[Nimish anthony]

Petes says “Rule every Road”. Can you. Read on

The project was to develop a 100 HP Plus monster hatchback. The choice was diesel as it had to have economy and power in the same bunch. The objective was, it had to be good-looking, feature rich, unique and distinct. Moreover it needed high speed dynamics and last by not the least, it had to have a suspension that could handle all this. Well, it’s like a gal looking for a groom who just wants everything. Can’t help it.

The cars shortlisted were.

1.Swift
2. Polo
3. I-20
4. Punto 90 Hp

Let’s move with the swift first. It had all that we need, but it was too common and not very good in the braking department. The uniqueness was not there as every other guy owns a swift. It has been in the market for a very long time.

Then comes the Polo. Well it looks hot, well built, has the image, but the 3 cylinder engine was not built for power and it was more on the economy.

The i-20. Its loaded with features, has 90hp and moves like a rocket. High speed dynamics were not to my choice so it was ruled out.

Now finally came the Italian beauty. It was picked because it had uniqueness (Very few dare to go for a fiat). It was chosen because the heart was an MJD and had 90 Hp of power, looked good, hi speed dynamics were the best and had all the features of a high end car. The negatives of the car compared to the others in the segment were that the car was too heavy and did not have an initiative to move to 100.

Here comes Petes remap. Where you have power at your disposal.

Its been a month since I had remapped my 90 Hp to a 110 Hp monster. I had taken some time to post a review since i wanted to really test the car before i came up to conclusions. I waited for 25,000 Kms to break the codes of my Italian beauty. I wanted the engine to open up before it could take the extra horses. Breaking the codes and adding the extra boost to the current car is something which the racer boy in you looks out for. After games at NFS and Road rash its when you are powered with the nitro boost really gives you with the extra edge. Just to cover the opponents smoking them to dust. That was always missing in the Italiano 90. It had power but not at your fingertips. I needed to break the codes to suffice my Need for Speed. It came to an end with the launch of the Diesel Inside Remap from Petes. I was averse to the plug and play tuning boxes that prevailed in the market and when the original remap came, I looked no further. I drove up to the Petes performance stall in Cochin and added the nitro to my ride. It took some time for me as the car was scanned and the codes were sent to Uk, and later the remap codes are sent back. It took some testing and a couple of code changes as the Indian car had a different state of tune.

Finally I get my car after a wait of 4 days and intensive testing by Peter and Co. The initial response was like... WOW!!! I wait for the open road to feel the turbo kick in and woosssh, I have become a bad boy once again. You are driving a transformed edition of Fiat. The turbo really makes you feel rocking as there is tremendous power from the 2100-3700 RPM. I had felt this induction of torque only previously with my RD 350. The heaviness of the car had gone. It felt light and was ready to take off at the tap of a pedal and the engine lost its strained feeling. Initially its the same old punto with the sluggish 1st and 2nd gears. Shift gears and the power comes to you. The VGT fires to life at 2100 RPM and you are into new heights. The turbo addiction can make you addicted. You can easily outdo a Vento, Verna and 1.6 Polo. I eat them for breakfast now. The suspension of the punto gives you tremendous confidence to push it to the limits. My car now begs for a suspension upgrade with Tarox brakes which I will be upgrading to shortly. The Italian drives as if he has a shot of Red Bull.

Normally you can drive it just like a stock punto. It’s when you need power just shift gears and your remap comes to play. That’s one thing that I really liked about the remap. The car is best felt at 70 kmph in 4th gear at 2500 RPM. Believe me it will transform your dreams to reality.

Now the question of the average Indian "Milege kithna hai"?. It depends on your driving style. On hard acceleration, it delivers 13.5 to 14.5. Rest is 18.5 for me.

Overall I am a happy customer of the first 110 HP remapped Punto and I hope to see more on roads.

Now at last it’s the ITALIAN JOB which rules.

Please note that this article is not written to promote speed or racing. It was just done with the object of extracting more from the stock MJD 90 to make it more drivable.

[swarnava.m]

Let me be the first to congratulate you on this achievement. The Punto, as we all know, is one beast of a ride.!! Rather, it is more of a touring car than being a street racer. However, with this upgrade, I guess your baby now experiences the best of both worlds.

