[naveen.raju]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

Thanks a lot naveen.raju. Competition? What competition?

Official Tbhp reviews. This is as good as the official test drive report.

[Shreyas Aterkar]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

Oh sorry. I thought you wanted this specific design of the foot pedals particularly, hence the suggestion. Could you post a picture of how the Skoda genuine accessory version of this pedal set looks like? Just curious to see.

Door sils have come standard on the sport. The Tyre valves I can get, but vandals in metropolitan cities will flick it sooner or later, hehe . I plan to visually soup up the car in a couple of months.

Well, the official ones are those on the RS, you can see those here: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offici...ve-review.html

Tyre valves also come with a lock (called anti theft ones). Just see the skoda ones on the link here for your reference: http://www.ebay.com/itm/271045160632...B:3160&vxp=mtr

[S.MJet]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

Silver has its own charm man. Trust me, if T-Jet came in silver, I might have gone for silver or medium grey.

Agree, it has its own charm. Medium grey gives a solid & matured look but is no match to the gorgeous red.

Originally Posted by KarthikK

- Engine refinement has increased and it feels almost like a petrol engine now already. It also feels a little more rev-happy than earlier. I can only imagine how much more silent it can become after 5000 kms and post the first engine oil change.

Are you through with getting used to the turbo lag & short gearing. It took me couple of months.

- the front driver's side power window, when it winds up, produces a faint click somewhere in between

I had exactly same issue (along with the famous door rattle issues).
This got fixed by oiling / greasing the winder & cables.

- the rear windshield accumulates a lot of dust, for some reason.

This is new to me, I mean I've not noticed this. Bangalore, I guess is a dust free city.

[Arkesh]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

A coincidence: post #100 for this thread in exactly 10 days of going live, and this is for the ownership update at 1000 kms! All 1s and 0s. Thanks once again to all the BHPians for the overwhelming response on my review thread, and for taking the time to read through it. Glad to know you guys enjoyed reading it.

1000 km update:

- Engine refinement has increased and it feels almost like a petrol engine now already. It also feels a little more rev-happy than earlier. I can only imagine how much more silent it can become after 5000 kms and post the first engine oil change.

You will feel a remarkable difference in nvh and power after you do 5000 kms on your punto. It feels different altogether after 1st service. The sluggish nature below 2k rpm will decrease and it can pull in third after slowing down. The difference is more in 90 hp than 75 hp version. I felt this on my linea vs my punto that is 75 hp

[Arkesh]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

Irritating Observations :[/b]

- the rear windshield accumulates a lot of dust, for some reason. I guess this has to do with the design of the rear windshield, or maybe I am whining because I was used to the Linea all these days?? On hindsight, it could even be the Spoiler which is preventing air flow (which is supposed to blow away dust in normal cases). Other Punto owners could chip in here with their 2 cents, please?

It does accumulate a lot of dust, much lesser in linea though. I have no idea about the spoiler being responsible for it.

Another observation is that lesser the rear overhang of the car, there is more dust accumulation in the rear of car.

[KarthikK]

Originally Posted by S.MJet

Agree, it has its own charm. Medium grey gives a solid & matured look but is no match to the gorgeous red.

Are you through with getting used to the turbo lag & short gearing. It took me couple of months.

Well, almost! the Punto is used only within the city in peak traffic, so I couldn't have used up the range of a tall gearing anyway . First gear is a bit short though, and constantly needs changing in B2B traffic. How pronounced is the short first gear problem in the 75HP?

I had exactly same issue (along with the famous door rattle issues).
This got fixed by oiling / greasing the winder & cables.

I will try these when I go for my first service. Thank you for the tips.

This is new to me, I mean I've not noticed this. Bangalore, I guess is a dust free city.

Oh no! some areas here are really dusty. So dusty that you can't see anything through the windshield if you park the car for a few hours in the open.

