This magazine has tested the Palio just as extensively as it has done the Indica and while it would have been easy to have gone on to cull figures from previous tests, we decided to pitch both cars once again through our test regime. The 1242cc ohc mill of the Palio gives away 163cc to the Indica’s four-cylinder engine and while this could be willed away as not too much of a difference, it certainly plays a major role in the overall performance of the two.

The Palio engine has seen service in the Siena and has been a strong performer for Fiat all over the world. It might not be state-of-the-art but then in a country where fuel efficiency over all else still is the state-of-tune to employ, this was the best engine Fiat could draw upon to fit into the Palio. Developing 71 horses (at 6000rpm) and 102Nm of torque (at 3250rpm), these are figures which are not to be sneered at but the extra cubes packed in by the Indica motor deal it a bad hand. The Indica motor makes just 3bhp more with an additional 163cc (compare this to a Bajaj Pulsar which in 150cc guise makes around 12 bhp and you get the feeling that Telco could have done better!) while the torque is somewhat better at 110Nm (at 3000rpm).

But thanks to the changes in engine mapping and a better consistency in manufacturing and assembly, the Indica V2’s petrol engine has undergone a silent revolution. Not only is it crisper in its response but it is also now very linear in its power delivery, a very crucial aid in driveability and fuel efficiency. There is a willingness to rev thanks to new mods which allow the mill a better free-breathing characteristic.

Many attribute the present success of the Indica to the diesel version. The revised engine in the petrol version of the new Indica makes you think once again. While power and torque ratings are pretty much the same, it is in the way the engine makes and delivers both that is truly astonishing.	The 1242cc four-cylinder engine which nestles under the Palio's bonnet has also seen much detail revision. It has that typical Italian sporty growl when on full chat but packs a suitable punch of its capacity. A fine transmission is spoilt somewhat by the heavy clutch pedal pressures required (same for the brakes and throttle pedals as well!) to effect gearshifts.

Both cars are well matched in the performance stakes if number crunching is not resorted to, at least in the tight city traffic so much the norm these days. There is not much to distinguish between the two but for the fact that the Indica seems to display a natural urge to shoot forward while the Palio seems to growl and wait for an opening to do so. These are again individual traits which buyers will relish depending on their preferences and one just cannot say one is better than the other.

However, one aspect which clearly sets the two apart is when one takes the cars to the NCAT at the VRDE and here the Indica runs rings around the Palio, in virtually all aspects of the game. Fiat enthusiasts might say, with some justification, that the 1.6-litre version could do just the same to the Indica 1.4 but as mainstream hatchbacks go, it will continue to be the Palio 1.2 which will have to face the Indica in head-on competition.

I would not like to go into the number crunching details here (check these out in the performance table) but suffice to say that the Indica is not only quicker and faster but just as flexible as the Palio. The Palio is beaten but not disgraced and a part of the reason behind it coming second is the stodgy clutch with its demanding pedal pressures which make for slightly slower shifts. Also the fact that the Palio is a slightly heavier car (wonder how Telco got this right!) plays its own role in the way the two cars have performed on the test track. Quite a role reversal, isn’t it?