[sukrit7]

Before starting my review I'd like to inform the mod team that the only reason i'm starting a new thread is because i'll be buying a new car within 15-20 days. In the next few days l'll be driving the swift d, i20 and many others; posting my exper. here would add to convenience I feel it would be better to post in a separate thread. If you disagree please merge.

I parked my baleno at Rama motors, okhla delhi. I had rushed due to my eagerness and hence the baleno's torque, power and ride quality were sharply placed in my mind. I was hoping I wouldn't have to compromise.

I'm not going to rant about the beauty of the car, what I am going to mention is the fact that i'm 6.1 feet tall and there's no way anyone above 5.9 feet is going to be comfortable behind me.
My father on on the other hand is 5.7 and I was alright on the rear seat.

The first salesman wasn't well informed but that didn't bother me, I taught him quite a few things.

We first drove the petrol, I took the passenger seat. The car starts very silently and retains this quality at idle. The roads in okhla are terrible and within a few minutes I was impressed with the punto's handling and suspension. Power was alright, not underpowered. Air conditioner works charmingly and I found the audio alright.

I took over and luckily found better roads. I must mention that the car was in terrible condition, making strange noises, the salesman attributed these to an accident the car had been involved in.(I coudn't find any external damage). Found the clutch way long and the gear shift was terrible. The steering was brilliant but the turning radius will be a definite problem.
I was not impressed but have requested for another test drive because of the condition of the car.

The diesel on the other hand was leagues ahead. I felt at ease with the car the moment I stepped in. The same cannot be said about the petrol. The gear shift and throw and the clutch took no time adapting to(had great difficutly adjusting in the petrol). Cruised at 20 without any difficulties on the 4th gear.
The power delivery was linear as has been mentioned before, turbo lag is minimal and I felt quite an adequate surge as the rpm needle climbed. We managed 85 in no time at all.
The a/c worked much better on the diesel and for some reason the car felt much more composed, I was damn impressed.
As the lights decreased, I switched on the headlamps and found them quite adequate, the braking is superb and the abs kicks in just on time(cows).
Currently I'd rate the diesel much much higher.

A few more things
-Drove both emotion packs, level of equipment is fascinating.
-Horn button was a bit on the harder side but brilliant otherwise
-Steering controls, quite a boon
- Didn't have trouble(read lack of space) with the controls(clutch,brake,acc.), felt spacing was adequate
- Doors did close with a thud except the front right door.
-Multi information display very informative.

-Plastic quality in certain areas not upto the mark
-Rear legroom(it's actually less only because of the big boot)
-big turning radius means trouble in the city
-steering a bit on the higher side even on the lowest setting.

Another request to the mod team to let me continue this thread. I shall post a comparision with the swift diesel tomorrow. Others can also do the same as this would be a question in every buyers mind.

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

Any intentions of a vista MJD? And what other cars have you owned? (No offence meant - just to know what what you are looking for).

[sukrit7]

Nope. Our cars are exposed to a lot of mountain and highway roads. I won't touch the vista till it comes with airbags and abs with ebd.

Have owned swift(petrol),baleno(altura),WagonR,alto.

[Hades]

How was the B2B Ride with the diesel mate? is the power adequate enough to move the car freely in heavy traffic?

Also please let us know of the NVH level inside the cabin when you were at 85+.

Im also looking to buy this italian piece of tradition, but would require a lot of persuasion to do so

[sukrit7]

B2B ride is good. The car picks up decently and allows you to crawl along comfortably in second gear. No shudders at all.
Nvh levels were decent at 80+ speeds. I was trying it in 3rd gear though and it sure moves.
I'm going to request them to bring the car home tomorrow or arrange for a longer testdrive so that I can take a few timings and also check out higher speed stabilities.
Shall compare with the swift diesel tomorrow.

[sukrit7]

C'mon guys, help me and others out. Post your opinions on the gp vs swift vs ritz vs i20.
I'm in the market for a new hatchback, the fuel doesn't matter to me.
I'm sure many others are in the same situation.
Shall test the swift(d) and ritz at 4 today. Already own the swift petrol so shall post today night.
Please do contribute and help me out with this decision.

