[Tojo_GotBhp]

Divya Sharan, congrats on getting the Italian beauty (Bellissa).
Thanks for the detailed and comprehensive review of this beauty, great pictures too! The CF cover on the chrome bits looks sporty. Try connecting your phone using the AUX cable to get voice-guidance. Wishing you a very happy ownership with the Bellissa.

[Divya Sharan]

I went on a short ride to DD Hills today. It was a short 3.5 odd hours affair including wandering around and breakfast at Kamat restaurant near Dabaspet.

I hit 6000+ km on the ODO in the meanwhile!



I took a few pics here and there and I wasted no time in HDR-ing them (loud).

Just before the few hairpins start.



Parked near the ruins of some sort of a house.



This was the ruin I was looking at.



I stopped at a couple of places on my way back.



And I left one; untouched.

Originally Posted by Vik0728

Congrats Divya Sharan on your latest acquisition and "SHE" looks Gorgeous buddy.

Thanks a lot sire! Yes, red indeed looks very sultry, if I may say so. He he.
I do hope I join Bangy's T-BHP meet soon.

Originally Posted by Tojo_GotBhp

Divya Sharan, congrats on getting the Italian beauty (Bellissa).
Thanks for the detailed and comprehensive review of this beauty, great pictures too! The CF cover on the chrome bits looks sporty. Try connecting your phone using the AUX cable to get voice-guidance. Wishing you a very happy ownership with the Bellissa.

Thanks a lot for the appreciation.
Let me try out the AUX cable thingy the next time I go for a drive.

[anand.shankar]

Hey there, congrats on your new purchase. Hope you have a lovely time with it.

Just curious, why din't you pick the 75MJD considering it would have been cheaper with discounts than the 1.4P ?

[Divya Sharan]

Originally Posted by anand.shankar

Hey there, congrats on your new purchase. Hope you have a lovely time with it.

Just curious, why din't you pick the 75MJD considering it would have been cheaper with discounts than the 1.4P ?

Thanks!
I guess the word on maintenance on a diesel mill and petrols being more rev friendly tilted my decision towards the 1.4 to a great extent.
I still feel that Punto 1.4 should have had a TJet motor for the price it commands or maybe a 1.6 NA since that chassis is being under used as of now.

[satz581993Mille]

Wonderful review! My perception of the EVO's looks have changed after seeing the beautiful pictures of your red EVO. Wishing you many more happy miles with the punto

[EPMV]

Excellent review with astonishing pictures..!!

Hidden feature section is a treat to me, keeping that as a bookmark and waiting for my day to try all of them. I haven't booked my Punto and the buying decision keep moving ahead, hopefully before Nov.

While the untouched picture of your bellissa shows how beautiful she is, others are like an art. Art of the piece of art. Have a happy mile munching ownership with tons of moments on the road..!

By the way I think yours is the fourth ownership review of Punto Evo in Team-BHP..! Keep waiting from the day of first review posted here to write my own.

[rav11stars]

Welcome to the club bro, officially in your own ownership thread It's very well written and answers my question as to why you went for the 1.4NA.

Re: blackening the chrome on the fog lamps : I felt the reflection of the light off the housing made them like static corner lamps. Do you notice any difference now or they still throw light onto the corners of the road?

Good luck and happy driving

[Divya Sharan]

Originally Posted by satz581993Mille

Wonderful review! My perception of the EVO's looks have changed after seeing the beautiful pictures of your red EVO. Wishing you many more happy miles with the punto

Thanks a lot!

Originally Posted by EPMV

Excellent review with astonishing pictures..!!

Hidden feature section is a treat to me, keeping that as a bookmark and waiting for my day to try all of them. I haven't booked my Punto and the buying decision keep moving ahead, hopefully before Nov.

While the untouched picture of your bellissa shows how beautiful she is, others are like an art. Art of the piece of art. Have a happy mile munching ownership with tons of moments on the road..!

By the way I think yours is the fourth ownership review of Punto Evo in Team-BHP..! Keep waiting from the day of first review posted here to write my own.

Wow, thanks! Your post just made my mundane day so much better! I can now sip a cup of Cappuccino looking like a total freak, grinning from ear to ear.


I think mine may be the 1st petrol 1.4 review on the forum. Kindly excuse me if I'm wrong.

Originally Posted by rav11stars

Welcome to the club bro, officially in your own ownership thread It's very well written and answers my question as to why you went for the 1.4NA.

Re: blackening the chrome on the fog lamps : I felt the reflection of the light off the housing made them like static corner lamps. Do you notice any difference now or they still throw light onto the corners of the road?

