First impression of the Fiat Abarth Punto

Production hot hatches are new for India as the consumer has always looked at hatchbacks as a frugal and convenient means to get around on congested Indian roads. The Fiat Abarth Punto promises to change that.

I drive a Maruti Suzuki Alto as my daily commute vehicle and being an enthusiast, I am often biased to my right foot. Countless times it has happened that I went pedal to the metal against sedans and SUVs but have almost always been left biting the dust. The 1.4-litre T Jet tubocharged petrol engine on the Abarth Punto producing 145 bhp from under the hood, will definitely change that.

The steering mounted controls are a little hard to press and bluetooth can only be accessed through them.

Getting behind the wheel of the car, you immediately spot the presence of the Abarth badge on the steering wheel and Abarth racing pedals, down below. Shifting the five speed manual transmission into gear, the Punto moves forward effortlessly. The steering wheel might feel a little heavy at very slow speeds but weaving the car in and out of traffic doesn't seem like a bother. Driving on the NH 8 heading towards the Delhi Airport, I hit an open patch of road and obviously, floored the throttle.

Below 2000 RPMs the car offers some turbo lag. Once the revs begin to climb, the engine offers adequate power till the rev limiter kicks in at 6500 RPMS. I had to look at the tacho a couple of times to make sure I had not reached the end of my rev range, but surprisingly the Punto just kept going. Fiat has claimed that the Abarth Punto is capable of clocking 0-100 kmph in 8.8 seconds. We were not able to test the car due to limited time but it should be able to match these figures with the kind of acceleration it had to offer.

A tuned suspension and 16-inch alloys helped in keeping the car grounded as I was putting the car through the corners. When cornering perfectly, the car performed brilliantly not even losing an inch of grip on the tarmac even upwards of 90 kmph. The real problem begins if you do not enter a corner along the perfect lines and are required to brake to correct course. The car understeers blatantly and you can feel the hot hatch become unstable in such a situation. I found this out the hard way, fortunately without any incidents.

The Abarth Punto has 16 inch alloys and the scorpion design looks very good.

Abarth decals are present on the sides of the car with the Abarth Scorpion present of the roof. The Abarth Punto looks like a mean machine on the road. It is the interiors however which are a big letdown. The only Abarth presence inside the passenger cabin is the Abath badge on the wheel, the race pedals and floor mats with Abarth imprinted on them. Apart from that the interior is the same as the stock Punto Evo. Only the colour scheme is different with the Abarth Punto interiors decked out in all black.

Fiat has priced the car at Rs 9.95 lakh (Ex-Showroom, Delhi) which I feel is a little too steep for what they are offering. Being India's first production hot hatch, the Abarth Punto definitely offers something new and is faster than all the current hatchbacks in its class. It is only when you gun the car, touching the red line before every shift , that the hot hatch doesn't feel like a 145 bhp car. The Abarth Punto is nice to drive around but every time you push the car to its limits, you will be left wanting for more.