Not that Fiat pulled this more powerful motor out from their Italian chapeau and squeezed it under the Linea’s bonnet. The ‘T-Jet Plus’ has several other features that complement the turbocharged mill’s performance ability. The ride and handling of T-Jet Plus is strengthened thanks to the sweet 16” alloy wheels that run on large 205/55 R16 Goodyear Eagle NCT5 tyres. The new rubber makes the car look even more alluring and also raises its ground clearance to 170 mm. However, this also causes it to under-steer a little and the large turning radius can be a nightmare while driving around narrow lanes and by-lanes. Fiat have also tweaked the suspension and now it feels more compliant even on bad patches. The steering feedback is good, though the handling is not as precise as the Vento’s.
The Linea is also the first car in this segment to sport all four disc brakes and they bite deep and they bite well. There are other frills such as a sporty roof antenna, a chrome exhaust tip, a new Sunbeam Beige colour and the all-important T-Jet tag on the boot. The interior gets fine imported leather upholstery, the dashboard has a nice soft touch rubber and the overall finish of the car seems better than the previous Linea. The engineers have upgraded the air-conditioning system with a new rotary compressor.
Fiat will initially focus on two of the ‘most important’ markets (according to their press release), Mumbai/Pune and New Delhi/NCR, as they constitute 60 per cent sales volume in the C-plus segment. Other metros will also be offered the Linea T-Jet, but a little later. At Rs 10.03 lakh (OTR, Pune), the ‘T-jet Plus’ is about Rs 80,000 more expensive than the Vento 1.6 Highline, Rs 20,000 cheaper than the City 1.5 V and about Rs 1.5 lakh more than the older Linea with a Fire engine. The base version of the T-Jet, which does not have leather seats nor chrome trims and runs on smaller 195/60 R15 wheels, is almost 50 kg heavier and Rs 50,000 cheaper than the ‘T-Jet Plus’.
Wish Fiat had launched the Linea with this commendable motor right from the beginning. Now we just wish them luck.
