I test drove the Fiat Palio 1.3 Multijet. My observations about the car are as follows.

Looks - There is no denying the fact that the Palio is a head turner. It still manages to look absolutely gorgeous despite its age, and i find the Palio to be as good looking as the Swift, if not better.

Interiors - Fiat needs to work on it asap. Interiors are surely a generation behind and the beige treatment just doesnot work. Plastics used are on the cheaper side & no digital odometer is quite shocking.

Engine & Performance - For starters the Palio 1.3 Multijet has the same engine found in the Swift Diesel, albeit with slighly lesser torque. Quite suprisingly though Fiat's Multijet engine works much better in the Swift. The Palio just doesn't seem to go as fast as the Swift, having said that its no slow coach either. Turbo lag is prominent but thats the silence before the strom. Once the turbo kicks in the Palio just moves like crazy, the torque is insane and the car gives you a kick and moves rapidly. Turbo kicks in at around 2000RPM and the mad pull can be felt till almost 2400RPM. Engine is quite quiet but a tad noisier then the Swift inside, maybe due to better sound damping in the Swift.

Ride, Handling & Braking - Ride is still fantastic in the Palio, it takes to bad roads like Sehwag does to batting, absolutely effortless over poor roads and dare i say the ride is like a carpet. The Swift rides very harshly over bad roads, where the Palio glides. Handling is good but not as good as the Swift. The puny rubber can be blamed for this. Braking is very good but wheels tend to lock up on heavy braking. Lack of ABS, even as a option is a major disappointment.

Misc - The AC is pretty good, the seats are comfortable, the build quality is fantastic, doors close with a solid thunk and there are no rattles or squeaks whatsoever. Rear legroom is better then the Swift but the gearshift feels quite rubbery and is average at best. Fuel efficency is similar to the Swift diesel that is 15kmpl in the city and 20kmpl on the highway.

Verdict - The Palio diesel is quite value for money, being cheaper then the Swift and offering more features like rear wiper, rear demister, etc. However Fiat service is not as good and the resale is still poor. Some spare parts do take time arriving and Tata has a very casual attitude wrt Fiat cars. If you ignore the service and resale, the Palio makes a strong case for itself, its fantastic value and does everything well but my eyes are on the Fiat Grande Punto which is quite a machine and is coming soon too.

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Speaking ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix weekend, Felipe Massa admitted that he did not like driving around the streets of Monte Carlo much compared to the sweeping turns of say Istanbul or Spa Francorchamps. This afternoon the Brazilian probably did enjoy his time in the Principality as he has claimed pole position, the 12th of his career, for the 78-lap Monaco Grand Prix by less than a tenth of a second from Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen.

It was a close run thing at the head of the timesheets, but Massa’s best lap of 1:15.787s would prove unbeatable as Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton both lapped the 3.340km circuit within a tenth of a second to start second and third.

With an all Ferrari front row, the Italian champions will tomorrow be chasing their first Monaco win since Michael Schumacher triumphed in 2001. Over at McLaren Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen will be disappointed not to be on the front row as qualifying is so important at this circuit. Given the dominance from McLaren at this circuit last year, it is a surprise to see Ferrari ahead in qualifying this year.

It was a very mixed day for the BMW Sauber team with Robert Kubica doing a solid job to qualify his BMW Sauber in fifth position. However, Nick Heidfeld’s recent qualifying problems took a further nose-dive this afternoon as the German veteran will start the Grand Prix from a lack lustre 13th position.


Nico Rosberg had said ahead of qualifying that his realistic target was sixth position on the grid and that is what he achieved in the Toyota-powered Williams. It was a good performance to get within four-tenths of a second of Kubica.

Fernando Alonso lines up seventh in his Renault and only a late push in the second round of qualifying saw him make the final phase of qualifying. Team-mate Nelson Piquet starts a distant 17th after two errors saw him lose time in the first part of qualifying. Piquet’s only saving grace however is that he was just three-tenths off his team-mate in the same session, but unfortunately for the rookie, those tenths makes all the difference.

Jarno Trulli did his usual solid job to start eighth in the leading Toyota ahead of Mark Webber and David Coulthard for Red Bull Renault. Coulthard made the final top ten shoot out for pole position with the tenth fastest time, but a huge accident in the final second of second qualifying saw his car badly damaged.

Approaching the braking area exiting the tunnel, Coulthard’s RB4 snapped right under braking, making firm contact with the barriers. The front and rear left hand wheels broke off as the RB4 spun at high speed down the escape road before making further contact with a softer layer of tyres. Coulthard was unhurt, but it was a big - and rather strange - accident.

Timo Glock starts 11th in the second Toyota ahead of Jenson Button in the leading Honda while Rubens Barrichello starts 15th behind Heidfeld and Nakajima.

