Really, A Bold New Drive. Review on Fiat Grande Punto

After much consideration and debate, I decided upon the Fiat Grande Punto Emotion Pack. It was quite the perfect hatchback. It is priced well, has a decent engine and offers astounding value for money(the only sub-8 lakh car which gives you a Bluetooth handsfree kit, climate control air-conditioning, 4 speaker integrated audio system, ABS with EBD and dual airbags on the Emotion Pack variant. There are some other nifty details, as well, and the list is endless).Approaching the car, what really impressed me is the amazing design. Not a part felt out of proportion or flashy. This is how cars should be. Simple, yet elegant and it is this simplicity, combined with elegance which gives this design its brilliance. The external build quality is just superb. The door lines are clean and panel gaps consistent. With what this car weighs(1120 kg), it feels more like a bank vault. The doors are nice and thick. This is a European car and it feels solid in a European way. The doors open and close in a pretty decent three-stage action. They shut with a deep thud and keeps the interiors quiet.The dashboard is not too ‘in-your-face’ unlike some other hatchbacks sold in India(read: Chevrolet Beat, Ford Figo) and instead, looks simple and functional. I think that I’d add elegant too. The dash is placed far from the windshield, giving the car the feel of a much pricier luxo-barge. The steering is rake adjustable and can be suited to one’s exact needs. The driver’s seat is also height adjustable. Getting a good driving position took no time, whatsoever.

Before starting the engine, lets talk about the key. Fiat calls this a ‘desmodromic foldable key’. Its the type of keys you would find in more expensive cars. It’s laser cut and has a chip which transmits a randomized code, inside. But it doesn’t have ‘keyless entry’ unlike the Nissan Micra or the Chevy Cruze. But the foldable key certainly looks cool with the remote lock buttons integrated into it.The engine starts up after a short 1 second crank. At idle, the engine sounds just like a diesel engine with a little bit of that typical diesel clutter. But, what really surprised me was the refinement of this 4 cylinder 1248cc MultiJet engine. I was standing in front of my car, near a highway, and I couldn’t hear the engine at all! The only way to know if the engine’s really running is to keep your hand on the bonnet.Acceleration is smooth with a touch of turbo lag below 1500 RPMs. Above that, after shifting to second gear, things get real fast. The car pulls quickly to 30 km/h at about 2500-3500 RPM. Shift to third, 30-50. Fourth, 50-70 and fifth, cruising speed. Some people have complained that this engine lacks the performance finesse of the DDiS engine found in the Maruti Suzuki Swift. Maybe, because the Punto is heavier, straight-line acceleration might not be as quick. But in the city, the Fiat never feels underpowered or sluggish at all. This is a huge improvement over my previous Indica V2 which was very sluggish(with the aircon switched on). The shorter gear ratios also contribute to this. To give you some perspective to how easily the 75 BHP power and 200 NM of torque is distributed, I was once driving at about 40-50 km/h in FIFTH GEAR! Not a hitch or complaint from the engine forcing me to downshift. The rev counter stayed a notch above the 1000 RPM mark.Turning on to the steering and suspension, Fiat has done a pretty remarkable job. The steering is well weighted, and being a hydraulic power steering, gives loads of feedback. The suspension has been tuned perfectly, in sync with Indian road conditions. The Indian spec Punto(obviously) has had its suspension raised by a few inches to accommodate the innumerable potholes and speed breakers which line our roads. Yet, the handling seems extremely confidence inspiring. The car points where you point the steering wheel to and there is very little body roll. And of course, high speed highway stability is effortless. Ride quality is superb and never does it feel as if it has a semi-independent suspension in the back. One thing of note, is that I am a bit uncomfortable with this car’s huge turning radius. But, I wouldn’t gripe too much about it as the Punto is a really long car(about 4 metres long).

I’ll now move on to the equipment and electronics. The Punto Emotion Pack comes equipped with all 4 power windows, power adjustable mirrors, power steering(hydraulic), climate control air conditioning, audio system with 4 speakers and 2 tweeters, ABS and EBD, 2 airbags, bluetooth kit, alloy wheels, and several other stuff that I can’t even remember.Now, there have been LOTS of complaints from Punto owners and reviewers that the audio system has extremely bad sound quality. Well, yes, they are right.but only when the equalizer on the system is kept in any of the default modes. You’re able to modify each band yourself and if you do it properly, trust me, you won’t cry over this issue EVER again. The speakers are just awesome with superb bass(if you keep the volume under 20) and extremely detailed and rich mid-range notes. The integrated tweeters(which are placed near the door handles) provide crystal clear high frequency sounds. The overall experience(if you tune it just right) is really vivid.Fiat has really done lots of work on the Blue&Me system to make it as easy to use as possible. And they’ve succeeded. The system works like no other system. Its easy to pair a phone, and make a call. If you plug in your USB flash drive, it reads it and automatically indexes the MP3 audio files according to Artists, Albums, Folders, Genres and Playlists, similar to how your music would look on an iPod or iPhone. That is again, delightful as the Punto just transforms into the world’s largest iPod with flash(or hard drive) memory stored in the glove box! When a phone call comes through, the music is paused. Also, when a text message is received, the system will ask you if it should be read out aloud. Say YES, and using speech synthesis, the message is read out, even if it is written in Malayalam or any other language! Everything JUST works! Its quite brilliant.Another thing I’d really like to say about is the attention to detail that’s been given to the car.Fiat has gone to great lengths to refine small and insignificant things.

These are just a few of the many gazillions of features this amazing car has. Overall, its a blast to drive, handles well, has a torquey engine and is filled to the brim with equipment.Hats off to Fiat for such an awesome piece of engineering.