Fiat, of late, has launched a string of exciting new cars in India. Things took off smartly with the 147hp Abarth Punto and the 142hp Avventura ‘powered by Abarth’. Fiat has now rounded off the range by upping the power of its Linea to 125hp. Known as the 125 S, the new Linea is now the most powerful car in its class and with this update, it also gets a new touchscreen as well as several new features inside. The question is, can it take on the best cars in its class – the Honda City and the Hyundai Verna – and win?
The Honda City, with its big cabin and strong performance, has always been a favourite. Then there's the powerful and well-equippedThese cars are comfortable, and the petrol sedans have around 120hp and manual transmissions, to satify driving enthusiasts.
The Linea T-Jet was already a powerful car, with 114hp from its turbo-petrol motor, but the recent and rather welcome 11hp bump in power has made it more effortless to drive. It’s quick off the line and the motor has plenty of punch in reserve at almost any given engine speed. There is a bit of a lag at low revs, but once past the 2,000rpm mark, power delivery is smooth and strong. The long-throw five-speed gearbox and the long-travel clutch, however, take away from the overall driving experience a bit.
Driven flat-out, the Fiat 'feels' the fastest, but the City is actually the quickest here – it takes a mere 10.1 seconds from 0-100kph. The 125 S and Verna take 10.8 and 11.4 seconds, respectively.
Thanks to its light controls and instant power delivery, the 123hp Verna gets off to a good start. However, it doesn't pull as strongly at medium engine speeds and feels strained past 5,000rpm. That said, it is almost perfect for driving briskly in the city.
Unlike the Verna and the Linea, the City encourages the driver to rev the motor hard. Yes, it takes a bit more effort to get the best out of the engine, but it’s also the most rewarding car to drive. Its ride, however, is lumpy at low speeds and though the suspension absorbs larger holes and rough patches well, smaller undulations constantly filter in as small up-and-down movements.
The City handles well though. The steering is direct, feels light in traffic, and also weighs up nicely at speed. It rolls a fair bit in corners, but still feels well-balanced. Despite the efficiency-oriented skinny tyres, there's a fair amount of grip too. Even the brakes offer good stopping power, and in all, it can be fun to drive fast.
Ride and handling is where the Linea outpaces its rivals. Its ride is absorbent, there’s plenty of grip around bends and the hydraulic power steering offers plenty of feel. True, there’s a fair amount of body roll and the quick steering does feel a bit fidgety at speed, but the Fiat is still the best handling car here.
The Verna is clearly not. It rides well on its soft springs and soaks up bad roads at city speeds. But, it doesn’t feel stable in a straight line at speed. It also feels floaty around corners and this makes it even more nervous.
The Linea’s cabin is well-designed and even overall build quality is really good. Now, there’s also a 5-inch touchscreen that gets navigation. But that hasn’t livened up the interior that looks a bit dated and features poor ergonomics. The steering juts out too much, the touchscreen is too small and the pedals are too close to you. The front seats, however, are large and comfortable and suited for long drives. At the rear, though, the seats aren’t very supportive, legroom is tight and so is headroom.
The Verna’s interiors look the most dated here. Its front seats are quite comfortable though, and it’s also the only car in this comparison test to get a telescopic steering; so getting into a good driving position is easy. At the rear, however, the low-set seats offer poor thigh support and it’s nowhere as comfortable as the City.
Among the three, the City has the best cabin in this segment. Its dashboard is modern, there are lots of storage spaces and it’s reasonably well equipped too. The front seats are very comfortable, but it’s the City’s rear seats that impress; space and comfort rival that on cars a segment above. The only issues are that the cabin is not well insulated from road and engine noise, and the infotainment system isn’t very smooth to operate.
In terms of equipment, the Linea 125 S comes with a touchscreen, navigation, auto-headlights, rain-sensing wipers, automatic AC, cruise control, and rear AC vents. It gets reversing sensors, but not a reversing camera. The touchscreen is a bit small, and it isn’t intuitive to use, but the infotainment system does provide Bluetooth telephony, voice-activated controls and audio streaming, USB, aux and SD card input.
The Honda City also gets a touchscreen infotainment system with navigation, as well as cruise control and rear AC vents. Additionally, it also gets a sunroof, reversing camera and an engine start/stop button. The touchscreen, however, is clunky to use and often unresponsive, though it does feature Bluetooth connectivity.
Here, the Verna lags behind rivals in some respects. While it gets rain-sensing wipers and Bluetooth connectivity, it does without a touchscreen, cruise control and rear AC vents. However, it does get a reversing camera built into the rear-view mirrors.
On the safety front, all three cars get dual front airbags and ABS. However, the Linea and the Verna additionally get EBD; the Verna also gets side and curtain airbags.
In the end, the Linea 125 S, with the extra shot of power and a touchscreen is definitely more desirable now. It’s very enjoyable to drive, rides solidly, is well equipped and fairly practical too. But it is still let down by the poor cabin ergonomics, relatively cramped rear seat and poor dealer support. For those looking for a sensible and fun mid-size sedan, the Honda City remains very hard to beat.
Technical specifications
Fiat Linea
Price Rs 10,46,000 (ex-showroom, Delhi)
Engine 1368cc, 4 cylinder
Peak power 125hp at 5000rpm
Peak torque 208Nm at 2000-3500rpm
Gearbox 5-speed manual
Hyundai Verna SX (O)
Price Rs 10.83 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi)
Engine 1591cc, 4 cylinder
Peak power 123hp at 6300rpm
Peak torque 154.9Nm at 4200rpm
Gearbox 6-speed manual
Honda City VX
Price Rs 10.92 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi)
Engine 1497cc, 4 cylinder
Peak power 119hp at 6600rpm
Peak torque 145Nm at 4600rpm
Gearbox 5-speed manual
