[nakul0888]

Originally Posted by Vik0728

Seriously nkrishnap?? 2 months for an Abarth Punto delivery?

I was told by SE at FIAT Cafe (Domlur), that the waiting period is under 3 weeks for sure, irrespective of the color. Also, FIAT were planning to introduce the 'Matte Grey' version sometime during the festive season.

I had not driven the Abarth Punto, though had accompanied my cousin during his TD. So I did try this Scorpion last Saturday and came off a bit disappointed.

I don't want to get into the usual shortcomings and areas of improvements but I personally felt that 90HP Punto MJD is a better buy

Why:

- You pay ~2 lakhs only for that Engine & All round Disc Brakes !! I am not saying its not worth it, I feel probably its overpriced. In fact, I felt a better surge from the Linea Tjet when the Turbo spools than this Abarth (could be an issue with the TD Car?)

- MJD is a proven engine and its FE can 'Sting' any Abarth fatally.

- I felt the turbo lag on these 2 engines were almost similar and daily use is more rewarding in a MJD (FE).

- Remap the MJD, lower the springs and swap some good set of tires. You have best of both worlds, FE & Performance.

- Its really weird and probably was only pertaining to the test car, but the fit and finish on the Abarth was nothing better than the 2012 90HP Punto owned by my friend.

Something must have been very wrong with that T.D car, if not I have just one question to ask you; Bro do you even rev??

Personally performance wise 90hp mjd was quite a disappointment for me.
I really had a chance to go all out from a standing set of lights during my test drive and nothing happened in that car till it got to third gear. And whatever that did happen didn't last that very long too.

[Vik0728]

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

We can never get past the need for FE, can we.

The T Jet responds much better even when you are in the lag zone. Once you are past the lag, there is no comparison.

Originally Posted by nitninja

From your post i infer you hadn't driven the scorpion as it should have been.im really surprised that you felt linea better, i for one took really long test drives on both linea t jet and abarth.

Woah guys, before I get bombarded for this here, lemme try and explain what I really wanted to:

- I drove Abarth Punto from Fiat Cafe (Domlur) through Outer Ring Road on Sunday, when the traffic was sparse. For the ones in Bangalore, there is a speed breaker just before EGL, followed by a curve and another speed breaker ~200 meters away.
My Polo GT TDi covered this distance faster, when I floored the throttle, just the way I did in Abarth

Punto masks the speed better than Polo? Maybe, I am not sure. But I am just sharing what I felt. It could also be that the TD car engine was not yet run in and my Polo is nearing 27k Kms.

The reason I even got the 90HP MJD into comparison is because I did not want to get into the same old 'Punto-Hate' features.

I was in no way comparing 90HP to Abarth as an actual alternative or competition to Abarth and really sorry if my post came through as such.

[nitninja]

Originally Posted by nitninja

From your post i infer you hadn't driven the scorpion as it should have been.im really surprised that you felt linea better, i for one took really long test drives on both linea t jet and abarth.Linea t jet felt fast but abarth is a bullet.In abarth first and second gear produces heavy wheel spins when the accelerator is floored which under similar driving in linea does not produce any or maybe i didnt notice it.Just for the comparison we did a drag between verna petrol and abarth, obviously abarth took the lead with 2 cars length. This car gives 14 on highways which is more than sufficient for the performance it offers.After remapping the mjd, will it be able to produce 145 bhp without any strain on the long run ? I definitely dont think so.

Originally Posted by Vik0728

Woah guys, before I get bombarded for this here, lemme try and explain what I really wanted to:

- I drove Abarth Punto from Fiat Cafe (Domlur) through Outer Ring Road on Sunday, when the traffic was sparse. For the ones in Bangalore, there is a speed breaker just before EGL, followed by a curve and another speed breaker ~200 meters away.
My Polo GT TDi covered this distance faster, when I floored the throttle, just the way I did in Abarth

Punto masks the speed better than Polo? Maybe, I am not sure. But I am just sharing what I felt. It could also be that the TD car engine was not yet run in and my Polo is nearing 27k Kms.

The reason I even got the 90HP MJD into comparison is because I did not want to get into the same old 'Punto-Hate' features.

I was in no way comparing 90HP to Abarth as an actual alternative or competition to Abarth and really sorry if my post came through as such.

My parents own a 1.6 vento tdi and i have driven it quite extensively.The difference felt is that vw has much better low end torque which aids in picking up speeds whereas abarth starts to pull vigorously after 2k rpm.As i said, floor the pedal right in the turbo zone upto 6k rpm and you will feel the raw power in abarth.In abarth, turbo lag is slightly felt in the range of 1 to 2k rpm which is a slight irritant in an otherwise good car.

[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by Vik0728

Punto masks the speed better than Polo?

Definitely does. Your GT could be as quick as the Abarth except that it could do with stiffer springs.

Originally Posted by Vik0728

I was in no way comparing 90HP to Abarth as an actual alternative or competition to Abarth and really sorry if my post came through as such.

Well it did sound like that. Was in no way trying to 'bombard' you. You had your observations on the car, however, pitching the Mjd beside the Abarth did not sound right at all.

[arjab]

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

The T Jet responds much better even when you are in the lag zone. Once you are past the lag, there is no comparison.

True that. Recently drove an Abarth and a T-Jet. The T-Jet with its slightly smaller turbo felt a wee bit perkier in the sub ~2100-ish rpm levels. Another point i noticed is that if you put these two Italians in 4th gear at around 40kmph and floor the throttle, the Linea pulls marginally better as the smaller turbine possibly spools up faster.

