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-   -   The Red Rocket - Fiat Grande Punto Sport. *UPDATE* Interiors now in Karlsson Leather (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-drives-initial-ownership-reports/129039-red-rocket-fiat-grande-punto-sport-update-interiors-now-karlsson-leather-22.html)

Looks killer !
The only thing it needs now is a Abarth Metal Logo !

Note from Support - Please avoid quoting an entire lengthy post as it inconveniences our mobile and small screen users. Thanks!

Hey Karthikk - The Red Rocket made it to the Hot Threads section !! Just saw this over Facebook.

Congrats buddy. clap:

Ah, so our very own KarthiKk has gone about with another experiment. As far as the tints go, they were too dark. Good job removing them. Give her a nice tint though. A moderate one would do just fine. Good to see that the logos will be on soon. I can already see a number of Bhpians including myself eagerly awaiting the red rockets royal makeover! A punto masquerading as an Abarth? yes please! Such passion for your car and the results show...

I touched 8000 km this past Monday. I don't have anything to report on the ownership side of things. The Punto has been doing duty quietly, and no new niggles have cropped up in the past 1000 km since my previous update.



In other news, the Red Rocket got a new Blue&Me partner - the blazing fast Nokia Lumia 920, in Lamborghini Yellow :D. It is powered by the refreshing Windows 8, a 1.5 GHz dual core processor and 1 GB of RAM. Added to its stellar tech specs are a best-in-class PureView 8MP camera and an IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen with PureMotion HD display @332dpi. And of course, European build quality shows up in phones too!






The Nokia Lumia 920 joins my old trusty Nokia E7 Communicator


Since Windows 8 and Blue&Me are both made by Microsoft, it goes without saying that the pairing and Blue&Me accessibility works like a charm. The Blue & Me is absolutely fantastic with Windows 8 phone in tow. Message reader functionality which was previously not working with my Symbian smartphone now works like a dream.

To give a preview of the amazing low light photography capabilities of the Lumia 920's PureView camera, here is a picture of the Punto taken on a crowded main road at ~8pm, with very few street lights :


I took the same picture with the E7 and got a black patch with a few red dots in it :uncontrol

P.S - Someone in office commented that I change my Punto's front looks as often as people change facial hair styles with moustaches and beards. I couldn't disagree with him *lol*. Anyway, a new front look is coming up this weekend (current smiling face look will go away). This time, it will be the REAL thing. Watch this space for more transformation updates.

Ah and you gave us suspense in a weekend. The red rocket has someone to talk to now (Your lumia 920 :D). Well, give us a taste of what you have done to your red rocket!

OT: I went ahead with an android phone since i found WP8 a little too different for my taste.

Hi Karthik,
Amazing thread and brilliant modifications you have done there.
I have a question which might be slightly OT,I see your number plate was removed for the CF mods and it is an HSRP one.I think one of its features was that it was non-removable or tamper proof and once it was removed,the screw snapped or something like that.So,did the 3M guys use some special tools or replace the screws or am I missing something?
Thanks

Thanks a lot Marauder! Glad you liked the modifications. Any car-specific queries are not at all OT on this thread :), would be happy to answer them.

These are dummy HSRP plates. The HSRP rule has not yet been enforced in Karnataka/Bangalore, so the HSRP plates that are fitted here by dealers (during purchase) are just look-alikes. The advantage of these dummy HSRPs are better readability of the number, and reflective nature of the plates, nothing else. :D

HSRP plates are supplied in 2 variants - 2 screw holes at the left and right centre, and 4 screw holes at the 4 corners. Mine is the 2-screws variant, so it is pretty simple to unscrew and dismantle.

The CF work got postponed last Sunday due to some other errands I had to run for. It will come up this weekend hopefully, hehe.

Karthik, you are an amazing guy man. I see that pure passion drives you to maintain your car so refreshingly well. My Punto with its share of dents and bruises (Thanks to Bangalore traffic) would go and hide if we ever come across. But I am eagerly waiting for a day when that would happen. Would like to see your car in flesh.

Keep your energy going and crunch many more happy miles with your twins.

