Fiat Grande Punto 2012 Sport 90HP - Design Review
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Design Review of Fiat Grande Punto 2012 Sport 90HP
Last Updated at 11:19 am, May 20, 2013
Rating :The Sport variant is largely similar to the Punto we all know, with some additional tid-bits.
If you ask true blue Indian petrol heads what is the first car that comes to their mind when they hear the words 'hot hatch', the most probable answers would point to the Fiat Palio 1.6 GTX. It was an icon really. It introduced the 'hot hatch' concept to a country for which a small car was nothing but a compromise and the first step to owning a four-wheeled vehicle. The enthusiasts loved the GTX, while others hated it for its fuel-guzzling habit.
Times changed and so did the fuel preferences and a new hot hatch emerged on the scene - the Swift VDi. It offered a peppy engine that was also frugal and that recipe worked! So Fiat probably thought to itself - why not do they same - after-all, it is their engine that made the Swift VDi so popular. What’s more, Fiat have yet another car that can take up the responsibility of being a hot hatch…
What we have here is the Punto Sport. It is based on the same Punto 90hp that was launched a few years back. But the Sport variant differentiates itself with body graphics, a chrome plated tail pipe and contrasting mirrors. The front end is the same one that you get on the regular Punto and the reassuring Multijet badge on the grille should, in a way, makes life easy for you.
Since the Sport is based on the 2012 model of the Punto that was launched before the Auto Expo, you also get the higher ground clearance that Fiat is touting with the new range. The Punto Sport also comes with fatter rubber (same as the one of the Punto 1.4 petrol and the Punto 90 HP) that adds further substance to the car's sporty styling. Thankfully, it doesn't look awkwardly raised or bloated like most other 'Do-it-yourself' hot hatches that you see on Indian roads. The body graphics run through the length of the car and look decent as compared to the loud and racy decals that Fiat India sells as an optional accessory for the rest of the Punto range.
Move over to the back and the raised stance of the 2012 model is visible again - more so if you don't get a set of mud-flaps. The graphic vinyl on the boot-lid does look like an afterthought and the one on our test car was already peeling off. Believe it or not, but the vinyls on the good ol’ Palio S10 were a lot more durable!
The decals apart, the Punto Sport also gets the '90hp' monogram and a chrome exhaust tip that add up to the rest of the cosmetics and make the car appear sportier than the regular Punto. But that said, the Punto Sport looks relatively docile and the inclusion (or at least the option) of a subtle body kit like the one on the Palio S10 or the Volkswagen Polo 1.6 could have made a large difference.
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First Published on 02:13 am, September 16, 2012
