Finally the, much awaited small car Fiat Grande Punto arrived on Wednesday. It joins the bandwagon of new cars launches happening this year. The car sports a quintessentially Italian design – refined and elegant which makes it highly visible in a crowd.
The Grande Punto hatchback enters the small car segment in the upper section dominated by Honda Jazz and Hyundai i20. It is positioned in the premium hatchback segment. The car has been priced between Rs 3.99 lakh and Rs 6.11 lakh. The stylish small car is available in three variants – Active, Dynamic, and Emotion. Fiat also offers a fully loaded package Emotion PK for those who want to pep up their cars. It comes with choice of three engines- the 67bhp, 1.2 litre, petrol, 89 bhp, 1.4 litre FIRE petrol and the 75 bhp, 1.3 litre turbo multijet diesel engines. All variants get a 5-speed manual transmission as standard feature. The 1.2 litre petrol engine available only on the basic variant, was never expected, but is now a pleasant surprise to car buyers in India. Grande Punto, just like the Fiat Linea, gets superb handling techniques to help driver control the vehicle effectively.
The car gets engines that fall into the excise concession bracket specified for small cars in India, which helps Indian car buyers get the car for a far lesser price, than their counterparts in Europe. The car embodies a refined Italian design which gives a sense of stability and performance. It was designed by the famous Italian automobile designer Giorgetto Giugiaro, created the car based on the designs of sports cars of 50’s and 60’s.
Grande Punto moves on 15 inch wheels with Goodyear tires, and the fully loaded Emotion PK gets 15 inch 12 spoke alloy wheels. On the exterior, it has well rounded bumpers give it a sense of solidity. The well designed headlights positioned over the slightly flared wheel arches appear refined. On the rear end, vertical light clusters on the either corners give clear signal on driver’s intentions. A wide tailgate on the rear can be manually operated.
The interiors appear plush and welcoming. A well designed dash, with a silver finish centre console, similar to Fiat Linea, greets an individual into the cabin. It houses the integrated Blaupunkt music system and climate controls knobs, among the neat layout. A thick rim steering wheel feels strong and firm for all drives. Pleasantly styled seat and door upholstery make passengers feel comfortable immediately. There is spacious seating for five adults.
When it comes to safety, it has among other equipments, the ABS with Electronic Brakeforce Distribution. A unique Blue%26Me handsfree communication system, is also offered on the car. It receives the well tuned Mcpherson struts suspension to handle the tough Indian road conditions. So far, it is speculated that Grande Punto delivers fuel economy of 9km/l on the petrol engines and 12 km/l on diesel engines.
Grande Punto was a bestseller in Europe and is credited to have helped Fiat survive recession blues. The car comes with a new philosophy of Fiat just like the Linea- sporting seductive looks and spacious, driver friendly interiors. It is perfect city driving car.
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do you like goodyear tires or firestone tires better?
We’ve always bought goodyear tires and are looking at a new vehicle with firestone tires. Anyone with an opinion of which is better?
Answer
I have been boycotting Firestone since I found out what they did to my dad in WWII. Back then you needed ration coupons to buy tires and the Firestone like other companies couldn’t get rubber so they were synthetic. The tires weren’t any good so you would have blow outs almost daily. Since I found out how much my dad didn’t like them I haven’t bought any. I only buy wildcats now anyhow.
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