Exchanged Swift with Grande Punto EDIT: 15000 kms update

recshenoy · 18th December 2009, 10:55

@GR8NATIVE

I am not Punto owner but heard that Auto Matrix service is not bad. also now a days i see good number of Puntos in Mangalore.

When Punto was newly launched i had gone to Auto matrix, i spoke to one of the sales person.. he advised that "we have mechanics trained by FIAT india to take care of FIAT cars." So service should be good.

Besides I also see decent number of Palios, Lineas around Mangalore.

joshdrive · 18th December 2009, 10:59

I was not impressed with the looks of Punto seeing its pictures. Was wondering why everyone goes ga-ga over it looks. I had a quick glimpse of it on road couple of times and was not impressed too..Today I saw one coming towards me on a flyover... Wow!!!!.Killer looks..I felt we should forgive Fiat for the minor glitches the car has for the wonderful design that fiat had put in. This car deserves a good place in Indian car market which is otherwise crowded with poorly designed hatch-converted-sedans and box-like hatches..

an_and · 18th December 2009, 11:54

Now-a-days, suddenly I am seeing a lot of Puntos on the road. Lets hope that the Punto is slowly finding its way into the Indian wallets, and stays there - unlike the Palio which made phenomenal sales in the first year, and then crashed to abysmal figures.

Anshuman - great review, and it shows that the Punto is a truly capable car. Hope that Fiat continues the good work! the only problem will arise, will be when you have to repair the car. AT that time , the weakness of the Tata's will come to the fore.

Rach · 18th December 2009, 18:22

I bought a Punto E+ MJD three months back. I will write my own initial ownership after 1st service comparing it with Swift (my earlier car). Before that, I have seen many people in tbhp saying about 'Turbo kicks' in Punto!!! But Punto manual and engine specifications doesn't mention it. Neither sales people or service guys (both at Fiat and Maruti) say there is no Turbo (FGT or VGT) in Swift and Punto engines. It is Linea that has VGT. Am I wrong here? Do we have turbo in Punto? I for one never felt the turbo kick in Punto.

mithunkb · 18th December 2009, 21:45

All 1.3 MJD versions have turbos. Linea has a VGT. Punto D, Palio D, Vista QJD etc have FGT's.

In fact all all common rail diesels have turbochargers. Punto and Vista has the engine tuned for linear power delivery but the swift has a slightly aggressive tune. So the turbo kick is more evident.

khan75 · 29th December 2009, 23:06

Anshuman, greetings from a fellow Punto owner (Punter).

I just read through 16 pages but couldn't find the info that I was looking for. Could you tell me if you have actual projectors fitted inside the headlamp casings or just white xenon bulbs? If you do have the projectors, could you tell me the approx cost for the same? If you're using the stock halogen casing, can you post a picture of the cutoff beam of the HID against a wall or something? I want to see if the halogen casing can handle the sharper cutoff of the white beam.

Thanks and keep enjoying your Punto!

.anshuman · 31st December 2009, 15:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by khan75

Anshuman, greetings from a fellow Punto owner (Punter).

I just read through 16 pages but couldn't find the info that I was looking for. Could you tell me if you have actual projectors fitted inside the headlamp casings or just white xenon bulbs? If you do have the projectors, could you tell me the approx cost for the same? If you're using the stock halogen casing, can you post a picture of the cutoff beam of the HID against a wall or something? I want to see if the halogen casing can handle the sharper cutoff of the white beam.

Thanks and keep enjoying your Punto!

I dont have projectors installed in my car, i have Philips HID conversion kit installed in the stock headlamp casing. I will try to take some pics. There is a proper cutoff line as seen with projectors in low beam.

.anshuman · 31st December 2009, 18:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by joshdrive

I was not impressed with the looks of Punto seeing its pictures. Was wondering why everyone goes ga-ga over it looks. I had a quick glimpse of it on road couple of times and was not impressed too..Today I saw one coming towards me on a flyover... Wow!!!!.Killer looks..I felt we should forgive Fiat for the minor glitches the car has for the wonderful design that fiat had put in. This car deserves a good place in Indian car market which is otherwise crowded with poorly designed hatch-converted-sedans and box-like hatches..

I agree with you, I always found this car ordinary in the pics but the day i saw it i fell for it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by an_and

Anshuman - great review, and it shows that the Punto is a truly capable car.

