Fiat Linea T-Jet Plus

I booked my Fiat Linea T-Jet Plus on 17-10-10 from Fortune Motors, Navi Mumbai and took possession of the beauty on 30-Oct.

PRE-OWNERSHIP
I previously owned a Tata Indica Xeta (petrol) and was looking to upgrade for past few months. I was considering Honda city VMT, Volkswagen Vento, Maruti Suzuki SX4 ZXI.

Earlier I had taken test drives of ANHC, SX4 and Linea (Petrol) before T-Jet was launched. Believe me I was bowled over by the looks and list of features of Linea. No other car had that many features but was a bit disappointed by the power delivered by Linea. Then I came to know that Fiat is launching T-Jet in Jul then Aug-Sep-Oct 2010 (Long wait!!). I had no problems waiting as I was not in a hurry.

Finally T-Jet was launched and I took a test drive on 11 Oct 2010. I loved the power at that very instance. But Power was not everything that I wanted - Apart from that and features I was also interested in drivability, maneuverability, suspension and braking. Since it was a while that I had driven the other cars, I decided that I will test drive ANHC, Vento and Linea T-Jet again but all on the same day.

I test drove all the 3 shortlisted cars again. Here is my feedback. Please excuse if there are any technical errors as I am not a car expert.

Vento (Top end, Petrol) – Courtesy extended by staff was minimal at the showroom. However Test drive was arranged within 10-15 minutes.
Smoothness of driving (steering, gear shift) was the best among 3. Engine was very silent. Suspension was better than ANHC but lesser than Tjet.

Features that are missing (compared to Linea) – No remote fuel-lid Opener (Fuel lid can be opened when you unlock the doors. This I felt is a security issue as you have to unlock the doors to open the fuel lid which then can be pressed and opened), No Bluetooth connectivity, Engine power and torque lesser than Linea, seats (especially rear) not as comfortable as Linea, no leather seats, no 16” alloys, Quality of interiors not as good as Linea and ofcourse acceleration was lesser than Linea.

Honda City (VMT) – Courtesy extended by staff was the best and dealer staff was well trained and made me and my family very comfortable before taking us for test drive.
Gear shift was better than Linea but lesser than Vento. Seats were definitely better than Vento. Overall the interior layout is best and gives more spacious feel due to light colour and uncluttered dashboard. Suspensions were not as good as Vento or Linea.

Missing features - No remote fuel-lid Opener (same as Vento), no remote boot opener, all windows not auto down, no cd player (though USB player, FM/AM receiver are present), no leather seats (need to go for exclusive version), no 16” alloys, no Bluetooth connectivity, 160mm ground clearance, Quality of interiors not as good as Linea. Felt that accelaration was the slowest even though power is max in ANHC (expected more power). Steering too light – The salesman told me it’s hydraulic when I asked him if it was electric. I do not know if this is good or bad

Linea T-Jet Plus– Very busy showroom (as includes tata vehicles as well). But the staff made sure that I was comfortable and offered very good coffee – much better than you get in premium coffee shops). Also saw Fiat Bravo to be launched next year - Very classy appearance and if it has t-jet engine it can rule the hatchback segment.

There was no such feature that was offered by the other 3 but missing in Linea (Though Hyundai I20 has 2-3 more). My wife thought that the interior layout is bit cluttered as the dashboard is too big and central instrument cluster is also very big and does not give a very spacious feel but I liked it as it gave a feeling of seating in a cockpit. Though I think a little more knee space (in front seats) would have been good. But overall the seats are the best. Quality of material is also the best. I felt Linea seats were most comfortable (Front & Rear). Power, acceleration of Linea was TOOOOO GOOD. Overtaking in city and highway is like a breeze. In top gear it is not so good (possibly not required) but when in 3rd, 4th gear you can accelerate very very quickly. Safety features, suspensions are also the best in T-Jet, When driving on roads it gives a secured feel because of the build quality.

Overall I liked the Linea T-jet plus best of the lot. And SX4 least (SX4 offers most features after Linea but build quality & interior feel is least compared to other 3)

My overall rating is in this order – Linea T-Jet, Honda City VMT, Vento, SX4.

