Italian car major first introduced Fiat Palio in 1977 when it was just a trim designation, but in 1997 it became a very successful hatch after its debut on the Brazilian market, where 2.5 million units have been sold so far.
In 2007 it received a facelift (Stile in India), and now an all-new generation Palio was revealed couple of month before a group of dealers with the official images have only now been released. Manufactured at Fiat’s plant in Betim, Minas Gerais, the new Fiat Palio arrives at the Brazilian market as a natural evolution of its predecessors: improved, impressive, complete, in tune with consumer desires.
The design of the car has been completely reworked in line with the other Fiat modes by Centro Stile Fiat in Italy. Our impression is of a jacked-up Grande Punto, and that’s not exactly a bad thing. The wheelbase has been increased, the overall length is increased, its wider and higher too. This means more space inside and better comfort.
It’s well equipped for the market, coming with lateral and frontal airbags, ABS brakes leather steering wheel with radio controls, gear-shift butterfly-type switch on the wheel, twilight and rain sensors, cruise control, windshield heater, CD player with MP3 and iPod/USB inputs, fog lamps, rear hatch Logo push, switchblade key with remote control, among many other items. The new Fiat Palio features the braking correction valve that acts on the rear brake. If the car is equipped with ABS, the braking correction is electronic, by EBD (Electronic Brake force Distribution), which acts on the rear brakes. This function is integrated into the ABS.
Its is powered by 3 engine options – the Fire 1.0 EVO, the Fire 1.4 EVO and 1.6 16V EtorQ. All the engines are flex-fuel compatible. The 1.6 litre engine comes with mechanical or Duralogic Transmission. In total, 6 different variants are being offered to the customers: the Attractive 1.0, Attractive 1.4, Essence 1.6 16V, Essence1.6 16V Dualogic, Sporting 1.6 16V and Sporting 1.6 16VDualogic.
The Fire 1.0 EVO produces a power of 73 BHP and a torque of 95 Nm @ 3850 RPM. When run on ethanol, it produces 75 BHP of power and 99 Nm of torque. The Fire 1.4 EVO produces 88BHP of power and 124 Nm of torque. The one you want is supposed to be the 1.6-liter Palio Sport with a 16-valve engine, black surrounds, stylish body decals, gills on the side, dual barrel exhaust pipes, a blacked out spoiler and unbelievable awesome alloy wheels.
The question of whether the new Palio will make it to India should be put on hold for now as we see no immediate plans from Fiat India for the car.
Also see – Fiat India to launch small car for India
See more pictures of 2012 Fiat Palio (Second-gen) –
