[ramzsys]

Thats a fine excerpt from the train of thoughts, GTO.. And whether swift, Getz i20s feels the heat or not, Auto magazines are to face a tough-competition.

[nickatnite]

I checked out the Punto today and was pleasantly surprised!. The car drives well too and i would dare to say that it is a worthy contender in the hatch war. Hope it sells well and gets FIAT back on track.

[GTO]

Nope, I gotta tell you. If it was for my girl, it'd probably be the i10. For family use - a Vista quadrajet.

But for sheer highway manners, the GP it is. @ Fiat : Give us a 100 - 120 horsepower engine, will ya?! This car is begging for it.

[Mpower]

Originally Posted by GTO

BUTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT the Punto gave me a wide smile on my face at 150 kph. ROCK solid highway manners, feels like a much bigger car, tall boys don't even come close at speed.

Little known fact is that this baby has German blood.

Grande Punto is based on the latest Opel Corsa platform (not the regular Punto) from where it probably gets its Autobhan blitzing ability. Happened during the brief FIAT-GM relationship in the early 00s.

[Dine]

Originally Posted by GTO

Nope, I gotta tell you. If it was for my girl, it'd probably be the i10. For family use - a Vista quadrajet.

But for sheer highway manners, the GP it is. @ Fiat : Give us a 100 - 120 horsepower engine, will ya?! This car is begging for it.

GTO,
That's a sneaky one. Was expecting your review when I logged in.

FIAT can you hear us ??
Gives us the 90BHP 1.3 MJD VGT and 120 BHP1.6 MJD soon.

Originally Posted by GTO;

I uttered 3 words "Red, MJD, Emotion (pack)". This isn't a car you buy with the head as much as you do with the heart.

I was also looking for the i20 1.4 CRDi, after reading GTO's comments, Punto will be my next car.

[MileCruncher]

Went along with a colleague to the FIAT showroom to check out the GP. Looks no doubt awesome. And pricing is good too. Noticed that the MJD has engine plate which is absent in the Linea. The thing that disappointed me is the absence of the reassuring "thud" sound on closing of the door that you experience in the Palio/Petra. This one makes a sound more like the Hyundai's

[ghost_rider]

Hear the thud now ?

NOTE FROM SUPPORT TEAM: PLEASE DON'T USE EXCESSIVE SMILEYS

[pedrolourenco]

Took a TD yesterday of the Punto and Linea. There's no Grande badging anywhere. It's being sold in India as the Punto and not Grande Punto.

[vvmanoj]

Fiat was way ahead of the game when they launched the Palio 1.6 GTX but this time around they seem to be playing safe.
Come on Fiat, be bold! Give us the TJet and the 1.6 MJD!! The question now is are you, Fiat, bold enough?!
Cheers,
Manoj

[jassi]

Originally Posted by pedrolourenco

Took a TD yesterday of the Punto and Linea. There's no Grande badging anywhere. It's being sold in India as the Punto and not Grande Punto.

from the reviews here, it would be a crime to call the indian version as grande, with the botched up rear seating

Originally Posted by vvmanoj

Fiat was way ahead of the game when they launched the Palio 1.6 GTX but this time around they seem to be playing safe.
Come on Fiat, be bold! Give us the TJet and the 1.6 MJD!! The question now is are you, Fiat, bold enough?!

although diesels might tickle some of the team-bhp junta - a lot of us would also like a 1.4 turbo petrol producing 120bhp

[amtak]

Originally Posted by Dippy

Easily the best looking hatch in the country today. I just love it. I always loved the 1.6 GTX and this just takes it further. It reeks classic Italian styling. This car would be fun after a tuning box gets placed under the hood.

Its off to the near by Fiat dealership (5 min from home) for a TD over the weekend. And the showroom is right next to the highway.

Dippy,

Going to Wasan? Thats the best place in Mumbai where we can see the same engine being made available in 3 different company's cars in 1 building complex!

We have the TATA-Fiat Showroom plus the Maruti Showroom about 10 steps away!

PS: What time you are going? Can I join in too?

[vvmanoj]

Originally Posted by jassi

although diesels might tickle some of the team-bhp junta - a lot of us would also like a 1.4 turbo petrol producing 120bhp

jassi, thats what I meant when I said TJet I am a petrol head myself driving around in a 1.6 GTX!!

[pradster]

Enjoy these, until tommorow:

How.should.I.Stop.Salivating??

[bageherath]

I had a test ride for MJD Emotion +, yesterday. I hyderbad it is going to launch today officially.

It was red looked stunning , I had 6 km Necklace road test drive.

