Team-BHP - Hyundai i20 or Fiat Grande Punto. EDIT- Poll added

Absolutely right. After test driving i20 asta crdi and Punto 90hp, i felt the feel good factor is with Punto.Balance and safe feel when i take the puto to high speeds was so amazing . i20 is also a great one in terms of straight line driving but in all driving conditions ,punto has its definite advantage. Especially if you are from a hill station like munnar or idukki in kerala, you will find thousand words to praise punto in terms of its handling and suspension.

Any day i go with punto (90 hp or 75MJD) even though 75 MJD is slower than its competition. The reason is simple: you can take them to anywhere without any doubt of coping up with the road conditions.

One more thing: i always feel hyundai is a little soft in terms of design and built quality.Not a macho nor a lady feel..

I recommend i20 CRDi, its equally performing well. Its outer look is equally good as Punto, Fuel efficiency should be as good as Punto.

When Punto lags is at service and resale. If these two factors are not prime issues, you may consider Punto.

I had this same question in my mind when i bought my first car.

I found i20 and Punto are both equally good. But the one thing that made me to decide was the service aspect. In chennai Punto service is taken car by TATA, which is pathetic. I have seen my friends complaining that they havent even touched the vehicle.and have returned it saying they had serviced.

Incase of Hyundai. People did give me a very good feedback on their service.

So my decision was Hyundai i20 Asta (Petrol)

But beware the mileage for i20 that i have is just 10 KMPL. which i guess will help you decide on the car.

I had the same dilemma but decided to go one inch wide and two mile deep.
I have managed to convince myself that VST Motors Chennai has a fairly happy Fiat customer base. Reading several posts on Team BHP helped a lot and the interaction with VST has been excellent so far.

I am yet to book my Punto and the real experience would of course begin thereafter.stupid:

From a practical perspective, it has to be the i20. From a perspective of FTD and enjoying your vehicle it is the fiat. WhT it comes down to is head vs heart. For me the heart wins because I really don't want to or like spending time running aroundto get basic work done on my car. Once the fiat A$$ situation changes, this debate would take a different tone, but till then the fist cars are dead in the water

Quote:

Originally Posted by pganapathy (Post 3061480)

:OT Err...excuse me.... shouldn't it be the head that wins here. Because it is the one that makes practical decisions. Decisions taken by heart are not considered practical. So if you think from an A$$ perspective, Hyundai is much more reliable and hence much more practical. Hope I am not missing something.

I have not driven a punto till date but still vote for it. Have driven i20 extensively and my personnel feeling is that the car isn't a FTD one. Does good on straight lines but becomes bouncy on bad surfaces and the dead steering feel doesn't inspire confidence on highways.

Quote:

Originally Posted by racer_ash (Post 3061568)

My bad, I meant to say head and not heart. You are right. I do go with the i20 as the smart choice "head".

Thanks for noticing the error

Punto is a good car. But check out its spare parts availability. Ordinary service won't be a problem.Suppose if you have an accident and if the replacements take a long time to arrive, it will be very frustrating. My close friend had a major accident in 2008 in his seven day old Punto. It took the dealership about 6 months to get his car repaired. At that time the it was the tata fiat joint venture. Now fiat is alone.Please ask about the spare parts availability now. When I took my swift zdi this year, my heart clearly wanted the punto 90hp. In the showroom it looked and felt so beautiful. But in the end my mind convinced me to buy the swift as this was the first car that I am buying with my money and I wanted to play safe with the decision. I didn't even take a test drive of the punto sport as I was afraid that I might book it.

Test drove most of hatches and found Punto out performs well in most of the parameters if not same except the manufacturers support. IMHO, do not want to ignore a good girl just because their parents are bad. Planning to book and praying God for a pleasant ride this time

@sivadeep
Yes, you said it right. The Punto is undoubtedly an exceptional performer. The driving dynamics are way better than the i20. The Punto is absolutely rock solid at highway speeds. The way the punto handles the corners is just great. Its a driver's car after all!.

As for the i20, well, its a good performer too. Actually it is more quicker than the punto in the 0-100 run. But where it fails is the handling and high speed stability. Its too nervous around the corners. In fact, the i20 was never built to be a driver's car in my opinion.

So its pretty much clear that if you want a sporty car then its the Punto. If you want a car in which you can travel comfortably, its the i20!.

Fiat punto wins hands down when compared to the Hyundai I 20 .Be it on road dynamics,braking or for that matter ride and comfort.Moreover owning punto is cost effective proposition as compared to I20 as latter parts are on higher side .Last but not the least with dedicated fiat showrooms coming up in all nook and corner of the country is strengthening the only weak link in the chain of fiats
regards
praveen singh

I simply cannot buy a hatch without convincing that it betters the Punto. The Punto to me is currently the best hatch and is the most sorted out one too. Not just the Hyundai i20, but any hatch, stands no chance before the Dynamics of the small Italian. Love this car :)

While the Punto handles better than i-20 in most conditions, I think the feature-rich Korean and their After sales which is miles ahed of the Italians just makes the I-20 a really good buy. You don't want a fab car like the Punto standing in your garage waiting for spare parts.