We reviewed the Fiat Abarth 595 Competizione some time back.
We reviewed the Fiat Abarth 595 Competizione some time back. The Abarth 595C is a full CBU import, priced in the Rs. 30 lakh range. It is no doubt a lovely car with rich heritage and neat, race-circuit engineering, but the fact remains that not everyone can afford it. So for the lesser mortals and car enthusiasts, Fiat has also spruced up the Punto Evo with the Abarth genes injected into it, making it currently the most powerful hatchback car that you can buy in India. Sit back and fasten your seat belts as we take you for a drive in India’s fastest and real hot hatch, the super quick 2016 Fiat Abarth Punto, as we put it through the paces to discover the Scorpion badge at a much affordable pricing.
Food For Thought – Fiat had announced the Abarth Punto at the 2014 Auto Expo and it’s been 2 years for the Scorpion-badged Fiat to finally make it to the Indian roads. It was way back in 2007 that Abarth got the Punto into its family globally.
Fiat Abarth Punto Exteriors:
The Abarth Punto has the same dimensions as that of the standard Punto Evo hatchback. Overall length stands at 3,989mm, a width of 1,687mm, a height 1,505mm and a wheelbase of 2,510mm. The Abarth Punto gets a lowered ground clearance of 155mm as compared to the Punto Evo.
The Abarth Punto shares the same exterior design as it has the same body shell as the Punto Evo. Now to make the car look and feel special, the Fiat engineers have tweaked up the body styling to an large extent on this Abarth version. The familiar and very stylish Punto face with the wide, low-slung grille gets fire-red body styling inserts on the front bumpers, around the fog lamp housing, with thick band surrounds highlighting the face of the Abarth Punto. You have the famous Scorpion Abarth badge in bright yellow and red neatly placed on the center of the front bumper just below the bonnet opening line. The stretched barrel headlights look classy and extend themselves a lot backwards above the fenders. The bonnet gets special Abarth racing stripes in the form of bright red body graphics on the black color car placed exactly in the middle.
With the sides Fiat has made sure that no one mistakes this to be the regular Punto EVO. The sides get the wing mirror in a special bright red housing to go with the red racing lines. The lower section on the sides also gets a special ‘ABARTH’ graphic sticker that boldly states that this isn’t any plain-Jane Punto that you see. You also get stylish side skirts to complement the overall styling.
How can you forget drooling over the special and super sporty-looking Abarth alloys? These are special 16-inch Scorpion design 5 spoke alloys in black silver finish mounted on 195/55 R16 Apollo Alnac 4G tyres. The ground clearance on the Abarth Punto now stands lowered at 155mm as compared to 185mm on the regular Punto Evo. This change in the ground clearance has been done to improve on the drive dynamics of this mean machine. The door handles continue to be the lift-type ones with chrome garnish on them. The pillars get matte black masking blackouts on them. Not to forget the mean Scorpion (Abarth logo) in XXL size sitting on the roof. This unique styling makes the Abarth Punto stand out from the other hot hatches available in the segment.
At the rear the racing lines that set off from the bonnet reach the boot lid and end here along with the large Scorpion Abarth logo to compliment the rear profile. The rear bumper gets the fiery red housing surrounds around the rear stop lamps placed here. The exhaust gets an oval chrome tip to ornament it. Rear spoiler comes standard and the gorgeous LED tail lamps from the Punto Evo are seen on the Abarth Punto as well.
The Abarth Punto may share the body shell same as the Punto Evo but it has got a very unique and distinctive styling that differentiates it easily. Puntos have always been handsome cars and have a unique timeless appeal to them. This one too, looks a mean Punto from the outside.
Fiat Abarth Punto Interiors:
The Punto was updated to the Evo just last year with a fresh-looking cabin. So the Abarth Punto also benefits from that. A very typical European cabin welcomes you in here. You have an all black theme in the cabin here with a lot of special Abarth specific styling added. The special Abarth branding scuff plates are the welcome elements just as you are entering the Abarth Punto. Then there is the Abarth logo on the special aluminium pedals with rubber inserts for grip on them while driving.
The dashboard remains the same as the one on the Punto EVO, but this one gets a revised instrument cluster with red and yellow elements to go with the red yellow Abarth logo theme. The cluster also gets the special ‘ABARTH’ lettering bang in the middle of the instrumentation. The seats and the gear knob get special, dual-colored bordering stitch lined in the yellow-red Abarth theme. Seats get black fabric upholstery with the driver’s seat getting manual height adjusts and the rear seats coming with adjustable headrests. There is a single zone climate control with AC vent also placed for the rear passengers between the front two seats.