Originally Posted by Arkesh

You will feel a remarkable difference in nvh and power after you do 5000 kms on your punto. It feels different altogether after 1st service. The sluggish nature below 2k rpm will decrease and it can pull in third after slowing down. The difference is more in 90 hp than 75 hp version. I felt this on my linea vs my punto that is 75 hp

Thanks for the tips Arkesh. Looking forward to when the engine opens up, your post has given some hope on what to expect after the first service is completed. Cheers

[KarthikK]

Originally Posted by Shreyas Aterkar

Well, the official ones are those on the RS, you can see those here: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offici...ve-review.html

Tyre valves also come with a lock (called anti theft ones). Just see the skoda ones on the link here for your reference: http://www.ebay.com/itm/271045160632...B:3160&vxp=mtr

These look amazing. Thanks for the reference pictures and links Shreyas , sorry I had missed replying to your message earlier. I'll try to source one set of these nuts with fiat badging, and update this thread shortly

[sandeepmohan]

To be honest, this thread was a bit of an over load for me to read. On the lighter side, now I know what work you do at your work spot :-).

You've documented this car right down to the last bolt. Excellent choice. In my opinion, there is no hatch out there to beat the Grande Punto. It is unfortunate that folk who are in the market for a new car are simply ignoring this brilliant little hatch. It is a mind game and it is seriously turning out to be a case of your friends and colleagues turning you down just because you did not buy a car they felt was more right for you.

[scofield]

KarthiKK,

Very genuine and very informative.

This review really requires some serious attention from FIAT and they can keep this information properly doucmented in their REVIEW archives.

WOW !! I really appreciate the way you have written it and devoted time to draft the thread.

I didnt want to read your thread in bits so had flagged it from a quite a long time and today I got the opportunity to read it and most importantly FEEL IT.

After reading you thread, I really went back to my car and drove it again (inspite of driving 25KM to office) - just to feel what 90HP is all about and really felt proud about it.

We love FIAT for the cars they make.Period.

Apologies to be late on the thread !! :-)

[KarthikK]

Thanks a lot @sandeepmohan and @Scofield

2500km Update :

The Punto has been munching miles pretty quickly in the recent few weeks. Since its elder sibling was grounded due to a tyre problem, the Punto was being used for highway duty also. One interesting difference between the Punto Sport and the Linea T-Jet is that the steering on the Punto feels considerably lighter at parking speeds. This could be partly due to the difference in tyre size (195/60R15 v/s 205/55R16).

Other updates :

- Engine refinement has improved to almost that of petrol cars' standards. From inside, it is hard to tell that it is a diesel car now.

- The fuel efficiency in choc-a-bloc traffic has considerably improved. I now get 14-15 kmpl even in the worst conditions of B2B traffic (with 100% A/C).

Niggles : none as of now. Touchwood.

Last weekend, the I got rid of the OEM footmats and went for 3M Nomad footmats. These things absorb water and dirt into their inner layers, which can then be taken out and cleaned later. No dirt/water stays on top, which makes it look clean 24 X 7, throughout the year. These mats are measured and cut for the shape and size of each car's footwells, so there is no chance of them moving around either. I got these mats in black color at the 3M Car care centre, HSR layout. Here are some pictures :


Measuring the mats for the Punto's footwell



Fitting them into the front driver's footwell, perhaps the most important piece.



The final look of the cockpit side mats



The old fabric-style OEM footmats which came with the Punto, now discarded



Making the final adjustments for the rear seat mats



And this is how it looks in the rear

[Viju]

Beautiful car you have there Karthik!

The mats look really good and flush-fitting. Could you share the price if you don't mind? I stay in HSR layout. Would like to get something similar done from 3M for my Ritz.

[karan561]

Dont know how i missed this thread but what a report, very detailed, especially loved they way you started the review.

Fantastic buy Kartik, wish you good luck with your HOT HATCH.

[fiat_tarun]

Nice mats there. Could you share the costs ?

You seem to be visiting 3M very often with your cars. They should give you a loyalty discount !

[punto_]

Wow! Awesome review mate! Agree with many comments here - this can be an official review! Well deserved 5*! :-)

And yes, how much have you paid for the mats? They look great!

[KarthikK]

Thanks a lot for the wishes. Glad you all enjoyed reading my tiny little ownership report. The 3M mats costed me 4700 bucks. It does not include the boot area. This is for the complete footwell at the front and rear of the car.