I find this strangely appealing...anyone else?

Had a go at the online "Build your car" utility.

Chose a 1.9 diesel Sporting...in red...leather interior (black), parking sensors and side rubbing strips...oh and locking petrol cap (???)...OTR price £12.6k......17'' comes as standard.

Not 100% sure of the interior design but the leather does lift it.

Seems very similar to the Fabia RS in terms of performance...except in comes in a 3 door.

I find this strangely appealing...anyone else?

Had a go at the online "Build your car" utility.

Choose a 1.9 diesel Sporting...in red...leather interior (black), parking sensors and side rubbing strips...oh and locking petrol cap (???)...OTR price

I find this strangely appealing...anyone else?

Had a go at the online "Build your car" utility.

Chose a 1.9 diesel Sporting...in red...leather interior (black), parking sensors and side rubbing strips...oh and locking petrol cap (???)...OTR price

...except in comes in a 3 door.

Oh b*gger, that's that out then - can't stand 3 door cars, all that clambering in and out. Why oh why have they done that

Launch weekend it is, this one coming (11/12th)

http://www.fiat.co.uk/grandepunto/ build car is on the bottom row of the webpage (but is hidden on my laptop unless you scroll the page down...)

I'm not too keen on the look of it myself.

might look nicer in the metal though

Oh b*gger' date=' that's that out then - can't stand 3 door cars, all that clambering in and out. Why oh why have they done that

[/quote']

Well I dont know about you, but I usually use the front seats to drive anyway :P

3 door cars look better though, simple as. I wish they'd done the option for a 3dr vRS, could have looked truly gorgeous IMO.

There is a 5 door but not in Sporting guise.

If I were looking to buy I'd be more interested in a 5 door due to family although, the 3 door does look nicer.

What is Fiat reliabilty like now? I mentioned on scoobynet I thought the Fiat Barchetta was nice and got blasted about how bad Fiats were still!

What is Fiat reliabilty like now? I mentioned on scoobynet I thought the Fiat Barchetta was nice and got blasted about how bad Fiats were still!

My understanding is that they stole VAG's quality control guys and the new Panda that SWMBO's parents have is as good as any other small car I've been in. They've had it a year and a half now with no problems - it tends to get driven in preference to the Passat/Golf they also have :eek:

Chris

What is Fiat reliabilty like now? I mentioned on scoobynet I thought the Fiat Barchetta was nice and got blasted about how bad Fiats were still!

You know what FIAT stands for - Fix It Again Tomorrow

Having siad that my wifes Bravo 1.6 has been one of the most reliable cars we have ever had other than Hondas.

Only non routine maintenance fault in 5 years and 50000 miles has been the clutch hydraulics.

She wants to keep it but I keep warning her that a cam belt change and other expensive jobs are looming even if nothing actually breaks.

Heard less favourable reports of the Stilo though. Perhaps we can hold on until there are some one year old Grande Punto 1.3 16v multipoint diesels in the car supermarkets. Bet a lot of fleet operators will go for them.

What is Fiat reliabilty like now?

"Inconsistent" seems to be the order of the day...I know people who've had absolutely no problems with several Fiats. Others seem to have absolute dogs.

Mind you, seems that way with most manufacturers these days.

Rob.

I'm still "racist" against Fiats sad to say, whoever they poach for their technical team. Saying that the same could have been said about Skoda a few years ago, and things change. There are plenty of other brands I would choose over fiat still, even if unjustified.

Had a test drive this morning of the Sporting 1.9 Multijet (it's for the Bird). Very nice car. Gorgeous design, externally. Sits nicely lower on the 17s. Sideskirts, spoiler etc. They haven't gone overboard with the bodykit, though. Just tasteful (it was the flat orange one we tried. I like the colour, but the missus doesn't and it's sure to date badly).

Build quality is very good. There were a few bits here and there with the trim and roof fabrics, but one of the salesmen was using it as a runaround and he has kids... Most of the press have been saying "brittle plastics-this" and "cheap-feeling-that", but I didn't see any of it. Sometimes, I feel that journalists just say something because they're expected to, like that Fiat's are cheap. Sure, there's some evidence of cost-cutting (like the absence of external access to the boot release and non-locking fuel cap as standard), but overall, it's a very well put together car. It's not VW quality, but it's not far off Skoda.

The dash might not be to everyone's taste, but I liked it. It's got a blue plastic "scratched" strip that runs the width of the dash and lifts the look of the dash nicely. The ergonomics are alright, too. The steering wheel seems to sit a little too proud of the dash even though it can adjust for reach and rake, but in use, it's in the right position. It's got some weird mouldings on it, though, that encourages you to hold the wheel in an odd position, but it's nice and chunky. Steering seems to be speed sensitive and feels OK. It's still got the "City" button mode, too, which lightens the steering up further. Feedback is better than you'd expect from electronic PAS.

The driving experience could only be described as "light". The clutch has a very soft action, but a long travel, so it doesn't promote quick gearchanges, although the 6-speed gearshift itself is very precise, if slightly notchy, it doesn't detract too much. Brakes (discs all round) are strongly servo'd and bite very hard. Generally, it's a very easy car to drive. The handbrake's covered in a very soft perforated leather and feels lovely!