[nurni76]

Are you looking at a Diesel or open to both? (Coz you said you will also be test driving i20 I am assuming you are open to both). As far as Petrol goes, Grande Punto is a big let down. It lacks punch. Interiors are also very average. I know you have a swift petrol, and I am sure you will know Swift is far better in terms of Perfromance. I have not TDen the Diesel Punto and hence can't comment.

However, I have TDen the Ritz and the Jazz. If you can forget the price for a moment, Jazz is the clear choice (But then it is price that really is the main reason for rejecting or accepting a choice). Ritz petrol is a breeze to drive, infact almost on par with Jazz, but where Jazz stands out is space and quality of interiors and the thought that has gone into details. I loved but it was way too overpriced by atleast a lakh
i20 is also a great package, but for the lack of power to pull that huge mass. Interiors are great, fine quality (on par with Jazz) and personally i liked its looks the best.

So if it is petrol and price is not a constraint, then Jazz it is for you. If there is a budget constraint, you could look at the Ritz (if you like its looks ). Hope this helps

Originally Posted by sukrit7

C'mon guys, help me and others out. Post your opinions on the gp vs swift vs ritz vs i20.
I'm in the market for a new hatchback, the fuel doesn't matter to me.
I'm sure many others are in the same situation.
Shall test the swift(d) and ritz at 4 today. Already own the swift petrol so shall post today night.
Please do contribute and help me out with this decision.

[extreme_torque]

My advice would be eliminate both the Maruti's since you already have a Swift and Ritz is also built on the same platform... but only more uglier!
Concentrate on i20 and Gp... i20 has better quality interiors but gp has a diesel at almost i20's petrol price... i would vote for the GP Emotion Pack.

[sukrit7]

I drove the swift dzire diesel today. The turbo rush is exhilarating but I didn't quite find it to be very convenient in B2B traffic, nor did my father.
The swift diesel is out because it doesn't offer airbags, don't quite understand maruti's strategy here.

The swifts don't match up to the handling of the punto nor do they provide the comfort or the upmarket feel. The interior is levels below that of the punto and even feature wise the swift doesn't match up.
Probably the only area where it's better is performance.
I drove both the petrol(a much better version this time) and the diesel on he gp with the latter being a much better engine. The petrol lacks punch and outright acceleration isn't much to talk about either, diesel is pretty fast and I touched 95 quite easily(auto car timings are way off, rest assured!)
More in a bit

[sukrit7]

I was accompanied by a friend today when we drove the gp. We both agreed that the diesel was a much better drive.Since I had driven the car before as well I let him do most of the driving.
Here are a few more observations
The car does become noisy 3.5k rpm upwards but the roar of the diesel sounds good;the same cannot be said about the petrol engine.
Another important thing we both noticed was that the car feels slow due to a well built chassis and good levels of insulation.
My friend thought he was doing 20 when he was actually at 50. Before you call this car underpowered please do glance at what speeds you're doing.

I've read gto's brilliant review but feel differently about the following
1- The pedals are spaced well enough, I wear a size 11 and didn't have any trouble at all
2- MY elbows never brushed against the front seat passenger

I've almost made up my mind, I will drive the i20 tomorrow but my heart is set on the gp. For me, overall the swift doesn't match up to the gp(I own a swift)
and I shall book an emotion pack grande punto tomorrow or dayafter.
Shall keep you all updated.

I have a few queries, can anyone provide 0-100 accurate timings; and does anyone have a pic of the white colored punto?

[extreme_torque]

@sukrit... I would suggest you not to go into 0-100 kph figures because they are academic. What matter is if you found the power enough for your driving.
Congrats beforehand for your purchase.

[sukrit7]

The 0-100 figures are just out of curiosity, I find the diesel has enough power. Thankyou!

[extreme_torque]

Was loooking around and found this...

Fiat Grande Punto 1.3 16v MultiJet 75 GP Specifications | UK New Car Data

The link has the 0-100 kph time for the 1.3 75 ps three door punto and its 13.6 seconds.

[sukrit7]

Thanks extreme_torque, that seems quite an accurate figure

[Shankyz]

Originally Posted by sukrit7

Thanks extreme_torque, that seems quite an accurate figure

I hope you bought the car by now and will be good if you share youe experience so far. or share the link if you have posted it already.

Thanks in advance