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Old 16th September 2012, 12:42   #5326
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Originally Posted by PAVAN KADAM
Here you go, some more shots.
Some nice PP there. Makes the stock ferrari kinda red look wine red!
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Old 20th September 2012, 18:17   #5327
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Re: Fiat Grande Punto : Test Drive & Review

Not sure if it was my driving skills or infamous turbo lag but has a hard time climbing a 70 degree steep incline in my punto.

for some reason , she has hard time taking off on incline when she stalled midway through the incline. The long clutch ensured that she rolled back few meters every time i try to took off. finally after 4 attempts, i put on a rock under the tyres and than only she managed to climb. Surely my driving skills were not upto the task But how do you guys Manage with a long clutch in such situation. is half clutch the answer on such steep inclines. every time ,i tried to leave clutch a bit fast, the car would stall and if i tried to take my time, she would roll down some 2-3 meters back . Only saving grace was that there was no traffic behind me and rocks were available in plenty .

Another problem i faced for the first time was a tight 60 degrees turn just on the start of incline. road was just enough for 4 tyres and in the end has to reverse and take the incline . I also switched to second gear which most probably was a bad thing to do on such steep incline. Did this contributed to this problem midway??

PS : - I have recently learned driving.

Last edited by .sushilkumar : 20th September 2012 at 18:19.
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Old 20th September 2012, 18:34   #5328
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Re: Fiat Grande Punto : Test Drive & Review

Quote:
Originally Posted by .sushilkumar View Post
Not sure if it was my driving skills or infamous turbo lag but has a hard time climbing a 70 degree steep incline in my punto.

for some reason , she has hard time taking off on incline when she stalled midway through the incline. The long clutch ensured that she rolled back few meters every time i try to took off. finally after 4 attempts, i put on a rock under the tyres and than only she managed to climb. Surely my driving skills were not upto the task But how do you guys Manage with a long clutch in such situation. is half clutch the answer on such steep inclines. every time ,i tried to leave clutch a bit fast, the car would stall and if i tried to take my time, she would roll down some 2-3 meters back . Only saving grace was that there was no traffic behind me and rocks were available in plenty .

Another problem i faced for the first time was a tight 60 degrees turn just on the start of incline. road was just enough for 4 tyres and in the end has to reverse and take the incline . I also switched to second gear which most probably was a bad thing to do on such steep incline. Did this contributed to this problem midway??

PS : - I have recently learned driving.
If you are not sure with the half-clutch procedure, you handbrakes. Pull the handbrake, release the clutch slowly till you feel the vehicle trying to pull itself, and let go of the handbrake. Easier than putting a rock anyways.

Its hard to switch to 2nd gear for a steep incline. Most probably - the car would fall out of the 'turbo zone' and struggle to pull.
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Old 20th September 2012, 18:39   #5329
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Quote:
Originally Posted by .sushilkumar
PS : - I have recently learned driving.
If you can stop the car without rolling or moving forward using the clutch itself in the incline then you won't have any issue in future.
Will get this by practice and once it's handy, you can tackle any conditions.
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Old 20th September 2012, 18:40   #5330
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Re: Fiat Grande Punto : Test Drive & Review

Quote:
Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR View Post
If you are not sure with the half-clutch procedure, you handbrakes. Pull the handbrake, release the clutch slowly till you feel the vehicle trying to pull itself, and let go of the handbrake. Easier than putting a rock anyways.

Its hard to switch to 2nd gear for a steep incline. Most probably - the car would fall out of the 'turbo zone' and struggle to pull.
Thanks . I did tried to employ Hand brake procedure but failed miserably due to lack of practice i guess. even in First gear also ( off course with rocks at the back ) , I has to rev to almost 2500 RPM before she took off . I remember clearly seeing the needle at 2500 as i thought that she should pull post 1800 rpm when turbo spools up . So most probably i need to learn half clutching and hand brake technique . How do people usually tackle such situation . clearly turbo lag also played it;s part IMO .

Quote:
Originally Posted by aks_karthik View Post
If you can stop the car without rolling or moving forward using the clutch itself in the incline then you won't have any issue in future.
Will get this by practice and once it's handy, you can tackle any conditions.
Understand you point here but will that be appropriate . since i need to maintain a balance between clutch ( little clutch ?? ) and accelerator here . I did used hand brake in this case but as soon as i was dis engaging it, car would roll back and in hurry , i was leaving clutch a bit fast resulting in stalling .