The decision to bring the new Toro Rosso Ferrari STR3 package to Monaco is a brave one and Sebastien Bourdais starts a reasonable 16th ahead of the under-pressure Piquet while Sebastian Vettel starts 18th in the second STR3 ahead of the Force India duo of Adrian Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella.

Vettel however now takes a five grid position drop due to having broken the long-life gearbox rules in having the new unit – and car – at the circuit this weekend. Bourdais escapes the penalty as he did not finish the last Grand Prix.

It is Ferrari Vs McLaren again in the 78-lap Monaco Grand Prix.

Earl ALEXANDER
© CAPSIS International

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Bugatti has unveiled a third limited edtion of the superfast Veyron called the Sang Noir which means "Black Blood." The previous two limited editions were the "Pur Sang" and "Fbg par Hermès". There is not much in this special edition other than the all-black body, specially designed grille, unique alloy wheels, headlights with black background and the some what silly bright orange interior. Its made in homage to the Bugatti Atlantique 57s, however it is very difficult to appreciate these small details. Bugatti we want more power!!

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Came across this hilarious description by a person selling his M3 at Autotrader.

“This car has gotten me laid so much it is ridiculous. I would like pull up to a pimp club in Scottsdale and the valet would crap his pants, but I wouldn't let him park it. I just leave it up front and make sure all the ladies saw me get out. I'm also totally ripped so that helps too. I inject myself with pure bull shark testosterone and lift 4 hours a day.

My diet also consists of 24 egg whites a day. I've got a killer 6 pack and some delts that you would not believe. I only hook up with 9s and 10s. Never less because I'm a winner! I'm not saying this car will do the same for you but it's a start.

If you're interested in taking the first step to becoming a true Jedi Pimp email me at (e-mail deleted for obvious reasons). I'll probably be working out so I'll get back to you as soon as I finish my protein shake (and probably hooking up with a hot chick).”

After reading this description i am sure many people wouldnt dare to buy this M3, there seems to be more info about the seller then the car, the advertisement has been removed at autotrader and seemed more of a prank to me.

Source

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You must have seen the new Skoda Octavia called the Skoda Laura in India and just for a second mistook it for the RS version and thought Skoda have launched the RS version, well not quite! Some dealers are selling the RS body kit, which includes RS bumper with integrated fog lights, 17 inch RS wheels on 225/45/17 Goodyear Eagle F1(Bad choice of tires) and rear spoiler. All this for 1.70Lacs after buy back of your old wheels and bumper. Doesnot seem much value for money, but dont be disappointed, the 170bhp Skoda Laura vRS is coming and its a diesel!

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This is the Honda Civic Type-R Modulo and it certainly looks fantastic. The exterior doesn't have much, a rear spoiler, clear lens tail lamps and a set of hot 19-inch alloy wheels wrapped on 225/35 R19 rubber. Honda have removed everything they could in order to make the car lighter. The door panels were replaced with carbon fibre, the power windows have been shifted on the center console, the door handles gave their place to latches while the stock front seats were replaced by a pair of very impressive and lightweight Recaro bucket seats. I completely love the steering wheel, the speedometer looks similar to the Lamborghini Reventón and the gear shift indicator on the steering wheels looks alot like the one in the Ferrari Enzo. The presence of Electronically adjustable dampers can be seen in the LCD display where the normal 2-DIN head unit is. More pics after the jump.

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Many ICE shops have demo's but the best demo till now i have found is at Reliance Digital. The ICE is placed in such a manner, giving feel of a car, with recaro seats and ICE equipment placed on the center console.


This happens to be one of the best designs for ICE demo , obviously it doesn't come close to the demo ICE cars, more about that later.

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Car and bike wallpaper treat for you. Yes, its our 200th blog post and we have carefully selected the 25 best wallpapers for your desktop. More wallpapers after the jump, here.

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Honda Siel India Ltd plans to launch the Civic sport soon. Unlike rumours, this car will not get the hot K20 engine but the same R18 engine found in the other variants of the Civic in the same set of tune. So what is this sport about?

Well the Civic sport will get a full body kit, along with a rear spoiler and bigger wheels (maybe body coloured 16 inchers) and thats about it, nothing else. It will be priced Rs. 60,000 more then the regular Civic which makes it quite good value, however i would have loved if Honda would have boosted the power a bit.

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So you got your self a aftermarket performance airfilter like KnN or Green Cotton. Well you need to keep a check on the condition of the filter. Just look at how the filter has become after hardly 6 months of cleaning. A dirty filter can not only decrease performance and mileage, but also reduce the engine life.


The climate conditions have gone from bad to worse and there is so much dust that you will need to clean your filter more often then before. As you can see in the pics the filter badly needs cleaning and re-oiling.

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