Thank you Sir.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rach

I bought a Punto E+ MJD three months back. I will write my own initial ownership after 1st service comparing it with Swift (my earlier car). Before that, I have seen many people in tbhp saying about 'Turbo kicks' in Punto!!! But Punto manual and engine specifications doesn't mention it. Neither sales people or service guys (both at Fiat and Maruti) say there is no Turbo (FGT or VGT) in Swift and Punto engines. It is Linea that has VGT. Am I wrong here? Do we have turbo in Punto? I for one never felt the turbo kick in Punto.

All CRDI engines come with turbochargers, Swift and Punto have Fixed geometry Turbochargers where as Linea and Manza come Variable geometry Turbocharger.

Quote:

Originally Posted by khan75

can you post a picture of the cutoff beam of the HID against a wall or something? I want to see if the halogen casing can handle the sharper cutoff of the white beam.

I am attaching some pics as requested, Sorry for low quality pics. The shade is 6000K.

Low Beam

Exchanged Swift with Grande Punto EDIT: 15000 kms update-b1.jpg

High Beam

Exchanged Swift with Grande Punto EDIT: 15000 kms update-b4.jpg

Exchanged Swift with Grande Punto EDIT: 15000 kms update-b2.jpg

Exchanged Swift with Grande Punto EDIT: 15000 kms update-b3.jpg

vigneshram · 1st January 2010, 10:04

man the xenons look great.now i getting tempted to put those xenons on my Punto as well.

kpzen · 1st January 2010, 10:11

Anshuman
The lights look good but how much has the visibility improved, as in, the usable light ?

The stock Fiat lights have always been brilliant. Palio lights are still one of the best IMO.

khan75 · 1st January 2010, 10:20

The cutoff looks great, anshuman. Did you upgrade the H1 fog lamps to HIDs as well?

.anshuman · 1st January 2010, 21:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by vigneshram

man the xenons look great.now i getting tempted to put those xenons on my Punto as well.

The Xenons look good and improve visiblity too, i find them very good investment without much tampering with the car.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kpzen

Anshuman
The lights look good but how much has the visibility improved, as in, the usable light ?

The stock Fiat lights have always been brilliant. Palio lights are still one of the best IMO.

Palio's double barrel lamps have better lightning compared to single beam in Punto, Visibility has improved quite a lot after Xenon upgrade. OEM lights in Punto are not so great.

Quote:

Originally Posted by khan75

The cutoff looks great, anshuman. Did you upgrade the H1 fog lamps to HIDs as well?

Nope i have retained OEM halogens in fog lamps.

architect · 1st January 2010, 23:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by kpzen

The stock Fiat lights have always been brilliant. Palio lights are still one of the best IMO.

Palio's double barrel headlamps are good in terms of brightness and uniform spread, but I find them lacking in throw (distance) for highway driving. Amongst all non HID / non Xenon stock headlamps, they can hold their own though.

phamilyman · 17th January 2010, 05:50

boss, this car is SERIOUSLY sexy. Red GP with HIDs is truly a bold new drive.

Chick magnet if ever there was one!!

.anshuman · 31st January 2010, 16:00

The car has now done close to 15000 kms, its due for service this week. I will post a detailed report just after the car comes back after the service.

Posting some pics, taken from my phone camera.

The low placed rear foglight are very effective in the fog.

Exchanged Swift with Grande Punto EDIT: 15000 kms update-14012010710.jpg

Exchanged Swift with Grande Punto EDIT: 15000 kms update-14012010711.jpg

21+ Kpl after Highway trip on NH10 recently, this drive includes crawling on choked towns on the way and crossing Delhi as well.

18th December 2009, 10:55	#226
recshenoy Senior - BHPian Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Mangalore / Bangalore Posts: 1,128 Thanked: 254 Times	@GR8NATIVE I am not Punto owner but heard that Auto Matrix service is not bad. also now a days i see good number of Puntos in Mangalore. When Punto was newly launched i had gone to Auto matrix, i spoke to one of the sales person.. he advised that "we have mechanics trained by FIAT india to take care of FIAT cars." So service should be good. Besides I also see decent number of Palios, Lineas around Mangalore.
	() Thanks

