[Guna]

Congrats on the new car!

Originally Posted by samsan02

i20- Same steering as on i10 was kind of disappointing for a premium hatch.

Are you sure? i20 has Civic-inspired kind of steering which is different from i10.

[twinblades]

@samsan
With regards to the improving FE. One mistake that I used to do was try to change to the highest gear as soon as possible. There is no point going to the top gear for a few seconds then being forced to shift down because of the traffic. Its better to stay on a lower gear without shifting. That should help in my opinion.

[samsan02]

Originally Posted by Ramsagar

Congrats on the buy. The color is superb.
Should say a decent FE from a person who has driven AT. But there is still scope of improvement of FE. My advice is to remove your leg form the clutch pedal apart from changing gears. Be kind with the eng. & don't make it scream with higher rpm's.

Thanks Ramsagar, Yes I feel i can do better on FE. I rest my foot on the clutch pedal is it not advisable, since the clutch is so hard and long is it ok or will it be like half clutch riding even if I just rest it on it without any pressure.

Originally Posted by Gallant

Hi Samson, first of all welcome to the fiat club and you have made a very wise decision by choosing Punto over other options you mentioned.
I am also the owner of 1.4 Punto Emotion and driving it daily in b-2-b traffic of Kolkata. Yes, if you release clutch instantly you will feel the jerk (this the case with all M/T cars), idea is to leave it gently and by the time you get used to Punto clutch long travel.
I am getting FE of 12 - 12.5 with AC on (now a days 50% AC) , in b-2-b traffic. Highway figures are beyond 14 km/l.
Yes, in first two gears RPM zoom up and reach 3k very fast, but you can control the RPM by shifting gears at the right speed. I follow the following gear shifting pattern in my Punto:
1st gear:
2nd gear: 10 km/hr
3rd gear: 20 km/hr
4th gear: 40 km/hr
5th gear: 45 km/hr and owards
Please try doing this and you can feel an increase in FE and you can keep a check on RPM shooting up.

Even I evaluated many cars before I ventured into market to hunt down one for me and I agree with your evaluations of other cars vis-a-vis Punto.
Drive safe

Thanks Gallant, Yes it has been a long search before I made up my mind on Punto. Regarding your FE, your doing great I feel. At times I stay in lower gears longer i.e First and second, because with b-2-b traffic I tend to concentrate more on the traffic in front than worry about upshifting. I will consider your KMPH suggestion thanks for that.

Originally Posted by twinblades

@samsan
With regards to the improving FE. One mistake that I used to do was try to change to the highest gear as soon as possible. There is no point going to the top gear for a few seconds then being forced to shift down because of the traffic. Its better to stay on a lower gear without shifting. That should help in my opinion.

Yes even I do it at times, when I go quickly all the way to 5th and come back to 3rd the next moment. Will try to avoid.

Originally Posted by Guna

Congrats on the new car!

Are you sure? i20 has Civic-inspired kind of steering which is different from i10.

Guna, I may not have given complete info here. i20 magna had the same steering as the one on i10. Because it has no steering controls. So that was disappointing. Yes i20 Asta's steering is nice I liked the metal inserts there but it was almost similar to i20 magna steering, but ofcourse it was leather wrapped.

[Bharatah]

Congrats on your new car. Punto is a fabulous car. The looks of the car is so fresh and stylish. The nose looks so much unique and original. The front head lamps looks like aston martins vanquish in a certain angel. overall a great buy.

[1919]

Great opening post samsan02 and a lovely choice of color. Incidentally, its also my fav color on the Punto - altho i guess its not a very popular choice, seeing that you are only the 2nd on team-bhp with this color - and till now, in all this months - i have not seen 1 blue punto on the road in Navi Mumbai.

One suggestion : Why dont rename the thread Blue-n-Me?

[Caramelo]

congratulations!!

i wanted to clear a doubt! your stock alloys are 15"s! on the E+pack! but i have heard that if you go for the MJD E+pack you get the same design but they are 14"s alloys! did you see any difference or its just my confusion!

[twinblades]

It probably was some mistake. All Emotion packs should have the same 15inch.

[vijaythacker]

Originally Posted by Caramelo

congratulations!!

i wanted to clear a doubt! your stock alloys are 15"s! on the E+pack! but i have heard that if you go for the MJD E+pack you get the same design but they are 14"s alloys! did you see any difference or its just my confusion!

Petrol or Diesel, emotion variants have same alloys design and size.

[samsan02]

Originally Posted by Bharatah

Congrats on your new car. Punto is a fabulous car. The looks of the car is so fresh and stylish. The nose looks so much unique and original. The front head lamps looks like aston martins vanquish in a certain angel. overall a great buy.

