There was a time when the good old Fiat was one of the most widely-seen cars on Indian roads. Take a look around now and they?re as easy to spot as a road free of potholes. That looks all set to change though, as Fiat India recently sent out a press release affirming their presence and discussing their plans for the Indian market. This comes in the midst of rumours about Fiat India being taken over by an Indian company. For this second coming (or is it really the third?), the Italians are planning to rely on their current European line-up and one of the cars being considered is the Fiat IDEA.

Fiat refers to the IDEA as a compact MPV. The car has done the rounds at the Geneva, Barcelona and Frankfurt motor shows and now, Fiat may just bring it to India. IDEA is an acronym, according to Fiat, standing for Intelligent, Design, Emotive and Architecture. It?s intelligent because of the engine range available ? a petrol-driven 1.4 16-valve unit and a 1.3 16v Multijet, both combined with a manual or robotised ?Dualogic? gearbox. Also available is a 1.9 JTD Multijet and a 1.2 16v unit. The last is not meant for Italy, so chances are that this is the unit that may come to India.

Moving on to the Design element, it?s quite a clean design for a monobox. The IDEA looks like a solid little runner ? just like the Uno ? thanks to the broad shoulders and generous wheels that give it substance and shape. There are no sharp corners and the smooth shape is quite welcome actually. The IDEA weighs in at 1,152kg.

Dimensionally speaking, it is just under four metres long at 3,930mm while the width is 1,698mm. The IDEA is 1,660mm tall which increases to 1,690mm with the all-purpose bars fitted on top. The track is 1,434mm at the front and 1,424mm at the rear while the wheelbase is 2,508mm. The front overhang (distance from the wheel to the bumper) is 794mm while the rear overhang is 628mm.

The fascia takes a little getting used to ? the instrument cluster is right on top and in the centre of the fascia. That leaves a lot of space behind the steering wheel. The gearshift is in the middle of the fascia close to the steering wheel in a user-friendly position. The fascia has two storage compartments in it and a double DIN compartment.

With the gear lever in the fascia, space has been freed up between the seats and so this is taken up by a spacious console. All five can be made to assume different configurations. For example, the front seats can be folded forward to form a platform while the rear seat backrest is reclined by more than 45 degrees thus making for an easy chair! The concept of Space extends to the luggage compartment as well. The standard space with seats up is 320 litres but folding the rear seat down increases the space to 1,420 litres measured at the roof.

The IDEA runs on 185/65 R14 T tyres on 6 J x 14-40 rims. The steering is a rack and pinion design with electric power assistance. Keeping the IDEA firmly on the road are independent MacPherson type units with an anti-roll bar at the front together with semi-independent suspension at the rear connected by torsion beam and telescopic hydraulic shock absorbers. Ventilated discs at front and drums at the rear effect braking.

A monobox design is usually treated with suspicion as far as passenger safety goes. The IDEA is the result, Fiat will have you know, of 15,000 hours of mathematical modelling, 60 crash tests, 100 simulations using a HyGe slide and 200 tests on components and subsystems. The European spec car is offered with up to six airbags (with the front bags incorporating two activation stages), sidebags and window-bags that protect the rear passengers too. Then there are adjustable front seat-belts with pretensioner and load limiter as well as three point rear belts including a central position. The model comes with Isofix attachments so that baby and child seats can be fixed safely. Again in the European spec car, ABS and EBD provide for active safety as standard while ESP is optional together with a Hill Holder for easier hill starts.

Price is a factor that comes into play as soon as one thinks about the Indian market. So, if the IDEA does come to India, in order to keep prices down, a lot of the goodies may be given a pass. There?s also a good chance of the small diesel unit, to be made by Maruti, finding its way into the IDEA. For Fiat to sell cars in India successfully is a tough proposition. Both Hyundai and Maruti have set benchmarks that are difficult to meet, be it in sales or service or component availability. It?s not done too impressively in the past and the fact is that in India today, the Fiat brand is not highly thought of, despite the products being decent. Fiat India has quite a bit of climbing to do. Will it get its act together sooner rather than later?

Road rage

Paritosh Sen
artist

I don’t own a car as I hardly ever go out. And when I do, I usually travel by taxis. Even the few occasions I do venture out, I’m appalled at the condition of the streets and traffic. Taxi drivers are a breed unto themselves as most of them are guilty of rash driving. Repeated requests to them brings about no change. If anything, the driving becomes rasher and I can’t help but get angry. Another grouse is that even though I ask them to avoid potholes (I have a bad back), the taxi almost always ends up in one. Most drivers just don’t care about their passengers.

I also bemoan Calcutta’s traffic congestion, a fact made worse by the many processions that hold up traffic for ages. Then again, there are the hawkers! I’ve lived in New York, Paris and London and pedestrians there can always use pavements as these are free of hawkers. Will that ever be the case here