The problem in the Punto Abarth is torque steer. At times it gets irritating and on slightly gravelly surfaces you can spin wheels even in 2nd. When driving these two back to back over common tarmac & damp bends, the Punto Abarth's full potential could not be explored fully as torque steer reared its head time and again and i had to really feather the throttle to "drip-feed" just that required amount of power to the front wheels to prevent the steering wheel from writhing in your hands. The T-Jet does have torque steer but it is mostly restricted to 1st gear and torque steer is much, much lesser compared to the Abarth Punto in 2nd gear wide open throttle applications, specially on bends.

In fact Autocar India road test data seems to support the same. I quote (from their January 2016 issue in the road test section)

Punto Abarth / Linea T-Jet
0-100kmph 9.54 secs / 11.05 secs
20-80 kmph in 3rd 11.28 secs / 11.94 secs
40-100 kmph in 4th 17.49 secs / 15.52 secs

However, both vehicles are thoroughly enjoyable to drive and a delight to the enthusiast. I particularly liked the throaty induction roar as the revs climbed higher.

If Fiat can tweak the Punto Abarth with slightly thicker tyres and/or an old school limited slip differential / some basic traction control system, cornering the Italian will be more fun.

[motorhead16]

I am yet to see a Punto Abarth in the flesh. However, for now I think the Polo GT remains my favorite hot hatch, primary reason being the subtle styling and strong design. The vinyls on the Punto Abarth make it look a bit like a toy car and its rather bright and flashy. If only I had the cash to own one of each!

[vinay_ss]

Booked my Abarth today, a hip hop black..I've lost count of the number of fiat's I've owned over the last 10-12 years :-) Apparently the prices are increasing tomorrow by 30k as the dealer told me ( which I guess is true) and I may have had a lucky escape from the hike. Considering we are in the last 2 weeks of March, I managed to haggle and haggle and finally got an awesome price of 10.65 on road in Chennai. This is including bumper to bumper insurance thrown in by the dealer from Future Generali and the awesome abarth pedals. He has promised me delivery by mid next week, and I am looking forward to getting my hands on the scorpion..

I lost my tjet in the floods and got the entire insured value of 4 lacs for a five year Ka registered car in chennnai. This is perhaps the best I would have got for the tjet. I loved the car and it was the first tjet sold in Bangalore back then.

The wait for my next fiat has begun and every car I've owned, I have loved, be it the 2 adventures or the palio or the tjet or the punto or the....I think the abarth would make the cut to the best I've owned. It's an Abarth after all!

[jvm_1986]

Wow Vinay, 10.65 lakhs on road is a good deal you have got. I was given a quote of 11.45 initially(was not serious on making a purchase so didn't bother to discuss further). Which dealer in Chennai did you negotiate this deal with?

[vinay_ss]

The best i got in chennai was 10.75, this is from a dealer in belgaum...Sutaria Fiat. Perhaps it may still cost me 10.75 considering the cost of fuel etc to get the scorpion to chennai... But well, that's the idea !! I get a 900 km drive on Day 1 !

[firstguri]

Wow! You're getting Abarth pedals in 10.65! That's a cool deal you got. I paid 10.9 on road for my scorpion and no Abarth pedals!!

[vinay_ss]

Got my Abarth on Friday and drove down from Belgaum to Chennai, which is about 950 kms. I loved every bit of the car. It struggles to keep below 130 and keeps you glued to the speedo since it can easily touch the other side of 150 kmph without even blinking an eyelid. So I was really careful to make sure speed is under control, specially considering that engine also needs to be run in. The Abarth possibly has one of the best brakes that a car can have (precise, sharp and not unnerving at same time). I liked the Alnacs too. Very grippy, low sound and no squeals even on high speed maneuvers. With so much of power on tap, long distance drives become very enjoyable and eliminates any strain.

I had the tjet for 5 years and I know the engine. But this state of tune plonked into a smaller sized car gives it a completely new character. It's very very nimble, easy to sprint while at the same time planted and composed.

This happens to be my 7th Fiat and I am completely at home with the ergonomics etc and wonder why all the hue and cry about the seating positions in fiats. But that's just me!

All l in all, one hell of a car and I am so glad I put my money on this car. The kids loved the scorpion on the roof and the venomous alloys. The car is for my wife, but am hoping my wife will be nice enough to give me the car on weekends at least!

[YCJ]

Originally Posted by vinay_ss

Got my Abarth on Friday and drove down from Belgaum to Chennai, which is about 950 kms.

Congratulations for your new scorpion!
Drive safe.
Can you please shed some light on your buying process as in since you have purchased your car in Belgaum, did you have to pay the temporary registration certificate fees for Karnataka state also?

[vinay_ss]

YCJ thanks !

Buying process was smooth. I had to give my chennai address proof to the dealer ( I gave him the rental agreement copy). He then did the temporary registration in belgaum. The tax wasn't much and had to pay Rs 500. The temporary registration is valid for a month.

As per my reading, entry tax in chennai is 12.5% of the price. However, VAT paid in state of purchase is allowed as credit. Since the VAT in KA is 14.5%, there should be no entry tax. However, I would need to see what nuisance value I would need to deal with when I take the car for registration.

[blackwasp]

Booked an Abarth today from Pune. One TD was all it took to convince us. Need to work out car exchange logistics by next week and paperwork. Tentative delivery will be around 15 days from now. Mostly will go for white colour.

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by blackwasp

Booked an Abarth today from Pune. One TD was all it took to convince us. Need to work out car exchange logistics by next week and paperwork. Tentative delivery will be around 15 days from now. Mostly will go for white colour.

Congratulations blackwasp on the booking. For your TBHP handle and the two wheeled Italian at home, the black scorpion would match better don't you think?

I feel that the white Abarth will look better than the black only if you remove the bonnet-roof-boot graphics. Otherwise the black looks better IMO.

Anyway, wish you many happy miles with the wasp and the scorpion!