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Yellow Fever
The Fiat Palio S10. Be careful, it's catching.
Text by Srinivas Krishnan Photos by Deepak Tolani

All those of you who hate cricket, raise your hands. Just as I thought, hardly any out there. Well, to be honest with you guys, I don't like cricket much, so obviously I am not much affected by the hoopla around Sachin Tendulkar – or a limited edition car named after him. So what's the big deal? Um, more than what I thought. For one, thanks to the little wonder, the Palio finally gets those itsy-bitsy bits that elevate a run-of-the-mill hatchback to one with some attitude. And secondly, thanks to the ace cricketer and Fiat's marketing machinery, you know that the Palio S10 is a limited edition car. With only 500 units to be produced, you get only one S10 for almost two million Indians. So to be that one-in-a-two-million kind of car, what do you get?

For starters, a quick-grab-your-sunglasses body colour called Canary Yellow, a spoiler, five-spoke alloy wheels though with the same Bridgestone 14" rubber, and Tendulkar's signature and logo scattered here and there. Inside, two little engraved metal plaques on the front left door and on the boot sill tell you the number of the car, and the logo again appears on the special velour upholstery.

What's more interesting are elements like a meaty leather steering wheel, non-slip metal pedals, a leather gear lever knob, a silver finish music system with six speakers, and a driver's side airbag, no less. But I won't tell you about the other cricketing paraphernalia that you get when you buy the car, okay?

The Palio is undoubtedly the best hatchback manufactured in the country today, and with all the goodies that the S10 is loaded with, it becomes that much more irresistible. What makes it really hot is the 1596 CC DOHC 16-valver that pumps out 100 bhp at 5500 revs and 14 kgm of turning force at 4250 rpm. Now, this motor is one helluva rogue, greedy for revs and extremely excitable, what with all those 16 valves clamouring for attention. And with a power to weight ratio of around 92.6 bhp per tonne, the Palio gets into a bigger league.

By the way, Fiat has revised the gearbox in the S10, where they have changed the ratios in the third and fourth gears, simply to offer better mid-range performance. Then you have the superb A178 platform underpinnings, which give you an exemplary ride quality and mature handling that bigger cars could emulate. Thanks to this drivetrain and chassis combo, the Palio is well sorted out... good fun. The S10 genuinely takes the Palio a notch higher than the GTX. Why? Because on every straight you get, you know that there's plenty of oomph for a hatchback, and every action of downshifting, let's say while overtaking, gets the engine singing lustily, leaving others behind in a blizzard of Canary Yellow.

And ringing in their ears will be a sporty exhaust note which emerges from the chrome tip (Fiat has chopped and spliced the muffler, you see). Then when the curves happen, life becomes exciting with true front-wheel drive hatch entertainment on tap.

Downshift, a mild tap on the brake pedal, and round off the apex with another thrust on the accelerator – you can do this for hours on end.

The best part is the constant interaction between the meaty steering wheel and the chunky gear knob, which heighten the experience. That's when you realise that this car is something special.

So what would you have to shell out to get this signature Palio?

Fiat indicates it would be priced around Rs 5,50,000 – if that's the case,it is a good buy for the exclusivity it grants you and the stuff it is loaded with.Considering Tendulkar's and Palio's current popularity, I can safely say that all 500 units would be sold out before poor you can bat (heh, heh) an eyelid. Now that's not cricket, right?