How long should I keep watching this space? :)
The word REAL has kept me guessing...please update ASAP
Or shall I come to 3M to watch it live :)

I don't think any thing is coming before next week :-) . As I met him and saw his red rocket yesterday , no marks for guessing where , lol

Cheers

Schoudhury is right. We had a small quick meet at 3M with IronH4wk, Schoudhury and myself this past Saturday. IronH4wk (who was on his way there) saw Supriyo in my Punto flying by on his test drive (of my car) and was wondering what was going on. :uncontrol

I couldn't get to do the 'REAL' thing this weekend either, had some other stuff to attend to. I'll go early from office one of these weekdays and get undivided attention at 3m for the CF vinyl work :D. I'm targeting a conversion to the Abarth Evo front and rear look by just using reversible CF vinyl work.

In other news, the Abarth badges should be on their way in a couple of weeks. Total conversion/debadging to Abarth will complete by month end hopefully.

Kartik check these out, in case you haven't seem them already -

http://www.fiat-accessories.com/fiat...unto-front-dam

http://www.fiat-accessories.com/fiat...o-evo-rear-dam

After quite a lot of procrastination, here is a long-pending update on the Abarth project. I've been able to recreate some sort of Abarth Evo look on the car, although I have to admit it is very, very tough to get the same look as the Evo version, since the Grande Abarth Punto (based on Grande Punto sold in India) is quite different from the Abarth Punto Evo. The Evo has differently shaped bumpers and panels, so it is difficult to match it 100% on the cosmetics. I wouldn't say I am delighted by the results, but it definitely kicks out the earlier 'smiling face' look with a vengeance, and I only spent around a thousand bucks in the process (as opposed to ordering for the real Abarth bumpers for 15-20k each). What's more? Going with my principle of using reversible/non-permanent modifications, I can always strip the vinyls away if I want a change of look in the front profile. :D

Enough of me talking, lets switch to some pictures now. Just to refresh memories, here is a picture of the famous Abarth Punto Evo in red and black.

The front profile


The rear profile



And here's my version of the Red Abarth, created using 3M Carbon Fibre vinyls. Obviously it cannot match the Evo 10%, but maybe it does match it 80-90%, if you ignore the blackened headlamps (I'm going to get that too) and extra sets of lights the Evo comes with. Another improvement area is that black strip near the bonnet opening, which should be a 2 minute job the next time I visit the 3M centre.



The rear profile of my Punto - now gets a faux air diffuser / bumper spoiler recreated with CF vinyl.



Over to some pictures of the CF vinyl application process at 3M car care centre. First, the faux bumper spoiler recreated with CF







The front gets an Abarth Evo mimic design, although the strips can be a little longer maybe.





Here's the overall improvement in the front profile. The 'hideous' smiling face is gone now, for good.



The Pseudo Abarth Evo look of the front







A closer look at the work done on the front. The 'wing' ends where the fog lamp begins





Moving over to the back of the car, here's a closer look:







Drying up after a routine weekend wash at 3M



A departing picture. Not the 100% Abarth Evo look, but this is my individual identity with whatever little differences are leftover :D.



In other news, the Abarth full decal set (grille badge, bootlid badge, 4 alloy wheel caps, steering wheel scorpion and bootlid EsseEsse emblem) are expected around the end of next week. Debadging Fiat logos (including 90HP, Sport stickers) and re-badging of the Scorpion will happen shortly after the shipment arrives. I am also hunting around for a look-alike double exhaust tip like that of the Evo. It shouldn't be too hard to find on eBay or even in local accessory shops. Both of these (badging + exhaust tip) should wind up my Abarth mimicking work, and I can then focus on other stuff like leather interiors, Pirelli tyres, remaps, and so on. The 'Red Rocket' is 5 months, 9000 km and already 330 posts old, but I'd say this thread has only just begun! Lots more things are in store.

Power to the (diesel and fake) Scorpion! Thanks for reading, watch this space for more updates.

P.S - Another surprise D-I-Y modification is coming up soon.

Looks stunning. How about the twin mufflers ? Smoked headlamps will do the trick. Not like the film but as shown above in the evo pics.

Good job overall! :thumbs up
Probably it maybe even better if you remove the original Sport sticker.