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Hands up, all those who think that the Punto is the best-looking hatchback on sale in the country. Ah, excellent — I see a unanimous show of support. All those who feel that the Punto has the best ride quality of any hatchback on sale, put up your hands. Very good — I see another near-walkover; it’s looking good for the people at Fiat. Finally, everyone who thinks the Punto has engines that do justice to the car, kindly put up your hands. (Dead silence). I said, kindly put up your hands. (Crickets chirping.) Er, I take it that the powertrain options aren’t to everyone’s liking. Right — we’ll move on to the next topic, shall we?
Naturally, the above account is fictitious and mildly exaggerated, but it can be stated with certainty that the Punto is what I like to call a ‘might have been’ car. More than any other model, this is the car that should have catapulted Fiat back into the fray in India. On the surface, it has it all — great looks, outstanding ride and handling, much-improved interiors, fit and finish, and competitive pricing. It hasn’t quite worked out that way, though — Fiat sells decent enough numbers of the Punto, but nowhere near what they would like to, I’m sure. I daresay one reason for this is the fact that they offered the car to the public with a range of somewhat underwhelming engines, especially the petrol variants. The 75 bhp diesel engine, with a fixed geometry turbocharger, is the best of the lot, but even that one doesn’t really excite the senses. So, in a move evidently aimed at satisfying the requirements of those who want more oomph for their buck, Fiat has taken the Linea’s 90 bhp, variable geometry turbo engine and slotted it in the Punto’s engine bay. This didn’t require rocket science, since the basic engines, platforms and transmissions are exactly the same. The Punto, though, is about 100 kg lighter, so let’s go out and see how the car now performs.
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