Good luck and happy driving

Thanks a lot! Your posts have been so helpful to me all the time.
I haven't noticed any difference in the lighting performance of the fog lamps post the wrap, but in the hindsight I feel I never looked for reduced visibility in the corners. Let me take it for a night drive and I can let you know with more certainty.

[Waspune]

Congrats @Divya Sharan on your Fiat. I drive the same beauty (same color), albiet with a diesel heart (Punto 90 HP). Its a great DIY that you have done by blackening the chrome bits. I have myself planned to get it done soon, but now feel that I should also opt for DIY . Can you share the details pertaining to your DIY?

I read that you drive around 3000 RPMs, but try pushing her at >4000 RPMs territory and roll down the windows, what you will hear would be pure music to your ears. 1.4 fire has such a brilliant sporty note.

[Divya Sharan]

Originally Posted by Waspune

Congrats @Divya Sharan on your Fiat. I drive the same beauty (same color), albiet with a diesel heart (Punto 90 HP). Its a great DIY that you have done by blackening the chrome bits. I have myself planned to get it done soon, but now feel that I should also opt for DIY . Can you share the details pertaining to your DIY?

I read that you drive around 3000 RPMs, but try pushing her at >4000 RPMs territory and roll down the windows, what you will hear would be pure music to your ears. 1.4 fire has such a brilliant sporty note.

Thanks a lot sir!
For the DIY, you will need 4x4 feet CF paper, 4x4 matte black paper, scissors, a heat gun and load of patience. It took me 6 hours.
And w.r.t the exhaust rhapsody, let me find an isolated stretch of road.

[drivebyfire]

Divya Sharan (DS) messaged me and said I was late to the tbhp party, late I might be - but here I am none the less.

Firstly, awesome write up for the initial ownership report - and dare I say - amazing pictures!! (yours and mine both :P)
You've covered all the pertinent points comprehensively and the hidden features section was an absolute pleasure to read.

Being DS's friend I was sort of "in" on the journey where DS became Bellissa's owner and I want to share a few moments with you all from my perspective. (By the way I love the name Bellissa and somehow for me it just comes naturally to refer to this particular Punto Evo by this name.)

An interesting point of this ownership report is the "alternatives considered" part - a Ninja 650 !! Fact is that I had no clue DS was going for a car. I knew that something big was coming up, we had discussed the pros and cons of Ninja 650 and the troubles (niggles?) that an existing owner we knew had faced. I also knew he was test riding alternate 600cc bikes.

Then DS dropped the bombshell that an Italian Beauty was coming home!! There was no way to contain my enthusiasm and I told all my friends that DS was buying a Ducati Scrambler or any one of the Benelli 600 trio. Congratulated him and told him that I was super happy 'coz this was the only way I was ever gonna be able to ride any of these bikes. Fact is my heart was set on the awesome Scrambler and I kept on asking DS whether it was the scrambler, but he was tight lipped about it - which made me positive it was gonna be a Scrambler. Somewhere deep down I was wondering who the hell will I tour with, me having the humble Honda 150cc that I have. But in between all of this, DS did not even tell me the exact date of delivery - he just said "this week".

Imagine my utter shock and disbelief when he messages me the photo of the Fiat logo surrounded by that smooth Red..!! To say that I was utterly flabbergasted beyond reasoning would be the understatement of this century!! In fact I was in denial for a few minutes - as my dreams of riding a yellow Scrambler dissolved into thin air, the shock subsided and was quicky replaced with a feeling of elation 'coz for me this simply opened another avenue of adventures. Que dreams of the two of us driving in convoy on epic roads he with his Bellissa and me in a convenient rental.

So - enough about me - on to the Punto Evo.

Lot has been said about the handling prowess of the Punto platform and my thoughts are already quoted in the text by DS.

Enough has also been said about the rubbery gear shifts. For me this part of the drive experience is more frustrating than disappointing. Somehow I believe that the issue is not with the gear box but with gear linkages and rubber bushes which come in all modern cars. A simple mod (which is quite popular globally for many many different cars) where the rubber bushes of the linkages are replaced by metal washers should may be solve the issue. This will still not address the issue of long throw of the gear stick - but here's the thing - I like long throws!! It gives the whole business of changing gears some purpose! People seem to be crazy about short throw shifters and I have seen short throws which are so super short that going from first to second seems like toggling an old school lights/fan switch - where is the fun in that? Or maybe the real question is - how often do you professionally autocross/track/drag race? The only real life effect I see in the ghats and that is a point I concede.

Ergonomics - again call it Italian character or quirk - but things should have been better. The clutch pedal travel is l-o-n-g but the clutch bite point is high up, that is a bad combo already. What is not ok is the fact that at full press of the clutch pedal, your feet hit the steering column! And you can feel the column turn if you are taking a turn while changing gears! To press the clutch all the way in you bring your seat forward, now the steering is too close for comfort! Is it a matter of getting used to? Absolutely. Scorpio has weird ergos as well, doesn't change the fact that I love it either way and have done a 762km day solo in it.

