[MaheshY1]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

Glad to be back on the forum after a long hiatus

- Personally it didn't feel like a great upgrade from what the Punto Evo already offers. Ideally they should have covered this gap by giving sportier leather interiors in what they want the public to perceive as an aspirational product. When a customer is spending 11.9L on a petrol hot hatch, I don't think an additional 30-40k will be a huge deterrent to sprucing up the interiors. Anyway this is not a volumes market they are targeting.

Welcome back.

About the pricing, I think it's much better than expected. They had to keep that in mind; had to stay below the psychological barrier of million bucks.

Also, in most states, as soon as the car's ex-showroom jumps the million mark, the registration and road tax jumps into the next slab making it another 70-100K costlier. Makes sense to keep the price under check.

[autocrat]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

Glad to be back on the forum after a long hiatus

Wonderful review and work guys. I had a nice long test drive with the Abarth out of curiosity. I don't think I will be able to add anything significant on the drive part apart from what has already been mentioned about the Abarth versus the regular Punto Evo, but here are some points on comparing the Abarth to my 115HP Linea T-Jet:

Exteriors:

- The vinyls on the sides are the nicest part of the loud looking exteriors. The bonnet, roof and boot vinyls are not for my liking and in my opinion a bit too tacky. The red fog lamp bezels are a design disaster, both on the front and the rear. I suggest wrapping them up with matt or faux carbon fibre vinyls to hide the hideous contrast.

- No option of red color on the menu. Why is there no option of a Red/Black combo? Personally I would have preferred a bright colored car with dark vinyls. Looks like Fiat India is trying to cut costs by using the same red vinyl sets for both white and black cars.


Interiors:

- Personally it didn't feel like a great upgrade from what the Punto Evo already offers. Ideally they should have covered this gap by giving sportier leather interiors in what they want the public to perceive as an aspirational product. When a customer is spending 11.9L on a petrol hot hatch, I don't think an additional 30-40k will be a huge deterrent to sprucing up the interiors. Anyway this is not a volumes market they are targeting.

- The instrument cluster and the soft touch plastics feel way better than the El cheapo materials and fit on offer on the previous gen Puntos and Lineas.

If the base car is good, all the cosmetics can be added and deleted at will. Example is your very own red rocket that was tastefully done up in Abarth livery, going into great detail!

I agree that red car / yellow car with black detailing would do justice to the performance and sporty nature of the car.

All said and done, the handling characteristics of a sedan and hatch will be different, and the 30 HP over the T Jet will definitely make it more enticing

[PatchyBoy]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Quoted figures inline above. With Rs 8340/- per horsepower, Abarth offers maximum power for minimum money.

How can we convert and compare like this? The Nano cost 2.55 L OTR and offers 38 HP. So, that converts to 2,55,000/38 = Rs. 6710 per HP. Does this mean that the Nano offers more power for less money as compared to the Abarth?

[autocrat]

Originally Posted by PatchyBoy

How can we convert and compare like this? The Nano cost 2.55 L OTR and offers 38 HP. So, that converts to 2,55,000/38 = Rs. 6710 per HP. Does this mean that the Nano offers more power for less money as compared to the Abarth?

It all boils down to if you want to consider buying a Nano instead of Abarth Punto

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by PatchyBoy

How can we convert and compare like this? The Nano cost 2.55 L OTR and offers 38 HP. So, that converts to 2,55,000/38 = Rs. 6710 per HP. Does this mean that the Nano offers more power for less money as compared to the Abarth?

You're right. It's not an absolute comparison. But Nano?

It does play in your mind, doesn't it? You're trying to buy a hatch for performance. Everybody is on the lookout for the most bang for the money spent.

[PatchyBoy]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

You're right. It's not an absolute comparison. But Nano?

It does play in your mind, doesn't it?

No it doesn't. To me personally, this comes across as lame. Nothing personal. No offense please.

Originally Posted by autocrat

It all boils down to if you want to consider buying a Nano instead of Abarth Punto

Nope. I believe that this kind of conversion is meaningless. One cannot judge a car by arriving at a Rs./HP number. The point I am trying to make is - if this kind of valuation is correct, then the Nano is better VFM than the Abarth Punto.

As for me - I won't be buying either. I do not need a second car and am quite happy with my Linea T-Jet.

[Vik0728]

^^

Really guys? Wasn't the BHP/Ton & Torque/Ton enough that we will start arguing/discussing about INR/BHP ??

Frankly speaking, I have been one of those who cribbed about Fiat Punto's pathetic seating position, long pedal travel, gear slotting, etc once. But I realised that my issue primarily was with the way that 1.3 MJD 93PS engine felt while driving and a absolutely no zing it offered.

