Driving Experience, Likes & Dislikes
Driving Experience:
First Impressions: After taking the delivery, started the car and slotted into the first gear and the power is evident with first touch itself. I carefully drove until the highway and then tried to test its abilities to some extent. In my view, the first two gears were little lazy. From 3rd gear on wards the fun starts. Surprisingly, the gearshifts in Abarth UC are quite smooth and easy unlike in Multijets. And the torque is infectious like in a diesel car and the turbo lag is minimal. With no effort, it reaches 100 and goes beyond our expectations in no time. Since I had to travel 150 kms on the highway to reach my home, it was a good experience to learn a bit about the car on the first day itself.
Ooty Experience: There was a Fiat enthusiasts meet in Ooty in April 2017 which I had planned to attend. I had been to Ooty, but never been driving on my own. And you know those hairpins in Ooty are crazy. Honestly, it was a nightmare to drive there ‘coz I couldn’t understand how to manage the turbo petrol engine. But it was a valuable experience and forced me to learn the things in hard way. The biggest lesson is, make no mistake, keep her in right rpm to give you great pleasure in any conditions.
Drivability & Engine Performance: In city, most of the times, I had to drive in 2nd and 3rd gears due to traffic and it pumps the adrenaline only if you drive it above 2000 rpm. Still, I don’t see any engine strain in city traffic. Turbo lag also minimal as it seems this engine may be little tweaked to meet city driving challenges. However, IMO, this is not a right car for city traffic both in terms of riding pleasure or for mileage concerns. You will end up bankrupt if you keep driving it regularly in city traffic. I usually don't drive it in city unless it is very necessary. Still, my daily workhorse in the city is my Palio 1.9D.
On Highways, its difference beast. Once you hit 2000 rpm, it zooms like a rocket. Practically, If you know how to pamper her, it can beat any car of that power band. I usually drive in 4th gear until I hit 80 speed then slot into fifth. Someone rightly said, Abarth cars are really pocket rockets. Iam running this car purely on highways where I can get the maximum out of it with sheer driving pleasure.
Punto Abarth was introduced with Abarth Powered Tjet engine with 145 BHP @5500 rpm and with 212 nm torque @200o rpm. But in
Urban Cross, this was little detuned for the mileage and city drivability concerns (As per official statements). Here, we got
140 BHP@5500 rpm and
210 nm torque @2000 rpm. In the last few months, I drove few Punto Abarths too in our meets. But, I don’t feel any power difference in normal driving. May be the difference can be noticed on track level or on open roads. But in real life, it has minimal, if not, no difference IMO. Also, this is rev happy and very refined machine. If you have free roads, it feels happy to be abused. The engine note is very sweet and no way coarse or any of that sort. Very often, I stop music and end up listening to engine music. As I mentioned above, it was detuned to meet the multiple tasks and has very minimal turbo lag which is easily manageable. But, first two gears earn you little or no fun.
Gearshifts & Clutch: Unlike in Multijets, surprisingly this one has smooth gear shifts. But clutch is still in old Fiat style. You have to depress it fully to slot the gears. Personally, I don’t feel any difficulty for that as iam used to Fiat kind of driving style.
Fuel efficiency: ARAI fuel rating for this car is 17.1. Kms/liter. But, In city driving, no matter how good you drive, the maximum mileage you could expect is not more than 9/10 kms/liter. At least that's what in my experience. On highway driving, it’s different story altogether. Though it is a powerful engine, it is very fuel efficient, provided, if you drive carefully without revving much. If you drive between 70 to 90, you can expect from 16 to 18 depending on your driving style. Or if you are a very fast driver, you can expect at least 11 to 12. But then, it’s very hard to drive slowly in this car. Perhaps you should practice yoga.
Lowest Mileage Figure achieved sofar
Highest Mileage I could managed
Steering, Handling, Suspension , Ride Quality & NVH Levels: Like all Fiat cars, this one also equipped with 3 spoke Hydraulic Power steering, neatly leather wrapped. It gives you great confidence even on high speeds, cornering and earns you awesome feedback. Turning radius is still 5.4 meters. As any Fiat car, this one too handles beautifully though it has higher ground clearance i.e. 205 mm. Ride quality is smooth and I feel no bumps in city driving. But on highway, especially on high speeds, I feel little body roll due to higher GC. But far better than many crossovers in the market. However, IMO, the Apollo Alanc stock tyres are not so inspiring for this car. At the same time, don't expect Punto Abarth kind of riding experience or cornering in this car. It has certain limitations due to higher GC.
Front suspension is equipped with Independent Wheels suspension with Mcpherson struts, Helical springs, Double acting Telescopic Dampers with Stabilizer bar and the Rear suspension with Torsion beam, Helical Springs and Double acting Telescopic dampers which is tweaked for manoeuvring on any kind of roads, be it city, highway or country roads.
Regarding NVH levels, this Abarth Powered Tjet engine is super refined and it doesn’t have any disturbing noises or any of that sort, both inside and outside of the car. But on high speeds, wind noise and tyre noise is very evident.
Braking and safety: Equipped with ABS with ABD and front dual stage airbags. It also have all four disk brakes with awe inspiring confident braking, even on higher speeds. You have to be very careful when you brake in city or highway to avoid rear ended. As usual, the build quality of this car is awesome. It feel like a tank with 1215 kgs unladen weight.
Likes:
- 140 BHP turbo petrol engine power on tap with a monstrous 210 nm torque , moves like a rocket
- 205 MM GC , a practical car for Indian roads. It can take you to any kind of roads
- Smooth gear shifts
- Tank like build quality
- ABS with EBD, dual stage front Airbags
- Height adjustable seat belts with pretensioners
- Automatic door lock
- Beautiful 3 spoke leather wrapped hydraulic steering
- 16” beautiful Scorpion alloys which enhances the looks of the car to great extent
- All four disk brakes with awesome braking abilities.
- Sweet Engine Note
- Powered By Abarth decals on rear doors
- Awesome HPS feedback
- Bone chilling automatic AC with Rear AC vent
- Functional roof rails
- Ambient orange color themed cabin lighting, pleasant to eyes & useful MID
- Redesigned Piano-finish front Grille which looks awesome
- Thankfully, less Chrome
- Apart from USB port, they provided two extra slots for memory cards on the head unit. One for GPS and other can be used for music/movies/photos play
- Decent sounding music system with 2 speakers and 2 tweeters on front and rear and provision to install 2 tweeters on rear
Dislikes:
- Impractical and almost useless Glove Box. My Palio glove box is way better than this one
- Pathetic 5” touch screen navigation system which is hardly responsive. You have to operate it with provided stick which is impractical.
- GPS maps were not up to date
- No Tjet/Abarth /Variant logo on hatch door. No one knows what car it is, unless one would see the rear door decals
- Better talk less about stock Apollo Alnac tyres. Spare tyre came with steel rim and is 15”.
- Beige interiors. Should have been great if all black interiors
- No designer package available even on order
- No bottle holders in cabin
- Left Pulling
- Awkward place for mobile charging. I already broke few charging cables due to this.
- No rear camera/sensors
- Single remote key provided for such a premium price
- Age old problems like awkward position of ABC pedals - kind of problem until you get used to it
- Claddings are headache to maintain. It's already getting shaded.
- No leather seats even at this premium price
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