Team-BHP - Fiat Grande Punto : Test Drive & Review

Quote:

Originally Posted by TC_aashay (Post 1431269)

Now, I dont know if this is already discussed..

But what i was thinking is; can we install Linea's arm rest in the punto?? any mods to the front seat backrest needed?? how much will it cost roughly?

And second i'm planning to have the sunglass box from the Linea fitted in the same place above the driver in my arriving GP.. so how much does this box cost?? which should be available at tata/fiat SC? right? the showroom dealers tell me the accessory price list has not yet arrived..

Both these luxury's are there in the european spec GP.. but not in indian version.. and since the GP is made/assembled in india i doubt the provision for the arm rest is there? Will someone put some light on this..

Thanx.

I spoke the dealer in Bangalore they say Linea's art rest would not fit. when i asked to try they are telling its not available. now you know the "why?" sunglass box would fit which they agree but its not available. :Frustrati

Do agree KKK is European manufacturer of Turbos but they do have sister concern with TVS group (Turbo Energy Ltd., Chennai) to manufacture Turbo for Indian market. I do agree that KKK (TEL) Turbos can't match Garrett Turbos, but you can be best assured that these are built to sustain Indian driving condition.
I'm not too sure how much does humidity affects Turbo performance any ways Europe is not far behind India in terms of Temperature.

@ Chuchan

Thanx for your input.. Next week when i'll be going to book my 1.4 E+ red, i'll take a closer look at the linea's arm rest..

Soon another 1.4 E+ Exotica RED will be added to the t-bhp GP owners list.. possibly by the 1st week of sept..

@ TurboGuru
Humidity does affect the performance of a turbo.. well it was in my case:
I use to own a 2007 (face lifted) Indica Turbo DLX inter-cooled (a totally Different indica, If you have driven 1, you will know know);)

RUNS: Pune city with dry air, mumbai is humid. So..

As for the mileage:- At 1800- 1900 rpm (between 75-80 km/h) with AC on the highway in pune 18.4km/L. while in mumbai (going to thane from sion) gave me 17.4km/L. Both these runs were during less or no traffic late at night.

Performance: In mid afternoon hot climate, (taking into consideration the inter-cooler) in mumbai at times the turbo felt strained past 2500 rpm as if no more power to pull and sounded harsh, in pune it did feel different compared to the night drives or some cooler runs but not close to the difference felt in mumbai.

I keep traveling to pune every 2 weeks for the weekend.. so the above judgement is just based on my TCIC.. dont know about the only TC cars behaviour..

OT: I have managed to squeeze out a mileage of 8km/l with a heavy foot on her on most occasions..:D loved the torque she had..

Now will soon gain some more knowledge from a 1.4 N.A FIRE engine..

aashay : appreciate your close observation . My point: Driving from Mumbai to Pune you are adding one more variable, The Altitude. Mumbai may be around 10m above MSL while Pune will be 700m + above MSL (approx), Huge difference. With altitiude air density decreases, asking Turbo to deliver more :deadhorse. One may argue Turbos are self compensating (it compensates for the altitude) but beleive me it does not do this perfectlty. Dont beleive me !! try instrumenting your Turbo & measure the RPM @ Engine Idle @ Mumbai & Pune. Have never driven TC Engine :Frustrati, but my Physics says performance has to be better in Mumbai driving condition (small variation in temperature is neglected).

Quote:

Originally Posted by extreme_torque (Post 1432912)

Are you sure there is no rusting of any sort sold in the cars over there? In anycase I think we are loosing our sleep on something very trivial... surface rust would be there on almost any car that has been standing in the stockyard.
Enjoy your car!

Hmmm. Though I was not agreeable to this, frankmehta's Fiesta thread is changing my perspective.

Quote:

Originally Posted by neotraveller (Post 1432794)

Even I am confused. I never checked underbody in PDI before delivery.

My funda is, rust will form if car is lying around somewhere 3-4 months (like frank's fiesta in that thread).
But in Linea/Punto (which move off the shelf fast), there isn't even enough time to form rust!

