Here Fiat comes with the new Grande Punto

Punto is a great design from Italians.The Punto’s silhouette is well balanced whichever angel you look at it. The big lights up front and the long nose look sporty and give it plenty of character. The rear gets compact lights mounted high up on the pillars. And the big wheels complete the purposeful stance. Well, shall I remind you Fiat owns Ferrari and Maserati- easy to understand once you look at the Gnade Punto’s design.

Interiors

Here the first thing you will notice when you step into the cabin is the manner in which the doors shut with a solid ‘thunk’ It is a sound that is found on more expensive saloons and there is no tinny, built-to-a-price feel that most rivals exclude.

The next thing you will notice is that the rear seats aren’t really as impressive as the generous external dimensions of the car suggest.The width means that three occupants will fit nicely but legroom is just about adequate and similar to most rivals. The high-set seats themselves are very comfortable and both under thigh and back support is very good.

Front seat passengers won’t have any reason to complain. The seats up front are wide and legroom is also very generous. The driver’s seat adjusts for height but the steering only adjusts for rake, not reach, so finding the ideal driving position can be a little tricky.

The dials are similar to the ones found on the Linea, except they are in black. Fiat oddly hasn’t marked a redline on the rpm gauges. The dashboard control fall easily to hand and are intuitive to use. The indicator stalks though are irritatingly placed on the left.

The company hasn’t followed the beige interior trend that most rivals have made the norm now. The dark grey-black cabin can be a bit tiring to look at after a long drive. Another grouse is the inconsistent quality of plastics. Thought the dashboard is made from relatively dense materials, some bit let it down.

Another area that Fiat hasn’t been paying attention to is the usability of the cabin.There aren’t too many places where you can put that take away glass of iced tea or your cell phone for that matter. It’s a shame considering many rivals are getting stronger on practicality. The boot, at 280 liters, is again the norm in its class rather than a stand out feature.The suspension towers intrude in to it, limiting its usability. The high sill doesn’t help loading either.

What you will greatly appreciate is the number of features on offer in this car. The Grande Punto’s top-end Emotion variant comes with ABS and twin airbags, a voice-activated Bluetooth pairing for your phone, climate control, alloys and an IPod dock among other features.


I hope you would have enjoyed the post. Please let me know your responses. See you very soon with the next review.