Fiat India has launched the 2013 model year Grande Punto Sport variant for Rs 7,60,048 (ex-showroom Delhi). The car is a cosmetic upgrade from the Punto 90HP model and features a number of external additions to justify the sports tag attached to it.
The external embellishments include exclusive sports decals, and a chrome exhaust finisher. The paint job available on the car is limited to red and white while the roof gets a jet black coating as standard. On the inside the addition is confined to sporty pedals, Punto badged door sills and floor mats.
The underpinnings are untouched from the outgoing car, implying that the drive will be exactly similar to the Punto 90HP already available in the market. Power comes from the omnipresent 1.3-litre Multijet diesel engine which makes do with 93PS of power and 209Nm of torque while being mated to a five-speed manual transmission. The sports kit is available at dealer fitted level for existing Punto customers at an additional price of Rs 22,000, which is exactly the difference between the Sport and standard 90PS variants.
But since the Sport variant is essentially a name change it is by no means an equal fight for the petrol powered VW Polo GT TSI which will remain as the best sports inclined hatchback under the Rs 10 lakh price bracket. But what it will compete against is the other similarly powered hatch from Tata christened the Indica Vista D90. To make things more interesting VW is likely introduce a diesel version of the Polo GT for the more efficiency driven enthusiasts, which means the Punto will need to up its ante soon if it intends to stand a chance against the German onslaught.
