Fiat Linea Classic

Synopsis

Fiat is a great brand name in International market with a lot of contributions to the automobile industry and is certainly got a knack for making high quality vehicles with superior technologies and features. Fiat is also making its name slowly but surely in Indian market with some great projects running for them in pipeline and has already proved themselves with biggies like Punto and Linea. Fiat Linea is one of the most successful sedans in India from the Italian makers and is known for its stylish design, beautiful features and great performance. Recently, making their move towards a better future for the company, Fiat India has launched an affordable version of Linea for the Indian market on September 25, 2013 in Fiat Cafe, New Delhi named as, Fiat Linea Classic. It is placed between the regular Linea and Punto and is devoid of some features of the regular version to lower down its cost. It is a great move from the Italian brand considering the start of festive season in India, which always turned out a profitable and successful season for newcomers like Linea Classic.

Exterior

The exterior of Fiat Linea Classic gives a stylish and sporty feel with a large hood and a properly designed front nose. Also, the chrome finishing is removed from the parts where it was present earlier. It has the human-eye shaped automatic dual-parabola headlamps which automatically turns off and on with respect to the intensity of light outside and even remains on for some programmable time after turning off the sedan, a stylish front grille with silver slats having the regular styled company's badge, a unique front bonnet, body colored bumper with the air dam in same style as front grille and surrounded by a pair of sporty fog lamps, huge front windshield with rain-sensing wipers, body colored door handles, electrically adjustable body colored ORVMs, simple body side mouldings, 14-inch steel wheels with full caps, bright and sporty tail lamp slots which also consists of the rear fog lamps, compact trunk gate with the boot lid featuring Linea Classic badging, a sporty exhaust pipe and a slanted rear windshield having defogger with timer. This beautiful sedan has a length of 4560mm, a height of 1487mm and a width of 1730mm as its dimensions and has a large wheelbase of 2603mm for a better ride quality. It has a good ground clearance of 185mm for a bump-free ride and a minimum turning radius of 5.4m for easy cruising in tight parking spots and in city traffic. It has a fuel tank capacity of 45 litres and a curb weight of 1291kgs.

Interior

The interior of Fiat Linea Classic is also a symbol of excellence, beauty and comfort which includes all-black upholstery, leather finished power steering with tilt feature and gear shift knob, vanity mirror at front passenger's side, roof light with dimming effect, rear roof light, collapsible rear sun curtains, a foldable key, adjustable seats, spacious dashboard with all-black finishing, a powerful AC with manual control system by knobs placed on the center console, a digitally interfaced vehicle information computer behind the steering wheel which houses a digital odometer, a real-time mileage indicator, an external temperature indicator, trip activation analytics, a service schedule reminder, a programmable speed limit buzzer, a distance-to-empty indicator and clock date settings, orange back-lit display screens at the dashboard, sunglass holder, front armrest with 3-level adjustment and a glove box, painted inside door handles and a rear armrest with a cup holder and a glove box, power windows with Auto Down feature, remote keyless entry, remote tailgate opening, an integrated quality music system with MP3, CD, an in-built USB port, FM Radio, AUX-in, 6 speakers and a remote control and a boot capacity of 500 litres which can also be increased by folding the rear seats.

Engine and Gearbox

Fiat Linea Classic is available in both petrol and diesel engines. The same 1.3L, 1248cc, 16-valve, VGT technology, DOHC based Multi-jet diesel engine is detuned to give a maximum power of 75 bhp at 4000 rpm and a maximum torque of 197 Nm at 1750 rpm and has a five speed manual gearbox transmission. It churns out a top speed of almost 165 kmph and reaches 0-100 kmph mark in mere 13.6 seconds with the mileage of 14 kmpl in the cities and 19 kmpl on the highways. The same 1.4L, 1386cc, 16-valve, E10 compliant, DOHC based FIRE petrol engine has a maximum power of 89 bhp at 6000 rpm and a maximum torque of 115 Nm at 4500 rpm and has a five speed manual gearbox transmission. It also churns out a top speed of 165 kmph and reaches 0-100 kmph mark in 12.6 seconds with a mileage of 11.3 kmpl in the cities and 14.6 kmpl on the highways.

Brakes and Suspension

Fiat Linea Classic has drum brakes at rear while disk brakes at front. The suspension system consists of an Independent Wheel with Helical Coil Spring, Stabilizer Bar and Double-acting Telescopic Dampers at front while Torsion Beam with Helical Coil Spring, Stabilizer Bar and Double-acting Telescopic dampers at rear. The safety of the passengers is also an important issue for which it has ABS with EBD, high tensile steel frame, early crash sensors, crumple zone, reinforced bodywork, Anti-theft engine immobiliser with rolling code, central and automatic door locking, programmable speed limit indicator, double crank prevention system, a digital indicator if the door remained open accidently, fire prevention system, Follow Me Home headlights, driver seat belt warning light with buzzer and 3-point ELR seat belts with pretensioners and load limiters.

Variants

Fiat Linea Classic is available in three variants which include Classic Petrol, Classic Diesel and Classic Plus Diesel.

Shades and Warranty

It has five beautiful shades to choose from. The ex-showroom, Delhi price of this fabulous sedan is INR 5.99 lakhs for Classic Petrol, INR 6.96 lakhs for Classic Diesel and INR 7.51 lakhs for Classic Plus Diesel. It also comes with a warranty of 3+2 years which is more than satisfactory.

Verdict

Overall, Fiat Linea Classic is a great combination of style, beauty, comfort, performance, space and speed but the features being omitted can be a downward point for Fiat as its competitors are providing them in the same price range. But altogether, its performance is better than many of them which make it a formidable competitor.