[Arindam_Nayek]

I guess the pics in the advertisement are only a part of promotional gimmick and won't make it to the production.
Who knows Fiat might be following our Forum closely.

[nakul0888]

I was just wondering whether it was better if fiat had introduced the new t jet punto under a new performance sub brand rather than brand it as a fully fledged abarth. I mean this is just equivalent to vw plonking 1.4 tsi in a polo and calling it a gti, right? Like what they did over in China. Last time I heard Chinese weren't very pleased about it. This is just watering down of the abarth brand. We all know this t jet punto ain't the real thing even though it may be the best thing that could have happened to our tiny lukewarm hatch market. IMO they should have just made it a punto supersport or super veloce or something and then give us the proper abarth when the time is right for it.

[blackwasp]

Good news, just spoke to Abarth Kolkata dealer and he confirmed that Abarth Punto will be available in regular showrooms. The Abarth branded dealers so far do deliveries of only 595. This is good news for us Mumbaikars as I was worried it won't be sold here.

Also the tentative schedule is
1st week Oct - demo cars to reach showrooms
10th Oct - official launch
4th week Oct - delivery commences

[sultanofswing]

Originally Posted by nakul0888

I was just wondering whether it was better if fiat had introduced the new t jet punto under a new performance sub brand rather than brand it as a fully fledged abarth. I mean this is just equivalent to vw plonking 1.4 tsi in a polo and calling it a gti, right? Like what they did over in China. Last time I heard Chinese weren't very pleased about it. This is just watering down of the abarth brand. We all know this t jet punto ain't the real thing even though it may be the best thing that could have happened to our tiny lukewarm hatch market. IMO they should have just made it a punto supersport or super veloce or something and then give us the proper abarth when the time is right for it.

It's a fair desire, but given the Indian market, a bleak possibility. After reading your post i checked out the UK version of the Abarth Punto Supersport. It has such eye catching looks and 180 blazing horses (drool max)
That engine is probably overkill for mileage conscious Indian hatchback buyers. Also someone more familiar with Indian automotive norms for such big engines can comment if it is feasible for a manufacturer to launch such a thing and price it within reach of mortals ...

[jetti]

I wouldn't call this a watered down Abarth. The Abarth Fiat 500 does start with the same engine in the 135-140HP. http://www.abarthcars.co.uk/Site/uk/Abarth500 Its the Esseesse kit or higher variants where the power is boosted to 160-190HP.

It is already expected that the suspension would be modified for this Abarth Punto. The differences that I see are that this is 5 door vs 3 door and it doesn't get the option of the Automatic Abarth Competizione Gearbox.

Originally Posted by nakul0888

I was just wondering whether it was better if fiat had introduced the new t jet punto under a new performance sub brand rather than brand it as a fully fledged abarth. I mean this is just equivalent to vw plonking 1.4 tsi in a polo and calling it a gti, right? Like what they did over in China. Last time I heard Chinese weren't very pleased about it. This is just watering down of the abarth brand. We all know this t jet punto ain't the real thing even though it may be the best thing that could have happened to our tiny lukewarm hatch market. IMO they should have just made it a punto supersport or super veloce or something and then give us the proper abarth when the time is right for it.

[PatchyBoy]

I am sure the maps on this car will be different from what is found on the Linea T-Jet. Apart from that, does anyone have any information on what are the mechanical differences between this and the Linea T-Jet? If any Linea T-Jet owner wants to make these upgrades to his car, would that be possible? What would it take?

[suhaas307]

Originally Posted by jetti

I wouldn't call this a watered down Abarth. The Abarth Fiat 500 does start with the same engine in the 135-140HP. http://www.abarthcars.co.uk/Site/uk/Abarth500 Its the Esseesse kit or higher variants where the power is boosted to 160-190HP.

It is already expected that the suspension would be modified for this Abarth Punto. The differences that I see are that this is 5 door vs 3 door and it doesn't get the option of the Automatic Abarth Competizione Gearbox.

