A grande experience for fun driving (Fiat Grande Punto 1.9 Multijet 130 Sporting)

Member Name: taker4376

Product:	Fiat Grande Punto 1.9 Multijet 130 Sporting
Date:	14/02/09 (381 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Size, price, driving experience, economical, 5star safety

Disadvantages: Italian quality, some faults, reduced experience with more than 2 people

I will be reviewing the Fiat Grande Punto 1.2l Active. This is the only grande punto on dooyoo which is why I am writing it here.

Firstly I want to clarify that I do not know a whole lot about technical specs etc. So I am writing about my experience of the grande punto as the regular driver that doesnt know too much about what makes the inside of a car tick.

I got my Grande Punto in April 2006, only a few months after it was first released in 2005. I was upgrading from a citroen C2. I had placed an order with Hyundai for a Special Edition Getz which had fallen through, thankfully :D for it meant that my brother took me car shopping and as soon as I saw the grande punto I wanted it!!

The first thing that struck me was how beautiful it was for a small, cheap car. Its looks are reminiscent of an alfa romeo, it has sleek curves and the headlights pop out at you when you look at it. It was the biggest supermini car at the time, measuring over four metres, which is quite different from the C2, which my brother used to call a box.

Of course the show room lure you in by displaying one of the top models, with gorgeous leather steering wheels and gear knobs, beautiful trim and sporty dash board. We were sufficiently seduced to call my dad who was on holiday in the Med somewhere and plead to be able to spend a bit more so I could get the Punto. (It was about £1500 more than the getz) My brother than sat down with the dealer and told him we only had a certain amount to spend, which was short of the asking price and that if he sold us the car for the amount we had we would pay for it today. (A bit cheeky lol)

I could only afford the most basic model, but I didnt care at the time, it was beautiful. I got the 3 door, 1.2l Active. 5 speed manual, petrol engine, electonric locking, ABS, metallic paint in chemical grey and CD player. All for around £7000. I was a little disappointed that the basic model doesnt allow you to have blue seats, but the grey and black trim is fine.

The first thing my brother said is that the engine doesnt growl like the roadtest model did. I just gave him a dirty look, I was quite happy with the "growl" of my engine. It was a lovely smooth ride, and it holds the corners well. You can adjust the steering wheel and, raise and lower the drivers seat to ensure you are in the most comfortable driving position possible for you. I do find, though that the seat often lowers itself and you have to pump it back up.

I only usually drive with myself and one other passenger in the car. This is when it performs best. I also only ever half fill the petrol tank. A) because this is a good way to conserve fuel, as it has less weight to carry and B) because a full tank is sufficient weight to alter how well it drives. However with 4-5 passengers the car feels terribly sluggish and slow, accelleration is poor and corners are heavy. I am lucky not to have to have a full car too often as it would completely ruin the driving experience!

The front seats have seat belt warnings, which beap if there is enough weight on the seat for it to think there is a person there with no seat belt. This can get annoying if you have a heavy bag on the front seat, as it will demand you move it or put the seat belt on, but is otherwise a good safety feature. However the back seats have no such thing, which is probably where you would want this feature. As children are more likely to be in the back, removing their seatbelts.

I am quite an impatient driver and I am often able to speed off at lights faster than most of the cars around me, although if they were driven by equally impatient drivers, this may not be the case. It has sufficient pull to keep my happy as a young student, although it is a depressingly low 65bhp (not an impressive figure to tell your friends lol). As I get older I'll want something with a bit more clout. I am sure the sporting version has a much better acceleration rate though.

It has a 5 star N Cap rating, so its the safest it can be, although mine was recalled as they had forgotten to fit a grill that meant it didnt fit the spec to make it 5 star, I got several letters, each stating the same thing, even after I had had it fitted. Naturally i wasnt too pleased that I had to take it back to the dealer after a couple of months for this, but as I didnt have to pay for anything it wasnt too bad. It is also classed as a Green car. It is economical with fuel and I find, even with only half my engine full that I dont have to fill it very often. I think it would cost around £40 to fill up completely with petrol around 86-94p a litre.

It has an extensive dashboard, which seems to go on forever until it hits the windscreen. There is plenty of room in the back of the car, although I've never really sat in it. The seats fold down and up to allow for an impressive boot if you need to move a lot of stuff.

I got rid of the CD player after a year as I wanted to beable to connect my ipod to it. annoyingly though because the car was so new they were unable to get the part that would link the new CD player to the steering wheel controls. This is extremely annoying and I dont know if the situation has been remedied yet. The inbuilt CD player was by no means bad, it was great if you wanted to use CD's but I was tired of constantly having to make car CD's.

My one pet hate with the car is the cup holders. They are too small and not deep enough, aswell as being put in a completely inane place. The main two are situated below the centre console. For cans you have to ram them in. For bottles they are too large and jut out as they cant fit under the console. The bottle then gets in the way of 3rd and 5th gear and also wobbles about all over the place. The glove box is also of insufficient size. I have quite a lot in mine but its not large enough to fit the car manual in, so I have to shove this under the passenger seat.

I have had a couple of problems with the car. I've had to replace the windscreen wipers once in 2 and a half years. The boot refused to open for a while and currently the drivers door wont open from the inside. This is highly dangerous. Fiat say the door mechanism is broken and it needs a new one but for a fairly young car I think this is an unacceptable fault.

My Advice:-
I think this is a great car to drive, but dont get the 1.2 active. Go for the dynamic or better. You then get leather trim and funkier interior, sporty rev dial, Air conditioning, Alloy wheels and a CD player with an aux plug. Its worth the extra money. I also wish I had gone for either metallic black paint or red or orange. My metallic chemical grey is looking a bit lucklustre and boring now. I also dont think this is a great family car, although it does have a great safety rating.

I love my punto, but I want an upgrade. Its fun to drive, nippy and smooth but I want the added extras that make the experience just that little bit better!

Summary: A fun little car

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