Last edited by .sushilkumar : 20th September 2012 at 18:42.
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Old 20th September 2012, 19:04   #5331
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Re: Fiat Grande Punto : Test Drive & Review

Quote:
Originally Posted by .sushilkumar View Post
Not sure if it was my driving skills or infamous turbo lag but has a hard time climbing a 70 degree steep incline in my punto.
I suggest you go through this thread, will be able to gather a lot of important tips from the many experts in the forum! I have benefited!
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...ng-uphill.html
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Old 20th September 2012, 19:45   #5332
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Re: Fiat Grande Punto : Test Drive & Review

Quote:
Originally Posted by .sushilkumar View Post
But how do you guys Manage with a long clutch in such situation.

A video might help:



The clutch biting and gradual handbrake release may be the best way to keep the clutch happy.
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Old 20th September 2012, 20:59   #5333
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Re: Fiat Grande Punto : Test Drive & Review

Hi All,
Any need on a face lift or 2013 punto?
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Old 22nd September 2012, 10:30   #5334
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Re: Fiat Grande Punto : Test Drive & Review

[quote=.sushilkumar;2909771]Thanks . I did tried to employ Hand brake procedure but failed miserably due to lack of practice i guess. even in First gear also ( off course with rocks at the back ) , I has to rev to almost 2500 RPM before she took off .


Hi Sushil ,

Crazy driver in spot on on the process , with the hand brake on , relax and concentrate on the clutch and the accelerator , release the clutch slowly and give the accelerator slowly until you feel the wheels tending to move and then keep clutch still , release the hand brake slowly while press accelerator .

Hand brakes are a safe option .
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Old 23rd September 2012, 13:36   #5335
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Re: Fiat Grande Punto : Test Drive & Review

@ sushil, climbing inclines are never a problem with punto in lieu of the very short gearing. long clutch personally speaking doesnt hamper the harnessing of torque, you just have to feel the bite point. revving to 1500-1800 ish generates enough torque in first gear, shifting to second needs a little revving say 2500-3k rpm, but then on third is a strict no-no as the gear is too long. better to keep momentum going in such inclines just before you even hit them. only problem i ve seen while taking steep inclines is that due to my extremely back set seating, as you approach the point where incline levels off, you are staring at the sky rather than viewing the road .
And yes the long clutch kills of rapid progress through the gears but the biting point is comparatively flexible that you make extra smooth shifts at whatever rpm, or even if you give short throttle blips before downshifts as you approach a corner at speed.
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Old 24th September 2012, 19:47   #5336
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Re: Fiat Grande Punto : Test Drive & Review

I am getting error message "Airbag failure see handbook". Took the car to Service center. They did some check and informed me that problem with Airbag control unit. My car is more than 3 years long. As per Service center Airbag control unit is not covered under extended warranty. Is Service center taking me for a ride? Is anyone faced issue with Airbag before?
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Old 24th September 2012, 20:01   #5337
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Re: Fiat Grande Punto : Test Drive & Review

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Originally Posted by kalpurja View Post
I am getting error message "Airbag failure see handbook". Took the car to Service center. They did some check and informed me that problem with Airbag control unit. My car is more than 3 years long. As per Service center Airbag control unit is not covered under extended warranty. Is Service center taking me for a ride? Is anyone faced issue with Airbag before?
I had the same problem for my 3.5 year old Linea, check the battery, it could be the issue. You can get the load test done to the battery at any of the battery shop. In my case load test has failed, got a new battery and since then there was no message "Airbag failure see handbook"
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Old 25th September 2012, 21:45   #5338
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Re: Fiat Grande Punto : Test Drive & Review

Pic at Yamuna expressway.
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Fiat Grande Punto : Test Drive & Review-47941_474399255927698_878283203_n.jpg  

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Old 25th September 2012, 23:17   #5339
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Re: Fiat Grande Punto : Test Drive & Review

Ok I got banged pretty hard by a truck driver yesterday. Can anybody approximate what would be the damage to the pocket to repair the damage to this rear fender?

Fiat Grande Punto : Test Drive & Review-img_20120925_230448.jpg
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Old 26th September 2012, 03:52   #5340
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Re: Fiat Grande Punto : Test Drive & Review

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Ok I got banged pretty hard by a truck driver yesterday. Can anybody approximate what would be the damage to the pocket to repair the damage to this rear fender?
Depends on where you get it repaired,Aftersales might charge you more than FNG.I had a similar brush on my Linea 2 months ago,got it fixed for 1K.
At a local garage,fixing this should not cost more than 1-2K.

Last edited by akshay4587 : 26th September 2012 at 03:55.
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