It is most certainly a watered-down Abarth!

The real deal gets 'Abarth-Spec' brakes and chassis components not to mention Abarth Sabelt sport bucket seat. The engine too is beefed up with Abarth internals. The real Abarth gets 17" wheels and much fatter tyres amongst other things.

The Indian Abarth is nothing but a Punto Evo with a slightly tweaked suspension, rear disc brakes, T-Jet engine mapped to make 145 horsepower (yet to be verified on a rolling road) and Abarth stickering / badges. Not taking away anything from it, it's still a great package for the speculated price-tag, but it's far from being a proper Abarth.

[rav11stars]

So the dates from the 4th week of October onward are the ones I'll keenly see to see how many threads actually materialize into bookings and then into an ownership thread

[firstguri]

So it seems all the Fiat dealerships will sell Abarth Punto. I confirmed from the Chandigarh dealer; they've started accepting bookings for it but are charging 50k. So I'm relieved otherwise I would have had to go to Delhi to buy it. He also went on to say that the deliveries will commence from November.

Regarding someone's query about different internals, well if I remember correctly then I think I read somewhere in the beginning that it has a different turbocharger from that of T-jet. And since the figures are different, of course the mapping would be different. Apart from that if I have to take a guess then I would say the other internals would most probably be same to keep the costs down. But that's just my guess. Who knows till the time Fiat comes out with details. And I think with the kitty almost out of the bag, Fiat should start spilling the beans.

[Aditya]

Fiat has announced that it has started accepting bookings for the Punto Abarth. The booking amount has been set at Rs. 50,000.

Link to Team-BHP News Article

[sultanofswing]

Nothing partiularly illuminating or new about the news article other than the booking amount.
Can more experienced members comment whether it is fair to accept booking without disclosing the final price? How am i expected to cough up 50 grand without even knowing the full spec sheet, actual OTR price etc? Is this just to get early preference for deliveries?

[Zappex]

Originally Posted by sultanofswing

Nothing partiularly illuminating or new about the news article other than the booking amount.
Can more experienced members comment whether it is fair to accept booking without disclosing the final price? How am i expected to cough up 50 grand without even knowing the full spec sheet, actual OTR price etc? Is this just to get early preference for deliveries?

Booking amount in such cases is 100% refundable

[chaudh2s]

If Fiat prices the Punto Abarth any higher than 50 thousand over and above the regular punto, it would for sure kill the product. It has to be cheaper than Polo GT Tsi in any case for it to be successful. As far as I know, there is no DSG or ESP in punto abarth, both of which are deal makers for TSI. So, if punto abarth wants to survive in market without DSG & ESP, it got to be cheaper than TSI.

[Rubbertramps]

Originally Posted by chaudh2s

If Fiat prices the Punto Abarth any higher than 50 thousand over and above the regular punto, it would for sure kill the product. It has to be cheaper than Polo GT Tsi in any case for it to be successful. As far as I know, there is no DSG or ESP in punto abarth, both of which are deal makers for TSI. So, if punto abarth wants to survive in market without DSG & ESP, it got to be cheaper than TSI.

Ironically, performance aficionados always prefer manual don't they. Of course the Achilles heel is in the manual gear box in the Punto. But then manual in general is preferred over DSG right. I may be wrong here.

[Doge]

Why are we complaining that this isn't a real abarth but a "watered down " version? If Fiat would have launched a proper abarth with 140mm GC,every one would have criticised Fiat for not tuning the car for Indian conditions. If this isn't an Abarth, then I'm sorry to say that the VRS( both Octavia and Laura) were nothing but watered down version diluting the VRS brand. Was the Fiesta S a proper S? Nope. What is so "GT" about the Polo GT? It's just a normal super mini everywhere else.
Fiat has done the right thing by "watering down" the abarth. It makes the Abarth Punto a lot more usable and cheaper, after all even if they did launch a proper Abarth Essesse for 16 lacs,every one would scream in joy then get a Creta Automatic.