Build quality, suffice to say I had no clue what "thud" people were going on and on about till I felt it in Bellissa. Now the SX4's door feels tinny

Interior quality - it gives a feeling of richness, right from the leather which covers the gap in the steering column to the damped switch gear of the AC/ICE console. Fiat has not tried to intentionally cheap out on things and that makes the end consumer a satisfied person. Interior fabric feel hard wearing as well, especially the dash board fabric.

Engine - 1.4 FIRE. Is 90hp under-powered? I don't think so, but more is never enough. That said the power delivery of the 90hp petrol vs diesel is poles apart and that changes the complete personality. Punto is heavy and with 4 passengers on board clearing Bangalore speed breakers is definitely a 1st gear affair. But with 2 passengers and on the open highway I felt the acceleration second gear onward to be quite adequate. 1.4 FIRE is a rev happy engine but the cherry on top is the uber smooth way in which the needle climbs that tach. The feeling of increase in torque as the rpms climb is rewarding in itself. That is something you will never get in a diesel. In most modern diesels with small turbos which spool quickly and have restrictive catcons to beat emission norms, only disappointment lurks on the flipside of 4500 rpms.

This is getting longer than expected. Will let pictures do the talking here on out:

Paint quality - I present to you the brand new facelifted Honda Amaze - pictures taken from screenshot of Autocar review on youtube:



Seriously Honda? That level of orange peel? Why bother with paint + clear - let the cars roll out with just a coat of primer if you can't care less!



Now the paint surface on Bellissa, the quality is superlative and that reflection is stunning!





Oh did I forget to mention we had another italian beauty accompanying us on this photoshoot?



A few words on the wheel well gap - The suspension is well damped and is independently excellent for highway use, but no amount of excellent damping can cater to the indian road craters, only ground clearance and extra suspesion travel can tackle them. That said the car deserves to be lowered by atleast an inch and a half minimum. Still the stance on the move is not affected as can be seen in the panning shot in DS's post.



Thoughts on chrome delete mod done DIY by DS - I was of the opinion that he should have left the center chrome on both front and back bumpers stay, but I take back my words completely. The red and black theme is amazing and chrome does not deserve its place on Bellissa.

Front



Rear



I had my doubts on how the carbon fibre film will take wear and tear of daily usage but I feel it will last quite a while. Enjoy a macro of the surface on the door handles:



Finally just some random shots to end my contribution to this party! And none are HDR so there's that!

[Divya Sharan]

Originally Posted by drivebyfire

Divya Sharan (DS) messaged me and said I was late to the tbhp party, late I might be - but here I am none the less.

A little late, but what an entry boss!
Thanks for painstakingly penning and compiling that informative post.
As far as pics go, I need not say a word in excess, other than breathtaking!

And I still chuckle at the suspense over the Italian Babe and you losing sleep over it.

[sandeepmohan]

The Fiat Evo is not a car that you see all that often. A 1.4l Evo is probably the rarest on our roads. The engine may not excite nor is it very efficient when pitched with the competition. However; it scores high on reliability and refinement.

Congratulations on your new ride. This car in red is a looker and matched to a really nice set of alloys.

[vamsi2390]

Hearty congratulations on your car mate!
Got to admit, one of drastic changes in buying decisions that I have heard in a while.

What i do not seem to understand is if the diesel and 1.4 EMOTION are costing the same, why did you not choose the diesel variant? Also, i am amazed that you weren't offered any discounts on the same.

Last month in Hyderabad i was offered a base trim AVVENTURA diesel for 7.2 flat but declined it as I wasnt ready to get a new vehicle until next year.

[Vinodh_Gowda]

Congratulations on gifting yourself a Punto Evo. Bellissa was one of the names shortlisted for my Linea TJet as well. However, I went ahead with the name ELSA for my acquire.

Looks like you were handled by the same bunch of people at Aadya: Roopa and Deepak. Roopa, I would rate her good but then Deepak is one of those individuals contributing to FIAT's downfall in India. He might as well rank as the biggest idiot I have ever known.

Coming back to your purchase, I find the final price a bit too high. Weren't you offered any discounts? With a June make you should have been given a substantial discount in my opinion.

Originally Posted by Divya Sharan

Attachment 1489873
Ground Clearance - 185 cm. More than enough for most roads I would take my car to. However, on very high mountain like speed bumps and crater sized potholes, one should crawl through in order to save the underbelly.

That needs a correction. It's 185mm and not 185cm.