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What it is:
When I first saw this car after the launch, I knew that this beauty would take Fiat to places and by far the response from the crowd is positive. After the struggling past of Fiat in India from the era of Uno & Siena which continued till Palio, Grande Punto came as a breath of fresh air and people appreciated it.
The Punto comes in 1.2, 1.4 Petrol engine & 1.3 Multijet Diesel engine.
Outer impression:
This is the one we propose should be marketed with the tag 'From the makers of Ferrari'.
The one designed in Italy strictly keeping in mind the laws of Aerodynamics. The strong chassis carved with the strong muscular wheel arches exudes boldness & strength of the car. The huge bonnet & strong A pillars will make you feel safer than other hatchbacks.
Although the car looks sporty, yet it is preferred by business class people in India. Thus in spite of the options of fruity colors from Fiat, we see more executive metallic colored Puntos on the road.
Both Petrol & Diesel models come in 3 variants i.e Active, Dynamic & Emotion. The Active & Dynamic variants rest on 14" alloy wheels whereas the Emotion variant rests on 15" alloy wheel giving the car more of a sportier look.
The arrow shaped lamps are huge & come with clear lens. The Front bumpers of Emotion are integrated with Fog lamps while rear bumper for all variants have fog lamps. The front grille is huge & integrated into the bumper in two sections giving a sufficient space for the number plate.
The Tail lamps are mounted at the height of C Pillars & gives the boot a clear design structure neatly divided into three levels.
The overall design is different & cleaner than other hatchbacks around. Punto scores 9/10 on looks for its proper blend of elegance & sporty looks.
Ambience and theme:
The car has the interiors of a semi luxury car. The two tone dash board comes with the controls which are well accessible & user friendly. The steering wheel is twisted keeping in mind the grip of the hand. The horn is a little harder to be pressed with a thumb (at least of the one I drove). The cluster comes with the display of the song title or radio frequency.
The beauty is stretched to almost 4 meters in length & 2.5 meters in width making your drive comfortable. The rear seating is comfortable however the car lags a bit of leg room in front .The boot space is as huge as 280 liters. The fuel tank has a capacity of 45 liters.
On the road:
The strong Fiat is blessed with 1.2 & 1.4 liter Petrol engine which is capable of producing Max Power of 68 & 90 PS & torque of 96 & 115 Nm respectively. The diesel version is equipped with 1.3 liter engine producing max power of 76PS & torque of 197 Nm.
The Punto is sturdy to drive & holds the road while driving.The turning radius is very good. When you start from 0 the take off is great as you don't experience any jerks during the pick up, however the car isn't that great when you drive further to 2nd gear onwards because of lag in response(diesel variant). The horn is just fine, nothing extraordinary with that. The steering is a little hard and the gear knob lags in built quality.
The car takes away all the cons above because howsoever you drive the Punto you gain a confidence in this vehicle quickly. Even above 100kmph the car is stable & you never get a feeling of the car going out of control.
What's it up against?
Chevrolet UVA, Maruti Swift, Skoda Fabia, Volkswagen Polo.
Why would you buy it?
The car is good at looks. The price to feature ratio is low hence we have more value for money. The dealer support from Tata motors makes this car more reliable, thus customers are assured for service assistance wherever they are.
Why you wouldn't buy it?
Leg room, Impressive competitors, Comfort of Drive, Slow response from Diesel engine.
Pricing (Ex-Showroom PUNE)
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Gallery :
Great Car messed up by Tata-Fiat
I drive this car on daily basis (100 kms) and the handling is so smooth, interiors are beautiful. Tata-Fiat are failing this car because of after sale service and support.
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