I felt,
1. Driving position is very confortable.
2. Initial pick up was decent with excelent insulation of the engine sound (my family sitting at back never felt it was started).
3. It was very much drivable in low speed in high gears. ver good to drive city traffic with minimal change of gears. Which Swift DDiS does not allow.
4. Awesome ride.(big tryes with alloys in E+ is a plus).
5. Good space for front passengers. Rear is just ok for three(but felt were comfortable than Swift and Fabia).
6. Dashboard looks good in quality than door trims.
7. Handling is best in its class compared to (swift,I20).
8. throtle response is good as it has Drive by wire.
9. driving in 3rd and 4th gear is a pleasure(in city conditions) which is simlar to Fiesta(I have a fiesta).
10. Doors shut with a thund, what we seen in Linea and Palio.
11. I was driving in a big car.

Overall it was a +ve TD.

Fiat-Tata is giving 2 year unlimited warranty with good service intervals.
Which I think should help to get the confidence in the indian buyers.

[amit]

Checked out the Punto at Fortune, Nerul yesterday alongwith 3 other bhpians. Display car was a red Punto Emotion pack MJD and TD car was a silver mjd emotion. My views:

- Car looks bloody fantastic! It has a very sporty and purposeful stance about it.

- Inside and out the car looks very young and youthful. We checked out the i20 before the Punto and the hyundai looks like a car a family guy would choose. The interiors are sober and executiveish. Punto, on the other hand, is a car someone single and dating or a recently married guy who is still single at heart will buy .

- I have never seen a Fiat with such amazing paint finish. What gloss! The colours are so deep and rich. I found the paint finish better then Linea. I read somewhere that the Punto would come painted in Fiat's new paint booth at Ranjangaon. If that's true then Fiat has a top notch paint booth at their plant.

- I liked the interiors. Again, they felt very young and sporty. I didnt' find anything flimsy. Plastics are okay.

- I am almost 5' 10" and I really pity the person that will have to sit behind me. This is where the Jap's excel. They understand the market requirements. In Europe, most people live alone or as a couple which results in the rear seat being rarely used in these type of cars. They probably need a bigger boot to carry stuff on their summer weekend getaway's. None of these things happen in India. Maybe Fiat could have reduced the cargo area and increase the rear room.

- Hatch has suspension intruding into the space. Also, initial impressions felt that the hatch is a bit high up for loading stuff. But, 60:40 split seats are good.

- Rear mounted stop lamp is cheap stuff. Also, the nozzle for rear wiper spray is built into the lamp. If either of them conks off, would we have to change the whole lamp? Salesguy said there is a separate unit inside for the nozzle and the two are separate parts. I hope he is right.

Coming to the short test drive.

- 5 of us with A/C on, we took the car up the Parsik hill in Belapur and with a new engine, the Punto scampered up the hill all the way in third gear. It never felt like it was running out of breath or requiring down shifts.

- Gear shifts are long and felt a big spongy but would reserve that judgement till I drive it longer.

- Suspension is typical Fiat. I don't know how they do it but the car feels so planted and soaks up bumps so well that it's unbelieveable. I guess the suspension is a bit soft since it's not a performance car but I felt that the ride quality is better then in my S10.

- Since the drive up and down the hill was full of twisties we got a sampling of the handling of the car and it was such a joy! Again, the car felt so sure and stable. Minimal body roll. Great stuff. On the way down, fellow bhpian Sanjeev pushed it a bit and the little Punto took it all so well almost telling him 'That's it? That's all you got?" It's going to be a fun car to drive and it shows that the chassis is designed to take more powerful engines.

- Steering felt great. Sharp and was set up just perfectly. Again, typical Fiat. In my books, Fiat comes second after Ford in steering set up. I don't know if Punto will manage to push Fiat ahead of Ford in this area.

Some other points:

- Smart cost cutting is visible. Check out wheel wells of the Linea and then the Punto's for example. Also, antenna in EU Punto is at the back like in the Linea but for India they moved it to the front like in the Palio. Not sure if it gives cost savings though.

- No red spot lights like in the Linea.

- No arm rest.

- Seats felt comfortable.

- Steering felt a bit high even at it's lowest setting. Also, it adjusts only for rake and not reach.

- What impressed me was the sales guy. He was all excited and 'showy' about the car. He was all smiles and his enthusiasm and excitement was almost addictive! He was proud of his new product and that's just the way to go for Fiat. Get more like him in your dealerships, Fiat. And it was clear that he had recieved very good training about the car. Of course, kudos to him since he absored the training well instead of taking the oppurtunity to just enjoy at a 5 star hotel .