For the serious Motoring enthusiast

January 20, 2001

On a power trip

Text: Bijoy Kumar Y

       The Fiat Siena jumps on to a bigger league with a 
much-needed 16 valve engine.

 Flash back to 1995. Minais Gerais, Brazil. The roads were wide and winding. A bright sun in the sky. Perfect conditions for a scorcher of a test-drive. The occasion? Fiat was showing off its first offering from their now famous A178 world car platform. There were many Palios to choose from, but I had stolen a metallic green one with the 1.6 16 valve monicker on it. With a near 100 bhp power unit under that compact hood, the Palio was in a mood to sing.

 I decided to play along. Powering into the corners, marvelling at the ride on offer, catching wild slides by simple opposite locks...essentially behaving like a hooligan on public roads. I didn't repent it a wee bit, though. It is easy to feel intoxicated when you get to drive a small hatchback with all that power on God's own roads. That whirlwind affair with a 16 valve Palio was followed by brief test runs in its smaller engined cousins  the 1000 CC Mille and the 1200 CC version...needless to say, nothing came close. 

When Fiat India launched the Siena in India they gave us the 1200 CC unit that was as smooth as silk and generated power in a very progressive manner. But every time I slipped behind the wheel of one, I wished I had that 1600 CC 16 valve mill powering it. Fiat did oblige, and gave that screamer of an engine to the Palio Weekend, the estate version badged Siena Weekend in India. They were getting close, I thought. Then the phone rang. "Fiat India will be launching a 1.6 version of the Siena," the voice on the other side said. Care for a drive? Of course, yes! 

It may mean just another logical engine option for the manufacturer. A big-hearted Siena which can compete with the mid-size crowd comprising the Astra, Cielo, Nexia, City, Baleno, Lancer, Accent and the small mid-size aspirants, Ikon and Corsa  all of them sport 1500 CC plus engines along with smaller engines for their low-end models. 

But I can hear enthusiasts out there who have been following the progress of the A178 world car platform in India saying in one voice  justice has been done, the Siena gets the powerplant it has always deserved. Soon I was strapped in a white Siena that had the magic decals  100 16v. Inside, the car sported classier black-and-grey upholstery but retained the familiar, very contemporary instrument console. 

The similarities end the moment you turn the key though. The 1581 CC cast iron alloy engine purrs into life. Blip the throttle and the tachometer needle jumps enthusiastically to the horizon signs of things to come? I can't give you numbers now, since we have not officially tested the car, but I can vouch that grabbing 5000 rpm and dropping the clutch would mean a few gasping Honda City owners. 

This motor breathes through a multi-point fuel injection system to generate 98 bhp at 5500 rpm. All of 14 kgm of torque is made available between 4000 and 4500 rpm  in other words, an extremely driveable, yet powerful automobile. Let us get this right. The Siena's ride, we know, was always good (we never tire of repeating this - the Siena is the best 'car' to tackle our road conditions), the handling hatchback-like yet predictable and performance, adequate.

 Now change that adequate to brilliant and you have the complete picture. The 1.6 ELX SP version comes with ABS (anti-lock braking system) and driver side air-bags making it the only car in its league with all these safety features. In a brief session behind the wheel, I saw speeds in excess of 150 kph, shuffled through traffic as if it was non-existent and don't remember changing gears too many times. 

 The gearing suddenly feels spot-on, making for a delicious spread of power that is much more accessible. Drool. The first impression suggests that for those of you who love the Siena, but didn't want one because of the engine, can place your order now. The athletic engine is less stressful to drive in city traffic and provides you with the best excuse to save money on chauffeurs. (Don't like driving much? Fiat has no plans to discontinue the Siena 1.2). I have not given you the best news yet. How about a price tag this side of Rs 7,00,000? It is too early to pass a verdict on this, the large-hearted Siena, but I suggest you take a test drive  and chances are that you will be smitten by the performance this car has on offer.  

 It has been five-odd years since I first met a playful Palio. Since then, we Indians have got two spin-offs from the famed platform. Don't know when, but I hear Fiat is all set to launch the new Palio in India. Maybe they should consider this 16 valve engine as an option then. The tarmac here may not match the roads of Minas Gerais, but trust me to find a stretch of black ribbon that can do justice to a Palio 16 valver.

Platform no. 1

Fiat's ambitious A178 programme was meant to make its foray into developing markets worldwide  into countries like Brazil, Argentina, India, Russia, Poland and Uzbekistan. Basically, the idea was to create a versatile platform out of which vehicles with different body styles would develop  a hatchback (Palio), a three-box (Siena), an estate (Weekend), a pick-up (Strada) and an yet-to-be-named monobox. 

And these were designed by the Italian design house, I.DE.A. The advantage for Fiat would be that it could cater to diverse markets without incurring large development costs for each vehicle. Fiat could also keep its costs low by globally sourcing parts for the vehicles from the A178 series. A successful strategy? Yes. Today, one out of every seven cars produced by the Italian major comes from the A178 family. 

With production in eight locations  including our country cars that have emerged from this platform are sold in 40 markets across the globe. While Fiat has always been strong in the Latin American nations, the Palio  which was first launched in Brazil in 1996  has furthered the manufacturer's market share in that country. 

According to Fiat, over 1.5 million units of the Palio have been produced since then. Towards the end of last year, Fiat gave the Palio a facelift with the help of Giorgetto Giugiaro of Italdesign. Gone is the piscine face. Now the new Palio sports a more conventional look with its rectangular headlamps, slatted air dam and it incorporates Fiat's new centennial logo. 

The smart-looking rear of the Palio however has not been tooled around much. Already, the new Palio has been awarded the Car of the Year 2001 in Brazil.In our country, however, it's a different story. While Fiat India was all along interested in launching the Palio, Tata Engineering came and queered the pitch by launching an almost identical hatch, the Indica. Tata, in fact, recruited I.DE.A, the same design house that helped Fiat with the A178 body styles. 

So Fiat, to avoid confrontation with the Indica, launched the three-box Siena instead. And followed up with the Weekend. And now, the Siena gets a better engine it always deserved.