Before screaming round the high speed track at the VRDE, I knew that both the Palios would be quick, a glance at the horsepower figures of both the cars were enough to tell me that. Having driven quite a few Sienas powered by the 1.2-litre engine, the relatively familiar Palio 1.2 was the first to be driven in anger on the track. The 71bhp does make heavy weather of making the Siena race against the clock but this has been corrected to an extent in the Palio. Subjecting her to a rigorous diet has resulted in the Palio shedding 60 odd kilos (compared to the Siena) and now 71bhp does a better job of racing against the clock. For the figure conscious, the Palio 1.2 clocked in a 0-60kmph time of 6.69 seconds and a 0-100kmph time of 16.66 seconds. With the accelerator welded to the floor, the Datron gear registered a top speed of 152.73kmph. Don't ask me for the speedo error as the speedo gave up the ghost well before we got to the track.
  
The quarter mile came up in 20.54 seconds, the testing gear registering 107.77kmph. The standing kilometre was over and done with in 8.07 seconds at a speed of 135.67kmph. The benchmark flexibility tests from 40kmph to 100kmph in 4th gear took 30.03s, going up to 41.82s in 5th gear.
After the relatively sedate acceleration of the Palio 1.2, stomping my right foot in the Palio 1.6 literally blew my socks off. Okay close to triple digit horsepower figures should have had my tubelight blinking but heck, who would expect this kind of performance in a hatch, an Indian hatch? Ladies and gents, allow me to present India's first and truly capable hot hatch.
  
For the number crunchers, let me start reeling off figures from the Datron printouts - 0-60kmph in 5.01 seconds, 0-100kmph in 12.33 seconds, the quarter mile covered in 18.44 seconds and the standing kilometre dispensed with in 34.33 seconds. The top speed registered was a superb 170.05kmph. What say you, now?
  
Putting these figures in perspective, there isn't a hatch that can come anywhere close to these figures. In fact these figures firmly slot the Palio 1.6 into Honda City 1.5 territory, being barely 0.1 seconds off the pace! Finally a small car for the enthusiasts, at least for the acceleration-in-a-straight-line enthusiasts.
  
Going like stink in a straight line is alright but a car should also haul itself down in reasonable time and with minimal drama. Here the Palio suffers a bit. From 80kmph, the Palio 1.2 came to rest in 25.03 metres taking 3.3 seconds. The Palio 1.6 equipped with 14-inch rims and 175/65 Bridgestones (compared to the 165/80 13-inchers on the Palio 1.2) had slightly improved braking performance, covering 34.89 meters and taking 3.3 seconds to come to rest from 80kmph.
  
Stability under braking is slightly suspect and with the middle pedal welded to the floor, the car has a tendency to step out of line. Brakes are also prone to fade as a spirited blast through the mountains revealed to my trepidation. The brakes lack any feel and are akin to operating an air pump, considering the kind of feedback that one receives.
  
With ABS and EBD (anti-lock brakes and electronic brake force distribution), braking is superb. Unfortunately we couldn't get any actual figures for the ABS equipped vehicle but the driving impression clearly revealed the superiority of the setup. Sadly ABS and EBD will be available only on the top spec GTX SP version and not on any of the 1.2 cars. A questionable move as braking is independent of horsepower figures.