The standard seats look nice, but are mainly fabric, with alcantara-like-topped side bolsters. They're comfy and will be alright on long journeys, but aren't as comfy as the Fabia vRS's. The driver's seat adjusts for height and has lumbar adjustment. The rear seats are nice, too. The room in the back is alright, but nothing to write home about. Visibility is excellent from anywhere in the car (except the boot, which is probably only slightly smaller than a Fabia's).

It's got good standard kit, especially the Bluetooth connectivity, which comes as standard! This enables you to wirelessly use the car's stereo as a handsfree kit!!! It worked brilliantly!!

Now - onto the downside. The engine. On paper, it seems like it's a good match for the Fabia vRS. It isn't. I don't know if it's because the engine hadn't been run in properly, but it has no turbo-kick to speak of. That's not to say it's a bad engine. It's extremely refined and quiet, but it drives a little too much like a non-turbo petrol. It accelerates well in 5th and 6th still, but the lower gears don't seem to have the grunt of the Fabia.

In summary, it's a nice car, and you'd probably give it serious consideration if you hadn't driven a Fabia vRS. If it's not out-and-out muscle you want, then it's ideal.

However, speaking to the salesguy afterwards (and voicing our opinions), he informed us that Fiat will be releasing a further a further 4 performance-oriented cars. Firstly, they're releasing a 1.4 16v car, which might well be badged Sporting as well. Then, there's the 1.4 16v turbo (H)GT. Thirdly, there'll be the 1.6 16v turbo Abarth (a la Corsa VXR)...

Then, there was the last one he mentioned which sounded almost too good to be true. This was going to be a 1.8 turbocharged 4-wheel drive 230bhp monster designed for JWRC homologation....

nice reveiw, thankyou! I was interested to see what this car was like, don't think I'd go for it over the vRS (I'll be changing mine april 2007, when the new fabia comes out!) but it will be interesting to see the higher performance versions, I know they always said they were gonna make one with more than 200bhp, should be a cracker!

I think the Abarth model will end up having 180 - 200 bhp - it'll be the only one i'll be interested in.

Funny enough I heard the Corsa VXR is only going to be 160 bhp. Looks like the Clio is going to remain the king of the superminis for a while yet I feel...

Thanks for the review mumphie, very helpful.

I was all set to buy a Fabia, but I am holding off until I have test driven the Punto, Only problem is no one at my chosen dealer has decided my business is worth pursuing as they have not phoned me back to sort out my test drive. Things will have to improve for them to have any hope of getting my money!

As for reliability I had a fiat seicento sporting abarth from new, and covered 45,000 trouble free miles in 4 years. I had to replace the exhaust (

Took a 1.9JTD Sporting out @ the weekend!....not a patch on the Fabia VRS! IMO...looks nice from the front but gets worse as you move towards the back....not bad inside...nice driving position, main instrument cluster looked ok but the centre console looked like it had been lifted out of a Fiat from circa.1995!...quality & fit/finish of the plastics etc id say were ok but not upto Skoda standards (If they were aiming to match Peugeot interior quality i think they've succeeded but thats not exactly up there with the best! )

Out on the road one word i would use to describe it is 'Underwhelming'!...the demo had 700 odd miles on it and after being out in it for about 10mins couldnt wait to get back to the dealer!...didnt think much of the engine/gearbox..considering its 130bhp it felt like somebody hadnt plumbed in the turbo!(i know it only had 700miles under its belt) but even so it was flat and the gearbox was notchy and had a long throw...ride/suspension wise id put it between the VRS and a Ibiza FR...harder ride than the fabia but not as bad as the Ibiza!...1 thing really annoyed me which were massive blindspots caused by the A-pillars!

As I think has been mentioned previously if you havent driven the VRS before then you would probably be talking figures with your local Fiat dealer but if you had driven a VRS then I dont think the Skoda salespeople have anything to worry about.

one last thing having owned a Barchetta for 6months Fiat dealers idea of customer service leaves alot to be desired!

Seems like they've missed the boat again. The last sporting felt very slow as well. The best sportings were the mk1's.

dont worry the new abarth is 200hp turbo and 4wd to slay both the fabia and clio in one swoop.

The Punto was a nice car. I can certainly vouch for the mk2 for safety and the new one's got 5 stars, so will be considerably better.

For the 18 months I had my mk2 Sporting, other than one initial bedding in problem, I had 18500 miles of trouble-free motoring. The sales and servicing side in Teesside's good, too, as long as you avoid Reg Vardy and go for Wentane's/Cleveland Body & Paint.

As stated earlier, it's a nice car (though not perfect) and we may have ordered one if the engine wasn't so "normally aspirated"....! I'm sure many people will buy it because of it's looks but to be fair, it's quite a mature-feeling car since it's 3rd generation. The Abarth model will be one to look out for, though.

just to clarify.

The petrol line up is as follows.

Sporting petrol to be 140Bhp 1.4 N/A engine

Gt or HGT undecided yet to be 1.6 Turbo shared with VXr corsa and 180 Bhp

Abarth to be 4wd chasis based on alfa 159 drivetrain, 230bhp 1.8 turbo .

Although sporting petrol may be dropped and just kept as a JTD only.

mate works for Fiat