The best part I like about the Punto is the insulation of it, where it completely cuts you off from the outside world once you are inside. And this is why, 150 feels like so 120! Do post some more experiences, especially some 0-100 figures or something.

Some pictures also, please.

PS. Impressive FE figures, those! [ENVY].

[fuel_addict]

Very impressive project and the results are super encouraging. 110 HP and you are on par with the Getz Diesel but with the Punto's supreme handling and high speed stability; she should be more fun to drive. Did you do a dyno test before and after the install? 0-100 figures would be interesting. You have just transformed a hot hatch into a hotter hatch. Good luck and would look forward to more updates as you clock more miles.

[scofield]

Wow I just loved reading it. Congrats Nimish for getting the best out of the beauty. I can understand every word you have written as I am a proud owner of GP90HP. The Punto just makes you feel that as much as you give me I am ready to take in.
I got myself a RD tuning box and a K&N filter, am loving the every bit of it i get from the car now, I agree that turbo spools are very addictive because suddenly the car gains so much of momentum and specially with Punto's kerb weight it just loves it. I loved your line - of eating the Vernas,Ventos etc for breakfast daily, I never leave a chance to smoke them too.
I havent dyno'd mine, so cant comment on the power increase.Also, could you tell me how is the clutch plate handling the extra torque? Any precautions you are taking, I was advised to use all the extra power from the 3rd gear onwards and try to avoid in the initial gears.

Edit: Nimish, tried to send you a PM however you have got 1 post left to have that feature, get that done - want to ask some details and cost regarding the mod.

[rakirank]

Nimish,

Congrats on transforming your car. Appreciate that you have take time to evaluate the performance before posting your experience for the benefit of others.

I have a question here, why do all these mods give best results above 2000 RPM? What % of driving is done above 2000 RPM?

I personally would want the benefits of the mod to kick in earlier to help me gain momentum quicker, is this not feasible?

Enjoy your transformed monster hatch.

PS: I believe there is a typo in your post wherein the RMP range reads '2100-37000 RPM'.

[Sweet Chariot]

congrats on your hot italian mod job, i am glad you love the ride much more than before and you still get a decent FE. can you share more details on your performance figures and if you have been advised on impact on clutch and fuel injectors wear and tear and so on..?

can you also share details on the how the code looked like before it was sent to UK dealer and what was returned.

Have a safe ride!!

[Nimish anthony]

Well as mentioned i felt that the 90 Hp had much more to deliver. So i went for the remap. The end result was just mind blowing. Well 0-100 accurate figures require a vbox to be tested. I would say it could do it in 12-13 based on the tests we had with a stop watch.
A dyno test was not done before and after which will be done as there is no dyno available in Kerala.

Moreover Petes says your car is your dyno. Drive to believe it. Yes it delivers performance which has to be felt rather than a dyno graph.

Well scofield i mentioned about my ex RD 350 which had a torque induction label on it and tremendous torque it delivers with a twin cylinder 35hp 350 cc 2 stroke engine. I think you mistook it as Race Dynamics. Its all the same after the remap. Feel it. Its an experience.

pictures will be posted soon.. well the code looked alien to me and the return code still looked alien.. It was all the same for me coz it was too techie for a person like me. I dont think a layman could understand the code breaks. Its magnetti marelli codes which are broken. Its too complex for me. If i knew it i would have done it myself.

Originally Posted by Sweet Chariot

congrats on your hot italian mod job, i am glad you love the ride much more than before and you still get a decent FE. can you share more details on your performance figures and if you have been advised on impact on clutch and fuel injectors wear and tear and so on..?

can you also share details on the how the code looked like before it was sent to UK dealer and what was returned.

have a safe ride!!

Originally Posted by swarnava.m

Let me be the first to congratulate you on this achievement. The Punto, as we all know, is one beast of a ride.!! Rather, it is more of a touring car than being a street racer. However, with this upgrade, I guess your baby now experiences the best of both worlds.

The best part I like about the Punto is the insulation of it, where it completely cuts you off from the outside world once you are inside. And this is why, 150 feels like so 120! Do post some more experiences, especially some 0-100 figures or something.

Some pictures also, please.

PS. Impressive FE figures, those! [ENVY].

[F150]

what was the cost of the remap from Petes ? Did you also go for air intake upgrade ?
110bhp is impressive, what is your current odo reading ?

