2014 Fiat Linea T-Jet

The Linea has been on sale in India for nearly half a decade now, and in that time, the car has earned itself quite a few accolades for its elegant design, spacious interiors and its sorted ride and handling characteristics. The T-Jet version, in particular, left enthusiasts impressed all the more thanks to the 1.4-litre petrol engine and its 114bhp and 207Nm of turbocharged goodness. Now with the arrival of the 2014 Linea range, Fiat India has also managed to revive the T-Jet version, hoping to make it a much better all-rounder.

The 2014 Linea has certainly entered a tough space in the market, going up against such models as the Hyundai Verna and the Honda City; two cars that anyone will tell you are good looking. And with the upcoming Ford Fiesta sporting a far better appearance, it is only going to get more challenging for Fiat. For now, the Italian carmaker will not have to worry because as far looks are concerned, the new Linea is an impressive looking thing.

The new Linea sets itself apart from the previous version with dollops of chrome. The shiny substance is all over the front end of the car, filling the twin-slat grille, fog lamp surrounds and bits of the redesigned front bumper. As for the headlamps and the hood, both the elements remain unchanged to help the Linea keep its identity. On the sides, Fiat has introduced a new set of alloy wheels and has merged the turn indicators with the rear-view mirrors. Naturally, the new Linea features a similar profile as before, which is not a bad thing at all. The car, in fact, looks the most impressive when viewed in profile.

Move to the rear and you will be greeted with a far busier design than before. As you would expect, there’s loads of chrome to be found on the rear bumper and on the bootlid. The biggest revisions, though, come in the form of a faux diffuser and a redesigned bumper which no longer holds the number plate. The latter is now placed on the boot lid. All in all, the new Linea’s more elegant lines will hopefully make for a better imprint in our memory banks.

Step inside and it’s immediately apparent that Fiat has taken great strides to make the cabin a much nicer place to be in. For starters, the dashboard is all-new and so is the instrument cluster. Fiat, of course, is well versed with the fact that an interior of a car is just as important as the exterior and the greasy bits.

The all-new dashboard makes a really good impression the moment you are seated inside the cabin. The new Linea is being offered with a refreshed black and cream color scheme which works really well in improving the ambience. The instruments, too, are all new, featuring two large pods for the speedometer and the tachometer besides the clear LCD screen for the multi-information system. This new set of dials, however, is rather hard to read on the move largely because of the small font.

Further enhancing the experience is the new center console finished in piano black. Housing all sorts of elements like the redesigned AC vents, new infotainment system and climate control, the console successfully adds a pinch of freshness to the design. As for the quality of plastics and materials, the entire cabin now feels a whole lot better put together, with all the buttons and the switchgear exuding a quality feel. Having said that, the cabin is not perfect: fit and finish at some places like the horn button is a bit iffy and doesn’t compare at all favorably with the like of the Volkswagen Vento or the Renault Scala.

Like the earlier version, the new Linea T-Jet also comes fairly loaded with standard features on this top-of-the-line T-Jet Emotion including dual airbags, ABS, automatic headlights, automatic wipers, cruise control, reverse parking sensors, 16-inch alloy wheels, audio system with smartphone connectivity and much more. But the top-spec Honda City, in comparison, goes a step further to offer push button start/stop, keyless entry, AC with touchscreen control panel. For the 2014 model, Fiat has added cruise control as the highlighting feature although it can be safely said that it will be of very little use given the driving conditions that we have here.

Once settled in, the Linea feels reasonably roomy with plenty of space at the back. The driver’s seat is comfortable, but the gear stick is positioned a little too far back to be comfortable. Coming back to the rear seat; while knee room is just about sufficient, a bit more thigh support would have been a welcome upgrade. Fiat also needs to consider enhancing the headroom which has always been the Linea’s Achilles heel owing to the car’s swooping roofline. No such grouses with the 500-litre boot which is big enough to swallow weeks’ worth of shopping.

The Linea, then, still remains a bit far off the tag for an ideal chauffer driven car compared to the others in the segment. Overall, there’s a lot to like inside the cabin of the new Linea: a personal favorite is the ambient lighting feature that totally enhances the perceived quality of the cabin during the night. Speaking of which, the cabin unsurprisingly is well built yet surprisingly, lacks the amount of overall comfort that we have come to expect in a car of this segment.

Where the Linea T-Jet really sets itself apart from the competition is on the road. With Honda City getting softer with every update and Hyundai not bothering to take the “fun to drive” route with the Verna just yet, there aren’t many options left in the segment which are truly engaging to drive. The Linea T-Jet, on the other hand, guarantees many smiles even for the hardcore of enthusiasts.

Fiat has made no changes to the engine or the drive-train of the 2014 Linea T-Jet, which means the car houses the same 1.4-litre turbocharged petrol engine mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox. This turbocharged unit peaking at 114bhp and 207Nm is very impressive in the way it works. Be it maddening, traffic filled city roads or wide open highways, the Linea T-Jet feels at home doing both. There is a certain amount of turbo lag until 1700rpm or so but rev it past that and the Linea T-Jet shoots off cleanly and whizzes hard up to triple-digit speeds.

Despite its heftiness, the Linea T-Jet is reasonably quick off the line and on the move. Now the acceleration isn’t going to set anyone’s pulse racing, but it’s certainly hard to accuse the T-Jet of being underpowered. Further improving the performance are the 205-section R16 Goodyear Eagle NCT 5s on all the four corners which help the car stick firmly to the ground even on the limit. As for NVH when doing highway speeds, there was moderate wind noise, and no tire roar. The wide Goodyears, indeed, are very impressive considering the competition all offers tyres that aren’t as good and complement the car’s sporty nature nicely.

As for the ride and handling, the 2014 model feels more or less the same as before. Like before, the Linea is very good when it comes to cruising around the city over practically any set of roads be it good or bad. The ride quality is very impressive and like the Punto, the Linea tackles most of the bad roads with ease and rarely feels uncomfortable in doing so. The car rides on the same suspension set-up as the 2012 refresh and is just as high off the ground at 190mm. This means that it is amongst the most dynamically sorted cars you can buy in this segment and it won’t ground itself everywhere like it used to. The steering assist has been boosted, so a little feel has reduced, but it still remains one of the best in the segment.

Given the high profile status that the C-segment sedans presently enjoy, the Linea seems to have been lost in the race almost since the day it was introduced here in the Indian market. Sure, it’s appealing and a decently capable car, with good road manners and a spacious cabin; but in a market where after sales support is just as important as the product, Fiat has always struggled… until now.

Now that Fiat India is busy setting up its own dealership network, it hopes to gain lost ground in the near future. With the 2014 Linea, the brand has already started rolling out upgraded versions of its existing range and is set to introduce a few exciting new models. With a base price of Rs 7.44 lakh (ex-showroom), the Linea T-Jet offers a good amount of thrills, comfort and practicality, and is a solid competitor to petrol versions of the City and the Verna. However, we also maintain that our test car – the top-spec Emotion 1.4 T-Jet packed with all the frills, is priced a bit too high to hit the value for money mark.

For the buyers out there who are looking for a ‘sporty’ petrol C-segment sedan, what the Linea T-Jet does offer is style and a healthy dose of driver satisfaction at a level not readily available in similarly sized cars like the Honda City or the Hyundai Verna.