at 17,200km. One irritant worth mention is the rather poor turning circle of this car. Making U-turns in the city calls for a three-point turn, which can be quite tiresome.

Filed under: Fiat Cars in India