Fiat Linea was launched with a lot of features that drew the attention of
customers and is successful in the industry so far. Linea was released with features
like Airbags, ABS, Picture EBD, ESP, ASR system which allowed easier driving
even in rough road conditions and features like MSR, Hillholder-HBA, Air Bag
smart-2 system, side and curtain air bags, front
racked seat belts, as
additional safety controls in the car. Linea has great brake and engine control
which offers effective traction control. New Linea Tjet may be released any
time which will be the new competitor in this segment. Now Volkswagen released
Vento which will offer a tough competition for Linea. The main features
provided are advanced chassis design, rigid body shell, five three point seat
belts, front and side air bags, ABS anti-lock brakes with EBD. Vento gives top
notch driving and seating comfort with the boot space to be of 500 litres.
Vento Interior
Vento is a modification over it's famous hatch back sibling Polo. Body features are chrome inlays in front grille, rough road package with increased ground clearance and partially zinc coated body with 6 years anti-rust warranty. Vento comes in Trendline and Highline variants and the highline offers more safety features and equipments. Trendline comes only in solid colors. Highline offers body coloured door handles and mirrors . Interior is designed by giving more attention to function. The front seats are not wide as you would expect. The dash board is positioned on the higher side. The interior rear view mirror offers poor quality backward visibility while the ORVMs do a good job to compensate this. Dust and pollen filters, rear AC vents, Livon superior fabrics, front and rear mid arm rests makes the interior of Vento more comfortable and equally attractive. Provision is provided for the back passengers to adjust the front seats.Though it is not spacious as City but it doesn't make a much difference too. There are rear air conditioner vent which is available in Linea only in this segment.Due to the same locking mechanism in Polo, passengers can't lock their door independently and the only way to lock the doors is the driver's control panel. Both petrol and diesel 1.6 L each produces a peak power of 105 PS and petrol version offers 6 speed automatic transmission. Volkswagen claims 14.4 kpl for the petrol AT, 15.83 kpl for the petrol MT and 20.54 kpl for the diesel.
Linea Interior
The elegant Italian fiat Linea provides body features as the silver grilles and bold rear designs, with great suspension, luxurious seats and uncluttered instruments bearing dashboard. Front and Rear arm rests, Rear AC vents, Steering mounted buttons, Electric mirrors and integrated mp3 players are provided as in other variants of same segment. Linea looks awesome in it's interiors even better than Honda city. The plastics and fabric look very very expensive with positions of arm rest, foot rest, and alignment of cool steering wheel etc.The rear seats are fitted with Isofix attachments for child seats, and head-restraints are standard equipment on the side seats. But headroom is a little bit less. Engine variants are 1.3 L diesel and 1.4 L petrol, not powerful as that of Vento which is a stunner.
Vento’s Edges over cars in same segment like Honda City, Hyundai Verna,
Maruti SX4 can be summarized as, Vento is An European sedan which is
well-built and robust, provides Clean and contemporary styling with superbly
integrated Boot. Competitive pricing for a German car. Can be called as New
torque king of the C segment with it’s amazing Diesel Engine. Superb suspension
setup. Balanced ride & handling.
While some draw backs can be noted as, Only two variants are available, the
Trendline is too basic and there is not a comfortable middle variant. Due to
its Average low rpm response Petrol engine isn't as impressive as the diesel.
And about Electric power steering, The Vento deserves a pure hydraulic unit.
And besides these things VW have only 47 dealer network in India and their
long-term ownership costs are unknown.
The first thing people liked about Linea is it’s Seductive styling.
Solid build quality,Fuel-efficient diesel, Brilliant handling & dynamics, Mature ride quality and Top level of equipment being other impressive factors.
And draw backs of Linea noted are Quite under powered for a sedan, Compact rear seat confines, Lack of outright performance of both Petrol and Diesel Engines, Inferior after-sales support and Niggling issues.
Thus Vento is a real threat not only to Linea but also to other competitors like
great Honda City, Hyundai Verna and Maruti SX4 and no need to wonder if Vento
exceeds the sales of Polo. And if Linea Tjet is released in near future the
competition is going to be more thrilling in this Segment. Thanks for reading.
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