POST-OWNERSHIP
Finally, I took the possession on 30-oct-2010 at 7 pm. I was very cautious for the first 2 days (probably because did not drive a sedan before!).
Went to Lonavla from Navi Mumbai on Monday but kept the car below 100kmph. Forgot to reset the trip meters before going but while coming back got as average of 19 kmpl (express way) - was hugely impressed. Overtaking in the ghat on the expressway was very easy. (I was alone; AC on)

However, I thought the car was pulling to the left so went to the showroom next day to get it checked. The service advisor came for a test drive (without an appointment) and said he does not see any problem but I insisted to get the wheel alignment, balancing and steering to be methodically checked instead on just believing on gut feel. Got the car the next day as they wanted a specialist to check the alignment. Did not feel the same problem again. Am glad that i got it checked from the showroom.

This week-end travelled to Shrivardhan, Harihareshwar, Dive agar in our new T-Jet. The roads from Mangaon to Shrivardhan were full of ghats (some real steep slopes) and bad patches. We were 4 adults; 1 child and some luggage (Total around ~350 kg). AC was always on. got an average of 12kmpl. Let me know if this can be rated as good or no considering the road conditions!

Ride quality & handling was excellent. My wife who does not like to travel much by road also agreed that it was the first time she felt so relaxed after a long 6 hr journey (we took a route via lonavla to come back). The car grips the road very well and you feel in complete control even when taking sharp hairpin turns at higher speeds. The AC, headlights, seat comfort are really very good.

There is a sweet whistle-like sound as the turbo starts to kick in after 1500 mark. and above 2.5K rpm the sound feels like that of a racer car. I could overtake very easily when on the 3/4th gear. though you could struggle a bit on 5th gear when already at speed of 80kmph (1200 rpm). But down shift one or two gears (as per your need) and you can zoom past the vehicle in front. In a nutshell you need to get the turbo going before you can get the power out from this vehicle (On narrow ghats with steep bends need to use the 2nd & 1st gear to reach 2Krpm). At some points in ghats while climbing up had to shift to 2nd gear and twice on 1st gear to negotiate the sharp hair-pin bends (Which i had thought that i will never have to do in T-Jet as I did in my indica earlier). Need some feedback from others if this is true for all other cars as well.


I have clicked a few photos and will try to upload them this week. Have done around 850km so far & waiting to break that 100kmph barrier that was so tempting on the highways.

Only thing I missed in the car is place to keep magzines, water bottles & small sundry items. The glove box is very small. can only accomade the car manuals and few cds.

-Mukul

 

congrats. pics awaited. 19km/ltr is great. no matter how sedately i drive my petrol linea never returns more than 17. even that is rare.

 

Congrats. T Jet is awesome Car. Agree with your ratings on all Sedans. I also test drove all cars and almost finalised on T Jet.
One question. Do you find any difficulty while taking U turns in the City since the turning radius is more .

 

Congratulations and best wishes, Mukul, on your buying Fiat Linea 1.4 T-Jet Plus SBB. Happy and safe driving in your Linea T-Jet.

 

congrats on your TJET+..... wish you have wonderful journey with the Italian beauty.....

 

Congratulations. It's raining T-Jets in TeamFiat . No surprise you enjoyed the long drive. FIAT cars show their true potential on long journeys.

 

Congrats mukulh !!
Ok, sometime back I made a statement saying that Tjet is not going to do wonders in the sales chart for Fiat. Now I feel it should be corrected. Tjet is doing the tricks it seems.

 

Congrats mukul on getting your dream machine. Regarding your queries on FE, I feel what you got is pretty reasonable. I have a 1.4 NA Linea and I can relate to your FE queries especially on the ghats. Recently I had driven from Valparai to Kochi. The road has great hair pin bends and are pretty narrow too. On these bends, I was able to climb in 3rd gear occasionally shifting to 2nd gear. I think this should be possible in TJet as well due the heavy fly wheel. You can check this by putting car in any gear and taking your foot off accelerator on any shallow climb. There is sufficient torque that will take the car over the climb without knocking. Do give it a try next time around, I think this should improve your FE by 1.5/2 kmpl.

Awaiting pics.

 

I drive in Navi Mumbai and there is not much problem. However compared to smaller cars the the turning radius is little longer so one needs to keep that margin while taking a U turn. I have got used to it after a few attempts. It is not something which one should be worried about unless ofcourse if you need to turn in narrow lanes on regular basis. The car is fantastic.

-Mukul