Stunning looks but needs improvement for a 1.4L. Review on Fiat Grande Punto

The review material this time around is the Grande Punto 1.4L Petrol fully loaded(i.e. the Emotion Pack). I have been itching to try out this beauty for the past few months but got my chance only today. Without wasting much time let’s go for a test drive.

She’s beautiful!

What really makes the Punto Grande? It’s mainly about its looks. The Punto is definitely more beautiful than its nearest competitors - and some costlier cars as well. The aerodynamic shape ia so smooth from front to boot that you will really admire the car from any angle while parked or on the move. Unlike Fabia, Swift or i20 it doesn’t look bad from one particular angle or the other. And mind you, it looks longer, bigger and tougher compared to its weaker contemporaries. Another thing that stands out is the great looking 15” alloys and 195mm tires that’s as good as that of premium car like Corolla. The only thing I did not quite like is the rear fog lamp/reverse lamp combo off which one is white and the other red. I thought that’s pretty strange. Overall it’s 5/5 for the great looks.

The Interiors & build quality

As you enter the car, the first thing that strikes is the classy silver and black centre console. The instrument cluster is beautiful and well placed for visibility. The driving position and the front seating are excellent. I also liked the look and feel of the hydraulic steering wheel which has mounted audio and blue tooth controls(emotion pack). The plastics are kind of disappointing and so is the black seat fabric that felt rough and too synthetic. The plastics, especially the lower dash part i.e. the glove box, trunk/hood/gas lid levers etc felt really cheap and was already cracked or come out in the test drive car. I expected a better plastic quality in this vehicle. Also, though the cup holders in the center are good, the magazine folders on the door panels are not really deep and wide enough. The interior build quality is not definitely as good as I expected and I also saw a Punto where the front side power windows were coming out of its groove. Also, when I slammed the door, I didn’t get to hear a pleasant sound as the one the Fabia produces. Overall, I would give the interiors & related parts build quality 3/5.

The engine and drive quality

The biggest problem of driving a hatch after getting used to more powerful cars is that you do not know how to rate its power. However, unlike the i20 Asta and Fabia 1.2 that I have driven, this 1.4L unit did not disappoint me at all. We had five medium built people in the car and the FIRE 1.4 did a commendable job in carrying that kind of mass. I wished I could have driven the car all alone myself once in which case I would definitely enjoyed this beast. The engine is not really having the greatest torque but it’s good enough. It doesn’t make much noise and fuss and the acceleration is relatively linear. From specs, I would think that the i20 1.4L Asta may beat this one straight in terms of raw power and torque if not for the handling.

The gear of the Punto is slick and nice but the test drive car that we got was an abused one which had some problem with the clutch plates. Otherwise, the feel and the power that gears give in all numbers is good. There’s a false pedal that’s positioned reasonably well and keep you comfortable for longer drives. The clutch, brake and gas pedals are smaller and sportier. The gear along with the crisp steering gives you the best driving experience you can get out of cars of its segment. The handling needs special mention as well because in my low radius high speed trials, it performed exceptionally well.

Next, we purposely jumped the car over speed breakers with five people in and it scraped the belly only a couple of times and never did when we carefully did it. Mind you, the i20 scraped every single time. The ground clearance is excellent and probably the best in the class.

Thanks to the wider and bigger tires, the Punto’s brakes powered by the ABS unit is excellent. I thought this one is the best in the class as well with all that momentum the vehicle was having with 5 people in. Probably the other hatches that I drove didn’t have such good tires.

Just to add one more point to the driving position. I thought the tilt steering could have come a little more down when adjusted for the shorter drivers. Also, the quarter window near the ORVM is completely blocked by the pre-B pillar making that window a total unusable thing for a driver. However, the one the left side gives you some good visibility on what’s on your front left side. Overall for the engine performance, driving and handling I give the FIRE 1.4 a 4/5. By the way, it’s not exactly a 1.4 litre engine but 1368cc and I hated that fact.

Interior Space & Boot Space
I thought of focusing a bit on this part because unlike its massive looks from outside, the interior space is not exactly great in the Punto. This is mainly because of the tapering of its body design from middle to front and rear. I mean, the bulkier part of the body is somewhere near the B-pillar that’s somewhere close to the front passengers sitting area and hence they have enough room. The rear seat space is only as much as its competitors like Fabia or i20. However, three of our co-passengers sat without too much of problems though headroom could have been better. Again due to the front side tapering, the leg room of the driver and front passenger gets smaller - a bit too smaller than I thought. The boot space is decent. I need to mention that due to the angle of the rear seat, you can actually keep a mid size suit case flat and another small one on top of it where as in i20 or Fabia you would keep a suit case vertically. Overall 3/5 for interior space and 4/5 for the boot, considering the segment standard.

Summary

At an ex-Bangalore price of around 6L, the Grande Punto is not really a bad deal. After all, the i20 1.4 of similar class is priced at around 7.5L Ex and that doesn’t have Bluetooth and good tires/alloys like this one. But a direct comparison is not possible as the i20 1.4L comes only in auto transmission. I do not know about any other 1.4L hatches either. Unless you are for a hatch, spend 50K more and think of options like Ford Fiesta 1.6 as well.