[SilentEngine]

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.

There is no 'grande' badging anywhere in the world, not just India, I haven't seen a photo with grande badging in in international variants, if you have seen please post here.
The name of the car is grande punto as it is else where.

[praveencr85]

Originally Posted by SilentEngine

There is no 'grande' badging anywhere in the world, not just India, I haven't seen a photo with grande badging in in international variants, if you have seen please post here.
The name of the car is grande punto as it is else where.

your right @Silent engine

Even i have not seen on the cars here in germany saying grande, will take a closer look again on my way to office ..

[sharma_sanjeevi]

Originally Posted by 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 .

Spot On Amit Bhai, you have covered all the aspects in detail, thanks for posting the experience on behalf of us, would like to add, as you mentioned the Down Hill Handling characteristics were EXCELLENT, there is no other hatchback that can match the Punto in this department KUDOS to FIAT.

The other point which i noted while our test drive was that the power delivery was very linear at around 1800 RPM when the turbo kicks in there is a rush almost comparable like the swift, but the power delivery in the Punto MJD is more linear than the swift, so the driveability should be excellent in the B2B City traffic. @2000 RPM we were cruising at 80 Kph & as we reached the signal i had to hit the Brakes hard as the signal was closed the Punto's composure was exemplary & while braking i felt very confident that we all will be safe

With all the Bells & Whistles in the MJD Emotion Pack, the Punto is a TOTAL VFM.

Would like to thank our fellow BHPians FASTLOVE & NETARCHIE for joining us on the test drive. It was a pleasure meeting you guys (Amit, Fastlove & Netarchie).

regards,
Sanjeev

[tortoiseNhare]

Originally Posted by sidindica

Wheels:
14 inch steel: active, dynamic, emotion
15 inch alloy: emotion pack

Tyre sizes:
Active: 165/70 R 14
Dynamic: 165/70 R 14
Emotion: 175/60 R 14
Emotion pack: 195/60 R 15

Tyre sidewall height + wheel diameter equals
58.66 cm in Active, Dynamic
56.56 cm in Emotion and
61.5 cm in Emotion pack.

Can we guess from above that the Emotion variant will be a loser in fuel efficiency figures? Moreover, the difference between the total diameters of Emotion pack and any other variant is more than the 3% limit. I think this would result in incorrect speedometer/odometer reading in at least one of the variants unless the meters are calibrated differently for different variants.

[jassi]

@amit -nice review, so did you book the e+

@gto - did you post your review yet

[khan_sultan]

Originally Posted by amit

... I didnt' find anything flimsy. Plastics are okay.

I felt that the 'quality' of plastics (for example door opener latch) is way better in the S10 than Punto. Same for the quality of the boot/fuel lid opener, driver seat adjuster in Punto

.....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.

....

A million dollar question: Will you trade in your S10 and buy any of the 1.2/1.4/1.3 Punto

Or will you wait for a time when FIAT puts in a 1.4T/1.6MJD in this?

[amit]

Originally Posted by khan_sultan

A million dollar question: Will you trade in your S10 and buy any of the 1.2/1.4/1.3 Punto

Or will you wait for a time when FIAT puts in a 1.4T/1.6MJD in this?

That is the million dollar question. My S10 was taken away from me on June 17th. :(

I don't think the 1.6MJD or the TJet's will come before 18-24 months from now. So it is a long wait. While none of the current Punto's are a patch on the frantic GTX / S10, I am hoping pete's will bring the Punto a bit closer to the S10 in the all important FTD factor.

Isnt it amazing that the GTX / S10 were launched in 2002 and 7 years later, there is still no worthy successor. From the looks of it, even now, Fiat is the only company that can give us a successor and they have the firepower with them but it seems like they were so badly burnt by the Indian car buyer that they don't want to venture down the performance road anytime soon.

@amit -nice review, so did you book the e+

I bought the Fiat 500.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by khan_sultan

Will you trade in your S10 and buy any of the 1.2/1.4/1.3 Punto

No ways! With the brilliant dynamics, the Punto begs for more power. 1.4 is revv-happy but it ain't no Palio 1.6

[extreme_torque]

@amit.... 500!!!! is it??

[Minardi]

Does the Punto display give fuel efficiency figures like that of Linea?

[khan_sultan]

Originally Posted by amit

... Isnt it amazing that the GTX / S10 were launched in 2002 and 7 years later, there is still no worthy successor.

Very true. For a 7 year old car/design it still looks great and not much to choose from if you are driving a GTX/S10 and are in the market for a performance hatch.

Originally Posted by GTO

No ways! With the brilliant dynamics, the Punto begs for more power. 1.4 is revv-happy but it ain't no Palio 1.6

True. I drove a 1.4 yesterday for some ~15 kms and though found it peppy & rev happy, it is no match to the 1.6/S10.

The braking was FAR more better in the Punto though (ABS, etc etc).

[codemarauder]

Originally Posted by amit

I bought the Fiat 500.

The Fiat 500 USB mouse?

The other day, I bought a Linea for INR 284.38/-
It was a genuine Fiat part bearing a part number!

[pradster]

Originally Posted by amit

I bought the Fiat 500.

Is this for real? Amazing choice in that case! I would love to buy a 500 myself, only if it were a little cheaper. All said it is a brilliant car and you can be assured of all the attention in the world anywhere you go in that baby.
Do show us around the car amit

Congrats! X 1 gazillion!

[amit]

Originally Posted by pradster

Is this for real? Amazing choice in that case! I would love to buy a 500 myself, only if it were a little cheaper. All said it is a brilliant car and you can be assured of all the attention in the world anywhere you go in that baby.
Do show us around the car amit

Congrats! X 1 gazillion!

Arey hold your horses. See my 500 below:

I bought a Linea for INR 284.38/

Where did you buy one for so cheap?

[ntrack]

I'm thinking of trading off my S10 with a GP MJD or 1.4. Though the performance of GP shall not be in the league of the S10, but shall have more features, better comfort & fuel economy & definitely better brakes.

Can you guys gimme some tips on this? My S10 has clocked 100,000 kms.