FEED THE GREED FOR SPEED- ABARTH PUNTO

Ladies and Gentlemen, meet Clark Kent in his fancy blue suit, meet the epitome of alter ego, meet the new India-spec Fiat Abarth Punto. While this car can be regarded as a ‘souped-up’ version of the Fiat Punto Evo, its manufacturer, quite apparently, doesn’t want you to believe it’s a Fiat – You’ll be quick to realize that the Fiat badge is conspicuous by its absence on this car.

 This is simply because of the fact that Abarth boasts of a fine racing heritage and while it has been under the ownership of Fiat Auto since 1971, and its cars almost always have been heavily modified Fiats, Fiat has always deemed it appropriate to let these performance versions have their own distinct identity. Read our Fiat Abarth Punto review here to find out how this performance-tuned motTurn on the ignition and the engine 
roars purrs to life. We expected the car to have a relatively loud exhaust, with decibel level almost flirting with the prescribed limits. However, the engine idles with a rather muted growl and feels pretty refined. Once on the move, the Abarth Punto feels pretty relaxed and unhurried in the way it gains speed. However, sail past the 2000 rpm mark and the Abarth Punto dons the superhero suit and the red cape. The turbo, which has by now hit its optimum threshold, ensures that the Abarth Punto charges forward fiercely. True to the claimed figures, the Abarth Punto can sprint to 100 km/h from a standstill in roughly 9 seconds and we even managed to achieve a speedo-indicated 190 km/h. However, what’s really worth a mention here is the effortless manner in which this car achieves speeds of around 140 km/h.

Put the pedal to the metal, however, and the blend of low-down torque and a power figure that starts dipping soon after 5500 rpm leads to a not-so-thrilling top-end performance. In this respect, the Abarth Punto is much like its Diesel-sipping cousin – there’s a lot of punch, but an unexciting high-end performance. That said, play in the meat of the powerband and you’ll be amazed to see how effortlessly this car can surge past most of the traffic. Also, while we don’t see buyers of this car aiming for a stellar fuel efficiency, the Abarth Punto, with an average fuel mileage of 9-10 km/l, ensures that the missus doesn’t put a restriction to the joyrides.Around a Corner?

Fiat India managed to strike a good balance between the original Punto’s ride and handling characteristics. The post-facelift model, however, fails to feel anywhere as poised. Thankfully, however, the Abarth Punto, even on being based on the Punto Evo, is just the right companion on your apex hunting trips. Throw this car into a tight corner and the high grip levels instill enough confidence in you to push even harder. The Abarth Punto’s steering offers enough feedback and is pretty direct too. There’s some body roll when cornering really hard, but it never gets really unnerving. And unlike what we anticipated, the Abarth’ed Punto impressed us with its decent ride quality. This car can just glide over most of the small-sized craters and speed-humps and even the slightly larger undulations don’t really pose a threat to this car’s composure. The Abarth Punto gets an all-disc brake setup. The car exhibits an impressive braking performance and the brakes are sufficiently potent to safely haul down this car from really high speeds. or has left the insatiable performance junkies in us buzzing with excitement.

Designed by the world's leading Italian designers, the Fiat Punto Abarth was the most underrated car in India. The car was the 'mad' version of the Fiat Punto, a family hatchback. But, with sales hitting rock bottom, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles group decided to withdraw the Fiat brand from the indian market in November 2018. However, there were still few Fiat lovers left in the country who were interested in the car and they decided to look around for it.

Six hardcore Fiat fans friends looked around and eventually found a dealer showroom which had unsold Fiat Abarth's. The friends booked Abarth Punto on 18th Jan 2019 and the deliveries were made on 8th Feb 2019. All the six cars, manufactured in 2018, were sold at a discount of Rs 2 lakh. The ex-showroom price of Fiat Punto Abarth is Rs 9.5 lakh. Not a bad deal at all!

Under the hood, Fiat Punto Abarth was powered by the1368 cc petrol engine. The 145 bhp generated would set anybody's heart racing and if that doesn't impress you then the 212 Nm of torque in the range of 2000-4000 rpm via a 5 speed manual transmission to the front wheels certainly will.

On the outside, Fiat Punto Abarth gets several aesthetic changes when compared to the original Fiat Punto. Abarath was designed to be a show stopper and has a scorpion emblem to ward off anyone off the roads. The sporty exterior of the car is further enhanced by the body graphics, sporty side skirting and the colour coordinated mirror caps.

Lenght x Width x Height	3989x1687x1505 mm
Wheel Type and Size	16 inch alloy
Engine Type/ Displacement	1.4 litre turbocharged petrol
Power	145 bhp
Torque	212 Nm
Top Speed	195 km/h
Acceleration (0-100 km/h)	8.8 sec
Transmission (Gearbox)	5-speed manual

Interiors of the Fiat Punto Abarth also scream "sporty".  The scorpion-adorned instrument cluster of the Abarth Punto gives out information that the driver needs while pushing the limits of the car. Aluminum sports pedals and sport seats just enhance the overall look and feel of the car.

Should you buy the Abarth?

The car was launched as a hot hatch with an explosive performance. The outstanding strength and power, and perfect braking stability made it something that was worth considering. However, the launch price and the 155mm ground clearance together with the complete lack of after sales support made it a tough buy. But, if you can get it at Rs 7.5 lakh (ex-showroom) like the six friends, then this could surely be a head-turner on the roads.