We drive the India-specific FIAT
Punto Evo
The Punto Evo is the standard name used by
FIAT for the facelift version of the car internationally. However, the Indian
edition of the car looks different from the international version since FIAT
India have developed it in-house after considering the tastes of and feedback
from domestic buyers.
The 'Evo' suffix stands for evolution since
the car is based on the previous Punto. So the platform and proportions are the
same while the styling has been revised considerably. To start with, the
'reindeer' headlamps of the Pun to Evo extend on the sides of the bonnet to
resemble antlers. The bonnet looks muscular with the two longitudinal lines at
the centre and the radiator intake has a new black coloured honeycomb grille.
Chrome has been used generously on the radiator intake border, front and rear
fog-lamp surrounds and door-handles. Turn indicators are integrated into the
mirrors and the car has 16-inch diamond cut alloy wheels. At the back, the
tail-lamp cluster has been re-designed, the badge on the tail-gate has a different
font and the 'Punto' logo is all new. Of course, there are slight variations in
the features and equipment in the car according to the variant. For instance,
the ground clearance of the base petrol variant has been increased from 185
millimetres to 195 mm and there are three wheel sizes across the range.
The
Fiat Punto Evo has even more appeal than its predecessor, the engines and
strong mechanicals of the car remain unchanged
We drove the MultiJet 90 Sport trim of the
diesel variant that has a black interior and upholstery (other trims have a
dual-tone cabin). It has fabric seats with a white stitching pattern while the
gear-stick knob and steering wheel arc wrapped in leather, again with white
stitching. The dashboard has a new layout and texture with a strip of ambient
lighting on the passenger side. The gauges on the meter console are restyled
and the music system has a glassy finish in piano black, which looks brilliant
but gathers dust quickly. Connectivity options include USB and AUX ports near the
hand-brake and the voice-activated 'Blue & Me' system. To make the car more
comfortable, FIAT have added rear a-c vents and optimised the foam density and
contours of the seats. There is focus on small things such as the lit
glove-box, bottle holders in both rows, 70:30 foldable split seats and
reduction in the rubber overlap on the windscreen.
The
Punto Evo borrows its dashboard from the Linea, it’s a very appealing unit
However, there are hardly any changes under
the hood. The petrol variants include the 1.2-litre 68-PS engine offered in
Active and Dynamic trims while the 1-4-litre 90-PS mill comes in the Emotion
trim. As for the diesel variant, the 1.3-litre MultiJet engine produces 76 PS
in the Active, Dynamic and Emotion trims while in the top of the line 90 Sport
trim, it churns out 93 PS at the same engine speed. The 90 Sport is a heavy
car, though, and its torque output of 209 Nm is achieved at 2,000 RPM. Thus it
has a sluggish bottom end and requires frequent gear changes in traffic.
Speaking of which, all the variants of the Punto Evo are mated to the same
five-speed manual gearbox. And there is no improvement in the rubbery feel and
lack of precision in the gearshifts. According to FIAT, the final drive ratio
has been altered and there is a five per cent improvement in the fuel
efficiency of the 1.3 Multi Jet engine, but we can verify the changes in
performance only after testing the car.
The
Punto Evo uses the same engines as the Grande Punto, no change in output
As for the driving experience, the Punto
Evo is a spacious and comfortable car that offers good all-round visibility,
has the right suspension set-up for Indian roads and handles quite well. Coming
to the price of the car, there is no information as of now, but the wait won't
be long since the Punto Evo is scheduled for a launch sometime this month.