The steering gets manual height adjust. This is the same steering that is also seen on the Punto Evo, except for the Abarth logo placed on it. Multifunction controls are also a part of this chunky steering. The small screen audio system has been carried over from the regular hatch, which is a slight disappointment. Fiat is offering a 6.5-inch touchscreen unit with a navigation system on the lower trims of the Punto Evo in the form of Sportivo edition, which they could have easily made available on this which is their flagship model. The audio system on the Abarth is now upgraded and now gets music streaming feature along with Bluetooth which was earlier missing on the Punto EVO. The steering mounted controls can be used for controlling calls and music along with the voice command system.
The Punto has one of the most comfortable and generous seats in the segment and the Abarth Punto also benefits from that. The front seating is excellent in terms of space, rear seating is average though the seat cushioning and shape is very good. Leg room is a tad less for tall passengers. You get a generous boot space of 280 liters and the spare wheel is a 15-inch space-saver placed in here. Overall, the cabin is a mixed bag in terms of quality and fit finish. Some plastic parts are excellent, while some are just average; for example the glove box lid. The overall feel is neat and you instantly know that the car you are in is an Abarth due to its peculiar and different styling.
Fiat Abarth Punto Engine, Performance and Dynamics:
Now we come to the heart of the matter, the engine of this sporty machine. The Abarth Punto comes powered by the 1.4-liter 16-valve Turbo Petrol that makes 145-horses and hits out 212Nm of peak torque. This is the same engine that also powers the Linea T-Jet. The Punto being a much lighter and smaller car than the Linea t-Jet, the power to weight ratio benefit bends heavily in the favor of the Abarth Punto.
Start the engine and you notice the high refinement levels of this engine at idle. Rev the throttle and you hear a soft roar that this turbo engine has to make. If you want more meaty and a loud exhaust note, then you would need an after-market exhaust to be fitted here. There is a small amount of turbo lag just below the 1,900RPM mark but that’s very negligible and often goes unnoticed. Push the throttle further and this gem of an engine shows you what it really is capable of. There is abundance of power and torque at all engine speeds. The strong power zone is the mid-range; this is where you realize the real fun to drive this pocket-sized rocket. This is an amazingly powerful turbo engine that is high on performance with peak power of 145BHP that’s so very evident at all speeds. You can do a dash to 100Km/hr in 8.8 seconds. The acceleration is very quick and the Abarth Punto hits its top speed of 190Km/hr with real ease.
The gearbox is the same 5-speed manual gearbox as other Fiats. A 6-speed manual gearbox with better shifts would have worked wonders in combination with this gem of an engine, but nevertheless you get the hang of this transmission soon and the fun of driving this machine grows on you. This engine and gearbox combination can help you cruise at three-digit speeds all day, that too on the 5th gear with the engine running at a low RPM of 2,500. The in-cabin NVH levels are very good and the drive quality is also very sporty.
The suspension set-up is tuned on the harder side to enhance the race drive feel. Handling is very sharp and high speed stability is top class. With the lowered ground clearance you get extra sharp handling and the car feels ever so confident while handling the sharpest of corners at good speed. The body roll is also very much within limits. The steering feedback too is on the heavier side as this is the hydraulic power unit and this adds to the race driving dynamics of the car and also boosts the confidence of the driver at all times.
So much power on tap needs a powerful and reassuring braking; the Abarth Punto gets all wheel disc brakes with ABS and EBD as standard on it. The all wheel disc brakes combined with the meaty Apollo tyres work flawlessly in bringing this fast car to a halt and that too very efficiently. Other safety feaatures offered on the Abarth Punto are front dual airbags, seat belts with pretensioners and load limiters. Fiat claims a fuel efficiency of 16.3Km/L while the MFD on our car showed a fuel efficiency of close to 12.5Km/L.
Fiat Abarth Punto Verdict:
We had a wonderful time with the Abarth Punto. The car drives very sharply and has a sweet, powerful and highly-refined motor to do it. The Abarth Punto looks and feels very different than the regular Punto. It is one of the best petrol engines that an enthusiast can dream of in this segment. This makes the Abarth Punto one of the most affordable, powerful and fun to drive hot hatch that you can buy currently in India.
As of now, the only competition that the Abarth Punto has is the VW Polo GT TSi which comes with an automatic transmission as opposed to the Abarth’s manual transmission which is much more fun to drive. The Fiat Abarth Punto is priced at Rs. 9.95 lakhs Ex-showroom, Mumbai and is available with an option of a Black or White paint job.
Fiat Abarth Punto Photo Gallery:
Pics – Ritesh Madhok
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