10 important facts to know about Fiat Abarth Punto Evo

A good section of the Indian automotive community is now getting bolder and is seeking performance over practicality when it comes to buying a car. In a bid to target this growing section few leading carmakers are gearing up to bring in budget friendly performance oriented cars to the market, like the Volkswagen Polo GT. Now following the suit, Fiat is readying a more powerful and performance oriented version of the Punto hatchback, which will be launched under the Abarth brand, christened as Abarth Punto Evo.

Now seeing the pictures you might not find a lot of difference except for the cosmetic changes. But don’t jump to conclusions so soon. Here are 10 important facts that you should know about Fiat’s all new Abarth Punto Evo.

It is built by Abarth:

Abarth is not just another fancy name added in front of the Punto to make it sound sporty. In fact it is the fully owned subsidiary of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles that is majorly known for manufacturing racing cars and powerful road cars. Since its inception the company has been focused in producing performance oriented cars.

First Abarth Punto Evo was built in 2007:

Initially known as the Grande Punto, the car was taken in by Abarth to build a more powerful rendition. Powered by 1.4-litre turbo engine, the car was initially capable of producing 150 PS of power and with the addition of the company’s Essesse kit the car received an uprated power output of 182.5 PS. The facelifted Abarth Punto Evo was shown at 2010 Geneva Motor Show. It has a 165 PS 1.4 L MultiAir Turbo engine. The top speed is 213 km/h and acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h takes 7.9 seconds.

Abarth-Style Design:

Though the new improved Punto largely remains the same in terms of looks, the car does get the Abarth treatment. The smoked headlamps and the chrome bordered grille and foglamps have been retained but along with it you also get the Abarth style Scorpion shaped spoke alloy wheels, new racy paintjob, a bigger spoiler at the back and Abarth badging on boot lid and other parts of the car.

Abarth-Style Interiors:

Just like the exterior body even the inside of the car will display the Abarth styling. You will see Abarth treatment all over the cabin right from the Abarth logo on the steering wheel to the Abarth badging on the new seat covers, and matching stitching on the seat covers and leather wrappings on the gearbox.

Abarth-Style Equipments:

The new Abarth Punto is not just about style but efficiency too, and that is well seen from interior equipments like the sporty 3-spoke multi-functional steering wheel, racing-style bucket seats, usage of premium materials, well-equipped dashboard and sporty metal pedals.

Fiat’s Powerful T-JET Engine:

The Abarth Punto Evo will be mated to 1.4-litre T-JET petrol engine that churns out a maximum power output of 147 PS and a peak torque of 206 Nm. The vehicle accelerates to 100 kmph from zero in less than 8.8 seconds before hitting a top speed of 195kmph. Moreover, the petrol engine will offer fuel economy of 16.3kmpl.

Transmission Options:

While other carmakers trying to make driving all the more easy with automatic transmission, Fiat Abarth is persistent on retaining to true essence of driving and hand over the control to the driver. Thus while, the Volkswagen Polo GT comes with a 7-speed DSG automatic gearbox, Abarth has mater the new Punto Evo to a 5-speed manual gearbox. If you ask us that surely retains the fun of driving.

Fiat’s T-Jet is more powerful than VW’s GT TSI:

It is beyond question that in India the only competition to the Abarth Punto Evo will be the Volkswagen Punto GT powered by 1.2-litre TSI petrol motor. While the Polo GT’s TSI engine churns out 105 PS of max power, the Punto’s T-Jet engine makes 147 PS, which is a good 42 PS more powerful than the Polo GT.

Fiat’s Abarth Avventura:

Just like the standard versions, Fiat will also launch an Abarth powered Avventura that will get the same treatment as the Punto Evo and the same T-Jet engine. The Abarth Avventura will be launched soon after the Abarth Punto around the end of 2015.

Price and Launch Date:

Fiat is keen on expanding the Abarth brand in India and, after the 595 Competizione, now the company will launch the Abarth Punto Evo on 19th October 2015. As for the price, the Abarth Punto Evo is likely to be priced around INR10-12  lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).