Grande Punto- A Stylish n Competent Alternative

 

Exterior Excellent design n truly Italian, Bold, Beautiful, Manly, turns head everywhere u go.

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort) Great features at the price esp. blue n me, even stearing mounted controls.The polo which i first considered buying does not have these. Also other features like automatic climate control, electrically adjustable rear view mirrors, leather stearing n gear knob which the punto offers are absent in the polo on the topline variant which costs 1 lakh more. Space ok, but the pedals feel a bit awkward projecting too much towards you, forcing to pull the seats backward, n this gets the stearing out of reach( u dont have a stearing reach adjust as in the polo) and also compromises on rear leg space. Some plastics could have been better on which the Polo scores over. Another dissapointment in the punto are the speakers, the sound was horrible and though the brochures mentioned 6, it had only 4, that too the cheapest ones in fact made of paper, n I had to get them replaced.

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox The engine is undertuned I guess, does not give the performance of a swift with the same engine, and the extra weight and turbo lag adds to this. But the fuel economy is good and the car has good driveability, goes in 5th gear at as low as 20kmph. The diesel polo which I test drove also had mediocre performance, made a lot of noise n vibraton levels where also higher.

Ride Quality & Handling Punto is class leader in this segment when compared to other cars like the swift, i20, polo, micra which I have driven. The wider 15 inch wheels does the job which no other cars in this segment offer. Road grip is very good. Handling is precise n great.

Final Words An excellent choice in the segment when compared to the pricey polo or the girlish micra, a good alternative to the i20 or the very common swift. But the aftersales and service backup is something I fear, though with TATA backing up this time.

Areas of improvement Aftersales, and pls provide a good pair of speakers.

Design, Excellent ride quality n handling, road grip, features, Solid built qualityPerformance, speakers