18th December 2009, 10:59	#227
joshdrive BHPian Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Chennai Posts: 205 Thanked: 0 Times	I was not impressed with the looks of Punto seeing its pictures. Was wondering why everyone goes ga-ga over it looks. I had a quick glimpse of it on road couple of times and was not impressed too..Today I saw one coming towards me on a flyover... Wow!!!!.Killer looks..I felt we should forgive Fiat for the minor glitches the car has for the wonderful design that fiat had put in. This car deserves a good place in Indian car market which is otherwise crowded with poorly designed hatch-converted-sedans and box-like hatches..
	() Thanks

18th December 2009, 11:54	#228
an_and BHPian Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Mumbai Posts: 277 Thanked: 65 Times	Now-a-days, suddenly I am seeing a lot of Puntos on the road. Lets hope that the Punto is slowly finding its way into the Indian wallets, and stays there - unlike the Palio which made phenomenal sales in the first year, and then crashed to abysmal figures. Anshuman - great review, and it shows that the Punto is a truly capable car. Hope that Fiat continues the good work! the only problem will arise, will be when you have to repair the car. AT that time , the weakness of the Tata's will come to the fore.
	() Thanks

18th December 2009, 18:22	#229
Rach BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Hyderabad Posts: 38 Thanked: 16 Times	I bought a Punto E+ MJD three months back. I will write my own initial ownership after 1st service comparing it with Swift (my earlier car). Before that, I have seen many people in tbhp saying about 'Turbo kicks' in Punto!!! But Punto manual and engine specifications doesn't mention it. Neither sales people or service guys (both at Fiat and Maruti) say there is no Turbo (FGT or VGT) in Swift and Punto engines. It is Linea that has VGT. Am I wrong here? Do we have turbo in Punto? I for one never felt the turbo kick in Punto.
	() Thanks

18th December 2009, 21:45	#230
mithunkb BHPian Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Thrissur , Kera Posts: 90 Thanked: 12 Times	All 1.3 MJD versions have turbos. Linea has a VGT. Punto D, Palio D, Vista QJD etc have FGT's. In fact all all common rail diesels have turbochargers. Punto and Vista has the engine tuned for linear power delivery but the swift has a slightly aggressive tune. So the turbo kick is more evident.
	() Thanks

29th December 2009, 23:06	#231
khan75 BHPian Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Atlanta/London/Dubai/Delhi Posts: 371 Thanked: 3 Times View My Garage	Anshuman, greetings from a fellow Punto owner (Punter). I just read through 16 pages but couldn't find the info that I was looking for. Could you tell me if you have actual projectors fitted inside the headlamp casings or just white xenon bulbs? If you do have the projectors, could you tell me the approx cost for the same? If you're using the stock halogen casing, can you post a picture of the cutoff beam of the HID against a wall or something? I want to see if the halogen casing can handle the sharper cutoff of the white beam. Thanks and keep enjoying your Punto!
	() Thanks

1st January 2010, 10:04	#234
vigneshram BHPian Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Stuttgart,DE Posts: 356 Thanked: 48 Times View My Garage	man the xenons look great.now i getting tempted to put those xenons on my Punto as well.
	() Thanks

1st January 2010, 10:11	#235
kpzen Senior - BHPian Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Faridabad Posts: 5,610 Thanked: 1,876 Times View My Garage	Anshuman The lights look good but how much has the visibility improved, as in, the usable light ? The stock Fiat lights have always been brilliant. Palio lights are still one of the best IMO.
	() Thanks

1st January 2010, 10:20	#236
khan75 BHPian Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Atlanta/London/Dubai/Delhi Posts: 371 Thanked: 3 Times View My Garage	The cutoff looks great, anshuman. Did you upgrade the H1 fog lamps to HIDs as well?
	() Thanks

17th January 2010, 05:50	#239
phamilyman Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Gurgaon Posts: 5,968 Thanked: 4,642 Times	boss, this car is SERIOUSLY sexy. Red GP with HIDs is truly a bold new drive. Chick magnet if ever there was one!!
	() Thanks

31st January 2010, 16:00	#240
.anshuman Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Good-Gaon Posts: 7,763 Thanked: 11,064 Times View My Garage	Some pics The car has now done close to 15000 kms, its due for service this week. I will post a detailed report just after the car comes back after the service. Posting some pics, taken from my phone camera. The low placed rear foglight are very effective in the fog. 21+ Kpl after Highway trip on NH10 recently, this drive includes crawling on choked towns on the way and crossing Delhi as well.
	(1) Thanks