Fiat PUNTO 1.3 MULTIJET
In Its Latest Form, Fiats Punto Makes Most Sense In 1.3-litre Multijet Diesel Form. Jonathan Crouch Checks It Out
Europe's best selling car is also one of Europe's best loved. All around the Continent, you'll find
Fiat Puntos happily transporting families about their business. Since its original launch in 1993, over 5 million of the things have been built.
Almost singlehandedly, this car made its makers a major European manufacturing force or at least it did in the Nineties. These days, times are much harder in Turin, which is why, after just a few years on the market, the second generation model has received a major wasn n brush-up. Theres a substantial facelift, but all thats really there to do is to draw attention to all the activity thats been going on under the bonnet. And theres been plenty, Fiat introducing no fewer than three all-new powerplants.
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These include a petrol 1.4, plus two diesel Multijet units in 1.3 and 1.9-litre guises.
The 70bhp 1.3-litre Multijet diesel is the variant were looking at here and is arguably the pick of the range, offering reasonable performance with 60mpg regular fuel consumption. Neither of these things were attribuites of the old 60bhp 1.9-litre Punto diesel, a car so mediocre that it found few British buyers.
This Multijet model deserves to do much better. The engine is certainly a thoroughly modern one. Compact and lightweight, it boasts twin cams, 16-valves, second generation common rail injection and enough technical nous to meet Euro4 emission requirements. The usual diesel approach in engines like this one is to shoot a couple of shots a fuel into the cylinder, a pilot squirt preceding the main one.
Multijet technology divides that main injection into a series of smaller shots, the idea being to reduce emissions and noise and at the same time increase performance.
"It remains the only Supermini large enough to provide a realistic reason not to buy a larger family hatchback..."
Fire the thing up and it sounds a bit feeble but on the move, 132 lbft of torque means that it never feels out of its depth, either in town or out on the motorway. Sixty from rest is 13.4s away, en route to an academic top speed of 101mph. As usual with decent diesels, those figures disguise the fact that where this car really excells is in mid-range pulling power.
Overtaking, then, is surprisingly easy. As easy in fact as this car should be on the pocket. Expect to average around 62mpg on a regular basis. The Puntos ride and handling has come in for a little attention in this latest guise, Fiats chassis engineers keen to improve the high-speed ride of the car without compromising its essential perkiness.
Tweaks to the dampers and the torsion beam rear suspension can be felt over motorway expansion joints, the latest car swallowing up such intrusions with far more panache than its predecessor. The interior also benefits from the drive to endow the Punto with a more upmarket look and feel. Two tone dashboards give the car an airier feel than its predecessor and dual-zone climate control is now available. A fascinating piece of electronics is the Connect OBN system, an optional off-board navigation system.
Rather than rely on the more usual CD-ROM of information that invariably fails to mention a newly-built motorway or terminates as you cross a national border, Connect OBN instead uses information stored centrally. Users pay a nominal fee every time they download a route and it keeps costs down. When it first hit the UK market in 2000, the Punto was top of the class for interior roominess and not much has changed here. It remains the only Supermini large enough to provide a realistic reason not to buy a larger family hatchback.
Go for the three door version and you get 264 litres of luggage room, while the five door weighs in with 297 litres more than cars like Toypotas Corolla from the next class up. Equipment levels, as usual with
Fiat, are quite generous, on the entry-level Active model running to electric front windows, operable with key removed, central locking, electric child deadlocks, driver and passenger airbags, a height adjustable steering wheel, a height and lumbar adjustable driver's
seat, 'Follow Me Home' headlamps, dualdrive electric power steering, a stereo radio / cassette player, body coloured bumpers and a folding rear seat. Go for the plush Dynamic model and you also get special seats with adjustable head restraints, electric, heated and body coloured door mirrors, ABS, air-conditioning, split / folding rear seats (with third headrest and inertia reel seatbelt on 5-door versions) and a stereo radio with single CD player. Like all Puntos, this version is equipped with speed-sensitive power steering. It comes with two operating modes and uses an electric motor, rather than a hydraulic pump driven by the engine, which results in a useful fuel consumption reduction.
The system offers a choice of two settings: the first ensures maximum feedback and driver involvement, the second lightens the steering to minimise effort, and is therefore ideal for low speed urban driving and manoeuvring. Pressing the 'City' button on the fascia activates the latter mode. But, to ensure maximum safety under all driving conditions, both settings offer identical power assistance over 44 mph, thus ensuring a steering wheel response suited to high speed driving. Prices start at £8,795 for the entry-level three door Active, rising to £10,495 for the five-door Dynamic version. That undercuts obviousrivals like Fords Fiesta TDCi by several hundred pounds, a saving well worth making when even your mother could dicern that the Fiats engine was by far the more responsive unit.
It all adds up to a welcome shot in the arm for Fiats important little Supermini. Despite its age, this new engine enables it to comfortably see off rivals like Fords Fiesta TDCi and Citroens 67bhp C3 HDi, despite boasting more equipment and lower prices. It seems that going for an Italian still makes plenty of sense.
FACTS AT A GLANCE
CAR: Fiat Punto 1.3 Multijet range
PRICES: £8,795-£10,495 - on the road
INSURANCE GROUP: 4
CO2 EMISSIONS: 119g/km
PERFORMANCE: 0-60mph 13.4s / Max Speed 102mph
FUEL CONSUMPTION: (urban) 50.4mpg / (extra urban) 72.4mph / (combined) 62.8mpg
STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Twin front airbags / seatbelt pre-tensioners
WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: Length/Width/Height [5dr] 3865/1960/1480mm
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