I believe the driveability has also improved.

You sure need a brake upgrade. Keep us updated on the progress. Drive Safe !!

[scofield]

Originally Posted by Nimish anthony

Well scofield i mentioned about my ex RD 350 which had a torque induction label on it and tremendous torque it delivers with a twin cylinder 35hp 350 cc 2 stroke engine. I think you mistook it as Race Dynamics. Its all the same after the remap. Feel it. Its an experience.

Hey , I did not mistake RD 350 as Race Dynamics - why I just highlighted about my Race Dynamics experience is that I feel what you wrote on the post, so was just adding my experience .

Also, as you said its same after the remap you mean remapping and adding the tuning box result in a same feel? Also, what about the clutch plate, any precautions?

[Nimish anthony]

These pictures were taken as part of the All Kerala Team Fiat Meet held in Cochin. The car was sticker-ed for that purpose. The stickers have now been removed.

Well the stickers have nothing to do with the remap.. Just adds BHP to the visual eye.

Well i did not go for a free flow filter as i am skeptical about it. It runs on the stock filter and petes recommends filter change every 10K in case you are using the stock filter. The cost of a diesel inside remap from Petes is 32K.

Im not sure how the tuning box performs on a punto and I have heard about a race dynamics plug and play device. I went for the remap and i think its quite effective. Its now much better for everyday driving.

The precautions that i take are that i don't rev the car initially. I let the car run for about 5 kilometers from a cold start below 1500 RPM. Then wait for the engine to run in and then on i take off from there.
Turbo idling for a minute before a stop is done to ensure that the turbo lives more.
I think my clutch is just as new and the car has clocked 29k.

Planning to use Power Turbo Racing Engine Oil as they are used in racing cars with high horse power. This product is essentially a super high specification racing oil that is ideally suited to be used in high horse power turbo charged engines.

[neil.jericho]

I think your signature needs an update

Very nice upgrade. Could you post some in- gear acceleration timings (even if it on a stop watch) for us to get an idea about how much better your Punto is over the stock 90HP version?

[raj_5004]

Great, even I have a 90hp and itching to get a power upgrade.

But what I want is something else -

The Punto has terrible turbo lag below 2000 rpm, it is even more pronounced in 2nd gear at low speeds (city traffic). I need the power to be generated at lower rpm, say 1200-1500 rpm or so. Can this be achieved by the remap? I dont just need outright power, i need better drivability too.

If not, can this be achieved by the RD tuning box?

[Nimish anthony]

The 90 Hp uses a Variable geometric turbo which is a bigger one than a FGT. Bigger the turbo much more the turbo lag. I dont think any tuner in india can extract power at 1200-1500 RPM. In the city below 1500 the punto is not good at.. Open up and it will fly.
Fiat has to change the drive ratio, still it's the same torque band they have to play in.
If they do it for 1-2-3 gears for 0-100 timings of 12 secs, it's top range will be blunted & 160 km/hr will be DEAD end!

[scofield]

Originally Posted by raj_5004

Great, even I have a 90hp and itching to get a power upgrade.

But what I want is something else -

The Punto has terrible turbo lag below 2000 rpm, it is even more pronounced in 2nd gear at low speeds (city traffic). I need the power to be generated at lower rpm, say 1200-1500 rpm or so. Can this be achieved by the remap? I dont just need outright power, i need better drivability too.

If not, can this be achieved by the RD tuning box?

Raj, I would say with the tuning box - the drivability improves to a certain margin but not the best, I mean it will reduce your downshifts thats for sure however the turbo lag will be there. I too have the same concern - I did mention on Crazy Driver's thread too and asked you too (as to when the turbo spools, as I thought my car has a delay ), the only tuning (stock from Fiat) I would prefer in Punto is the turbo should start spooling at 1500 - 1800 RPM rather then 2300-2500 because during the city drives we hardly touch 2500 RPM . If this is acheived then Punto will be the only hatch which is a rabbit on the city roads and a cheetah on the highways.

However, as mentioned my Nimish above, it looks like either this or that kind of scenario. :-(

[raj_5004]

For some reason, I would prefer a better bottom end grunt when compared to top end speed. I dont mind the top speed being limited to 160 kmph. I mean, how often do we cross even 100 kmph on our roads? But low end grunt will help me everyday in city as well as highway.