Thanks Bharath, yes indeed everytime I go to the parking lot I keep admiring it from the outside for few moments then I get in

Originally Posted by 1919

Great opening post samsan02 and a lovely choice of color. Incidentally, its also my fav color on the Punto - altho i guess its not a very popular choice, seeing that you are only the 2nd on team-bhp with this color - and till now, in all this months - i have not seen 1 blue punto on the road in Navi Mumbai.One suggestion : Why dont rename the thread Blue-n-Me?

Thanks ! My favourite color is blue so blue was the obvious choice but I did consider other colors when blue was not available, and I was in two minds if to go for a different color to cash in on diwali discounts. Of the six colors

Red- Felt too many on road, and Punto red was too bright(they should have had one in Flamingo Red of Linea)
Black- Loved it, but too hard to maintain in dirty city traffic.
Minimal Grey- Silver color again, very stylish and decent but it gets lost in the road.
Medium Grey- Looks nice but doesn't beat the blue
Bossa Nova White- didn't like the off white color.

Ya I dont see many Blue Puntos on road thou, even the dealer said fast moving colors are always red,black,minimal grey so they have them in stock always.

Originally Posted by Caramelo

congratulations!!

Thanks Carameo.

So its been two weeks since I got my Punto, have driven about 250 kms till now. FE on trip meter has showed from 8.8 to 12.9 kmpl. All city driving thou. I was not able to measure FE by exact litres consumed, as I didn't know how much petrol was there when I took delivery. So have got now low fuel indicator and have filled in 10 litres to check again. Will update on that later.
I took it to Bangalore City railway station for a drop off, it was with 5 adults, boot fullt loaded could fit in 1 suitcase and two large bags, full ac on always and it performed like a gem pulled it neatly all the way.Driving has been excellent, so far no niggles or issues, car has become dirty so want to get it cleaned soon. Need some suggestions on what to use for cleaning.

[samsan02]

Hi I have taken a few interior pics over the last week and few today morning. One issue I noticed is that the strap to secure the tool kit is smaller in length on one side (see pic) and I tried a couple of times but invain. Did anyone else found this issue. I will check with Concorde to get it replaced when I visit them next.

Please pardon my naive knowledge about car technicals, One more thing is that on the front right wheel, I see some dark grease faintly speard over the wheel.(see pic). I first thought it was leaking brake fluid. But I checked at parking there is no leakage on the ground. Is this somehting to worry about, or is it excessive grease which is coming off.

[nitrous]

Originally Posted by samsan02

Please pardon my naive knowledge about car technicals, One more thing is that on the front right wheel, I see some dark grease faintly speard over the wheel.(see pic). I first thought it was leaking brake fluid. But I checked at parking there is no leakage on the ground. Is this somehting to worry about, or is it excessive grease which is coming off.

Pardoned for now.
It is brake dust. You can wash and wipe it off.

[samsan02]

Originally Posted by nitrous

Pardoned for now.
It is brake dust. You can wash and wipe it off.

Thanks nitrous for clarifying.

Here are some more pics just shot a while ago, hope you like them.

[vijaythacker]

wow, those are some nice pictures sam.Punto surely has its own effect and everytime i see this car, i keep admiring it and looks fresh everytime.

[.anshuman]

Dont worry about the black dust on that alloy rim, its brake dust. Cars with Disc brakes on all four wheels have it on all four, others have it on just front two rims.

Rust on Discs and Black dust on rims perfectly normal. A lot of owners have reported them as problems in a lot of ownership threads.

[nav75]

Congrats on your new car.

Originally Posted by samsan02

I tried changing the USB sticks but it still says USB error, looks like in Indian version the software maybe is not supported yet.

I keep getting this error and sometimes, removing and reinserting it does the trick. Try doing this with the music system off.

Originally Posted by samsan02

Can some 1.4 Linea/Punto owners give me some tips, I am new to M/T and since Punto's clutch is long, I find it a little difficult when releasing the clutch, there is slight jerk when I release it instantly when the car is moving. But when i do it slowly its fine. So is the efficient way is to release the clutch slowly? Does you vehicle too has the same feel?
Also when upshifting to first and then to second when in normal traffic, I tend to rev it a bit more and the RPM shoots up to 3k and above. Is it corrrect way of driving or should I be more modest when dabbing the gas pedal.

You got to release the clutch slowely and don't rev so much in 1st (unless in a ripping mode), try shifting to 2nd as soon as the car is in some sort of motion.
As I was driving car after a long gap, I also faced exactly the same issues. Just spend some time and things will get better.