With the EVO Abarth and all the 'Exciting' first drive reports, I have suddenly realised that though the previous quirks have probably not been completely sorted, they have become insignificant now for me and I just want to drive this hot hatch.

I know this may not make a lot of sense, but I will TD this Scorpion this weekend and try to post my experience vis-a-vis my GT TDI.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by PatchyBoy

No it doesn't. To me personally, this comes across as lame. Nothing personal. No offense please.

I believe since its the same segment, we all calculate it even though not exactly to the rupee. Say, I would choose the Figo diesel over the Baleno diesel because in a way, Figo offers a lot more engine and performance for similar or slightly less price. Or an Aspire diesel against the Xcent diesel, or the Linea TJet against a Ciaz petrol etc. Multiple cases where it plays out.

Similarly if I'm spending a million rupees for getting a performance hatchback with 100ps, I might as well spend 1.2 million for a 147ps one.

But yes, it's not an absolute figure and cannot be compared across segments, and obviously others factors come into play as well. Anyways, no offence taken and I respect your POV. Can just agree to disagree and move on... Cheers.

[carwatcher]

I guess last few posts belong to this thread:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...ml#post3164305

10 Lac will get you a Sedan
Kitna Deti Hai ?
Does it have Auto fold mirrors with in-built turn indicators ?

Sad but these are few parameters often considered by average Indian customers.

[chohan]

Originally Posted by PatchyBoy

No it doesn't. To me personally, this comes across as lame. Nothing personal. No offense please.

Not so lame if you compare cars in the same segment. see the like below.
http://www.autoblog.com/2015/02/17/t...-2015-feature/

[PatchyBoy]

Originally Posted by carwatcher

I guess last few posts belong to this thread

I am appalled that we even have such a thread. I really do not understand the logic behind this calculation. The engine alone doesn't make a car. If we were to apply this calculation to various variants of the same car, then we would end up buying the base variant only. I knew about BHP/Ton calculation, but honestly, this is the first time I am hearing of INR/BHP.

[ghodlur]

Nkrishnap, Crazy_driver.

Hats off to your guys for such a detailed review and those fantastic pics. Surprising that the official review was not from any mods but from Fiat owners.

Droolworthy:
1) Scorpion alloys
2) Stickers with scorpion although I felt the stickering on the top was not needed at all.
3) Red OVRM's

Its unfortunate that Fiat still has not done anything on the long gear throw, rubbery gear shifting. The protruding exhaust was another sore thing on the car. Even the seats aren't the bucket type with under thigh support, that's bad. No Abarth tag on the seats either.

A few queries:
1) Which tyres would be an ideal replacement for the Apollo Alnacs to optimize the ride quality?
2) Have the B&M being upgraded to resolve the earlier identified issues of inability to change the tracks or select tracks.
3) What is the major difference between the ventilated and sold disc brakes?

All above said, its is really unfortunate that not a single dealership in Mumbai/Navi Mumbai/Thane has one for Test drive although Fiat has been repeatedly reassuring that there will be a dealership soon in Mumbai to Test drive the beast but not before Dec 2015. It seems Fiat has been more concentrating down south and understandably that's where the sales are.

[Lij]

Originally Posted by driveanddrive

"The Abarth Punto has not yet been launched in Mumbai, not sure when it will be available for a test drive".

Thats a real shame if the only dealer in the city of Mumbai has no inkling on the availability of the hottest hatch in their line-up.

Whats more absurd is the dealer saying "not yet launched in Mumbai", but Fiat website directing to them.

Edit: Saw ghodlur's post after I posted, thanks for the update that it'll be available in Dec 2015, hopefully.

[johannskaria]

So the hot hatches have started raining in!
Good first look.
Though the Fiat support still worries me.

But Kudos to Fiat!

[carwatcher]

You learn something new everytime on TBHP. The existence of that thread shows that how can one compare the cars, maybe just for fun or otherwise. I am not very sure there is similar thread discussing Metal per car/per Rupee though it has been pointed out by many that Tata cars would easily win that contest by a huge margin.

Originally Posted by PatchyBoy

I am appalled that we even have such a thread.

So does that indirectly mean that Fiat wants its Mumbai customers to drive down to their Pune plant and take TD, book and take delivery of the car.
Not a bad idea if they are paying for the fuel costs.

Originally Posted by ghodlur

All above said, its is really unfortunate that not a single dealership in Mumbai/Navi Mumbai/Thane has one for Test drive although Fiat has been repeatedly reassuring that there will be a dealership soon in Mumbai to Test drive the beast but not before Dec 2015. It seems Fiat has been more concentrating down south and understandably that's where the sales are.

Originally Posted by Lij

Thats a real shame if the only dealer in the city of Mumbai has no inkling on the availability of the hottest hatch in their line-up.
Whats more absurd is the dealer saying "not yet launched in Mumbai", but Fiat website directing to them.