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-   -   Figo TDCi Titanium Vs Punto MJD Emotion Pack - 2 Diesel cars, 1 buyer - Tough Choice (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-drives-initial-ownership-reports/81251-figo-tdci-titanium-vs-punto-mjd-emotion-pack-2-diesel-cars-1-buyer-tough-choice-4.html)

well for a couple of seconds. I am told that it was the fan running at speed 2 and it would eventually switch off...Never knew there was a feature like this to cool the engine if it was slightly hot!!

Congratulations. Figo is a very good car. BTW which color are u taking? So you have taken the decision with you brain & not with your mind. As a BHP'ian it is not expected though ;) Punto looks classy for sure.

One thing to mention, when i saw Punto in showroom, i never felt its interiors bad. Quality also looks good only. I liked its seats as well. It has really good support in all seats & fabric quality is also very good.

Well compared Rahul. I have been using Punto MJD E since Aug 2009 and covered 10K so far. Punto plastics might look cheap but definitely they are heavily built and they do not fall off as you have mentioned. Also, I had my first service from Prerana motors, Hosur Road, Bangalore. This is my first Fiat car, they seem to be very professional and very co-operative. And I am pretty sure the kind of small but cool things you find in Punto you will not find in any other premium hatch. A few examples:

(1) You can switch on one side of parking lights depending on which side you park
(2) While your wipers on, if you want to take reverse and engage the back gear, reverse wiper will switch on automatically
(3) MID (Distance, Mileage, Real time mileage, Distance to empty etc.,)
(4) Indication on dashboard regarding which bulb is fused
(5) Indication on dashboard regarding which door is open (like boot is open)

There's a thread about Special features of Linea and almost all holds good for Punto.

Excellent review Rahul. I see it very practical.

To the OP:

My personal opinion is that you made the right choice. I had test driven the Figo TDCi a while ago and really liked the drive-ability but was put off by the city FE. I finally test drove the Punto today morning and immediately noticed a couple of things.
1. The booming sound of the engine though well filtered still peters through and is a bit disconcerting.
2. The 1st and 2nd gear are plain useless. No drive-ability and no real pick-up. The 3rd gear is really good though.
Overall after the awesome reviews for the Punto on TeamBHP i was left a bit underwhelmed.

I then spontaneously decided that i should test drive the Figo asap to compare the two for myself. So I took the Figo for another test drive today evening. First thing that was noticeable was the lower engine sound esp. at lower rpms. The 2nd gear is, putting it mildly - brilliant. The car responds really well in the city and has great pick-up in the 2nd. I then took the car midway onto a steep gradient (similar to a climb on a ghat) slowed down to 10-15kmph in the 2nd gear and then stepped on the gas. The car responded pretty quickly and was actually accelerating up the gradient towards the end. I have basically decided on the Figo EXi...enough thinking.

Note that i have not owned a single car and this is just a newbie's impression but the Figo does seem to be the better city car in my honest opinion.

How do you do that? :Shockked:

Regarding the engine sound in the cabin, I feel Vista is pretty good on that. The engine noise was less and also Swift scores high. But Punto is a class above the rest of all is my opinion even though I have booked TDCi-EXi.
I think it seems very difficult to put all the best features in a single pack and give a VFM car or it is an understanding between manufacturers to reduce some of the features and sell.

<<You can switch on one side of parking lights depending on which side you park>>
@NSK123 - what is the benefit of doing this. Sometimes I switch on one of the indicators - right side if I park on the left side of the road to notify the traffic.

if you want to have a real punto feeling, drive the Multijet, not Petrol one, when I drove the petrol one, I also felt same like you, but it changed fully with MJD

Switch on the parking light and turn on the right/ left indicator switch. Accordingly you will have right/ left parking lights switched on (not the turn indicators). Very nicely designed.

When I took the test drive of Punto even i felt the same. But after driving it for 10,000 KM, I feel it is a boon in city driving. Most of the time in bumper to bumper traffic and in signals you need not switch for 1st gear at all. And once you are used to it, you can control the car much better than having to switch between 1-2-3 and instead go with 2-3. I have tried starting with 2nd gear with 5 occupants as well, however, you need to manage it little.

You can switch on the either left/ right parking lights depending on which side of the road you park. I have started using it regularly from the time I came to know about it. It can save battery (50% compared switching on both side lights).

By switching on indicator you cannot give the indication that car is parked rather others might get confused thinking you are taking out of parking.

In Punto/ Linea, you have batter saver so when you take out the key, indicator doesn't work except for (1) Warning light (2) Parking light (3) Follow me home

In addition to my previous comments, let me take an example here. Let's say you park on the left side of the road. Now to engage the right parking light, you need to turn on the parking lights + engage the right turn indicator. Result is right parking light is on. Now when you want to take out the car, the good practice is to put the right indicator and take out the car and this will be done automatically when you start the car since the right indicator switch is already engaged. Don't you think it simplifies lot of things for you?

Does this happen even while the car is running ? When driving at dusk, I sometimes switch off the main headlamps and drive for a while with just the parking lights on. So will the indicator lamps refuse to work in the blinking mode in that mode on the Punto ??

I did TD the MJD in fact .. just my thoughts that the 1-2 gears aren't as versatile as the 2nd gear in the Figo.

The 3rd gear is great ..no doubt, but when i was driving the car i couldn't use the 2nd gear much in city conditions, it just didn't respond all that much (turbo lag maybe?). Had to resort to quick shifts bet. 2nd and 3rd for drive-ability, a little too often.

Hi Commodore, Having driven Punto for 10000kms myself, I would tend to agree with NSK123. When I took delivery of the car, I used the feel the pull of the car very sluggish compared to the Santro in city drives. However, the engine frees up quote a bit after about 3000 kms and thereafter you can feel the engine refinement getting better as you clock more miles. Now the car is an absolute gem to drive even in city traffic. Adjusting the driving styles could also be another factor for the better drivability which we must have gained subconsciously.