I wonder if all it takes is 1 day for surface rust to form and all cars have it irrespective of brand.

I do not remember me checking underbody when I toiok delivery of my 1st car in 2003 & 2nd in 2009. I've a feeling 99.99% customers do not do it. Frankmehta's fiesta thread + amogh + cliffhanger's cars bring a possibility that this is surface rust which would have been present in many of our cars depending upon weather & duration of being at stockyard.

Though I'm not saying Amogh or pineapple_amit is wrong, but I now think I agree with e_t that we're loosing sleep over something which could have been very normal.

@pineapple_amit- I can understand your situation & have only 1 thing to suggest which I think I suggested Amogh also. Trust in Manufacturer is very vital. If you've lost that, you'll not be able to enjoy the car in future. In that case, cancel your booking & do not go for Punto. Its not an end of the road & its not the only best available car. There are competitive options available like i20, Jazz etc which you can go for which has a supposedly higher possibility of giving you peace of mind

Quote:

Originally Posted by TurboGuru (Post 1441989)

aashay : appreciate your close observation clap:. My point: Driving from Mumbai to Pune you are adding one more variable, The Altitude....

I agree Turbo chargers were designed for high altitude use. Like i said earlier the mileage recorded was when driving my car below 1800 rpm, the TC comes to life only after 1900 - 2000 rpm in a TCTC engine of tata. well you did ask if humidity effects on the TC, i gave you one; but your experiment cant be carried out now, i dont have her any more sorry:. I guess the less polluted air and less humidity level in pune may have something to do with the mileage. may be even the altitude. But YES i loved the performance i got in mumbai compared to pune.

Quote:

Originally Posted by islahuddin (Post 1441670)

Punto Owners can probably help me decode the VIN no format for Punto.

Does the VIN no for Punto follow the same coding as Linea or is it different.

Can team-bhp Punto Owners ( Punters :) ) list their VIN nos to help me and prospective buyers understand this .

Thanks and Regards

Recently I did come across a decoder in one of the GP initial ownership reports... But i cant find it now.. Even i'm looking for one... if someone knows the link to the post, please share it here.

Thanx.

Quote:

Originally Posted by VahanPujari (Post 1442328)

@pineapple_amit- I can understand your situation & have only 1 thing to suggest which I think I suggested Amogh also. Trust in Manufacturer is very vital. If you've lost that, you'll not be able to enjoy the car in future. In that case, cancel your booking & do not go for Punto. Its not an end of the road & its not the only best available car. There are competitive options available like i20, Jazz etc which you can go for which has a supposedly higher possibility of giving you peace of mind

Some more confusion

A senior official from Fiat told pineapple_ameet that there should be NO rusting on a new car lol:

Anyway .. I have moved on now and was enjoying my car until it got hit :Frustrati

Will be enjoying her again after I get her next week.

Hi Vahanpujari
well the fiat officials (him and Mr. Kapoor) agreed that the vehicle shouldn't be rusted, no matter what - 'unconditionally'. Mr. kapoor asked for a 'report', from his colleague and that's about it uptill now, since i've not got any response so far (my last email exchange took on 14th of August).
forget about them getting in touch, i'm not being able to talk to mr. bhatia despite me giving several calls to him, and telling his secretary every single time about my case, since according to her, there are 'several' cases of punto in terms of 'inquiries', and so this rusting issue needs a brush up every time i call them....

Its over a month that I am using my GP. At the delivery itself I did not fond any rust or any other defects.

My Punto is doing great till now, has clocked 2000 kms recently.

Its giving a mileage of overall 15 kmpl, about 13kmpl in the city and 22kmpl on the highways! That seems to be really good I think considering the size and the weight of the car. The ride quality is simply class apart.

And the blue and me is superb feature, if you require to communicate regularly while driving. The voice quality over the Blue and Me seems is crystal clear.

So guys this is a fabulous car. Congrats to all of you who have chosen the GP over others!