We test the new Fiat Linea
13 Jan 2012 4:24 PM by
Somnath Chatterjee
in
Single review,
First launched in 2009 in the country , the Fiat Linea has been no stranger to the Indian customer. Back then , the Linea made waves with its beautiful styling and fantastic ride and handling. However the sales ride has been a bumpy One for Fiat despite delivering some great products as the company has not managed to make the impact that it hoped to make. For example , the company managed to sell just over a thousand units of the Linea in the last 6 months of 2011!
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Things are slightly different now as Fiat has new optimism and new plans to make it a success story in the cut throat Indian market. Those new plans include the Fiat Caffe in which Fiat is aiming to improve customer interaction and increase its brand presence in the Indian market. However just doing that is not enough as competition is growing day by day. With rivals like Skoda Rapid and Hyundai Verna , Fiat needed to give its Linea an upgrade. The 2012 Fiat Linea is basically an upgrade and is equipped with some new features to make it enticing to the Indian customer. We took the Linea for a shot drive at its launch and this is what we think about it. At first glance everything looks the same but we are not complaining about that as the Linea is still one of the most beautiful cars around and even after some years it still looks fresh. The changes in the Linea include a new exterior colour called ‘Oceanic Blue’. We think the Linea looks the best in this colour. Another change is the ground clearance - Fiat customers wanted more ground clearance in their cars and thus the company has increased it and now claim that the Linea has a best-in-class 185mm ground clearance. The Linea Emotion variant also gets 16 inch alloys from the T-jet variant.
On the inside and you are greeted by a stylish cabin that screams Italian. The dials look fantastic and the overall cabin quality has also improved. The interiors now have a lighter beige theme comprising of fabric seats and floor carpet , dashboard and door trims. This does make the cabin feel airy. The Linea is already well equipped with features like Blue &me and MY Car. The 2012 Linea now has rain sensing wipers and auto switch on/off headlamps.
Both of these are very useful features especially in case of the auto switch on/off headlamps where driving in foggy conditions or at night will become much easier. Another important change is the more effective air conditioning which as we would discover in a few months time will be very useful.
We took the 2012 Linea for a short spin and we drove the 1.3 Multijet Diesel engine. The engine makes 92 Bhp and during the drive i felt it had adequate power and the performance was smooth. One thing that I noticed was the improved NVH levels for the diesel engine. There is not much diesel clatter seeping into the cabin and the refinement was very good. The performance statistics of the diesel Linea are not explosive especially with 92 Bhp but overall it does the job vey well.
As I said earlier Fiat have increased ground clearance to 185mm and that doesn’t really rob it of any ride quality. It goes over bumps and potholes in a way no other midsize sedan does and it’s amazing. However the increase in ground clearance has compromised on the handling a little bit. The handling is not as sharp as it was earlier and enthusiasts will certainly miss that but I think most appreciate the improved ride quality more as it has the best ride in its segment at the moment. The fuel efficiency of the Linea diesel is 20.4 kmpl (company claimed). The 2012 Linea does not have many changes but whatever changes Fiat has done to it is enough to keep it in competition. The new features have made it an enticing package. Fiat is also providing value for money as features like integrated CD , MP3 and FM player , automatic door lock , rear defogger , keyless entry and follow me home headlamps are standard across all variants.
Content courtesy: 
First launched in 2009 in the country , the Fiat Linea has been no stranger to the Indian customer. Back then , the Linea made waves with its beautiful styling and fantastic ride and handling. However the sales ride has been a bumpy One for Fiat despite delivering some great products as the company has not managed to make the impact that it hoped to make. For example , the company managed to sell just over a thousand units of the Linea in the last 6 months of 2011!
Things are slightly different now as Fiat has new optimism and new plans to make it a success story in the cut throat Indian market. Those new plans include the Fiat Caffe in which Fiat is aiming to improve customer interaction and increase its brand presence in the Indian market. However just doing that is not enough as competition is growing day by day. With rivals like Skoda Rapid and Hyundai Verna , Fiat needed to give its Linea an upgrade. The 2012 Fiat Linea is basically an upgrade and is equipped with some new features to make it enticing to the Indian customer. We took the Linea for a shot drive at its launch and this is what we think about it. At first glance everything looks the same but we are not complaining about that as the Linea is still one of the most beautiful cars around and even after some years it still looks fresh. The changes in the Linea include a new exterior colour called ‘Oceanic Blue’. We think the Linea looks the best in this colour. Another change is the ground clearance - Fiat customers wanted more ground clearance in their cars and thus the company has increased it and now claim that the Linea has a best-in-class 185mm ground clearance. The Linea Emotion variant also gets 16 inch alloys from the T-jet variant.
On the inside and you are greeted by a stylish cabin that screams Italian. The dials look fantastic and the overall cabin quality has also improved. The interiors now have a lighter beige theme comprising of fabric seats and floor carpet , dashboard and door trims. This does make the cabin feel airy. The Linea is already well equipped with features like Blue &me and MY Car. The 2012 Linea now has rain sensing wipers and auto switch on/off headlamps.
Both of these are very useful features especially in case of the auto switch on/off headlamps where driving in foggy conditions or at night will become much easier. Another important change is the more effective air conditioning which as we would discover in a few months time will be very useful.
We took the 2012 Linea for a short spin and we drove the 1.3 Multijet Diesel engine. The engine makes 92 Bhp and during the drive i felt it had adequate power and the performance was smooth. One thing that I noticed was the improved NVH levels for the diesel engine. There is not much diesel clatter seeping into the cabin and the refinement was very good. The performance statistics of the diesel Linea are not explosive especially with 92 Bhp but overall it does the job vey well.
As I said earlier Fiat have increased ground clearance to 185mm and that doesn’t really rob it of any ride quality. It goes over bumps and potholes in a way no other midsize sedan does and it’s amazing. However the increase in ground clearance has compromised on the handling a little bit. The handling is not as sharp as it was earlier and enthusiasts will certainly miss that but I think most appreciate the improved ride quality more as it has the best ride in its segment at the moment. The fuel efficiency of the Linea diesel is 20.4 kmpl (company claimed). The 2012 Linea does not have many changes but whatever changes Fiat has done to it is enough to keep it in competition. The new features have made it an enticing package. Fiat is also providing value for money as features like integrated CD , MP3 and FM player , automatic door lock , rear defogger , keyless entry and follow me home headlamps are standard across all variants.
Content courtesy: