This is the Fiat Punto Evo, the revised version of the Grande Punto that is displayed at the Frankfurt motor show and will go on sale in the UK next spring.
As well as a mild restyling, the Fiat Punto Evo gets an updated engine range that includes the innovative 1.4-litre petrol Multiair unit.
See the Fiat Punto Evo picture gallery
The Punto Evo is expected to be the second car in the Fiat empire to be sold with the engine; current schedules mean the Alfa Romeo Mito should just pip the Punto Evo into UK showrooms.
The Multiair system works by allowing direct control of air and combustion in engines, cylinder by cylinder and stroke by stroke, without the use of a conventional throttle.
It saves energy wasted in traditional systems, cutting fuel consumption and CO2 emissions by around 10 per cent over a comparable standard engine, and increasing power by up to 10 per cent and torque by up to 15 per cent.
It can also reduce particulate emissions by up to 40 per cent and NOx emissions by up to 60 per cent. Fiat plans to fit the technology to all its engines in coming years.
Other engines in the range include a new Multijet 1.3-litre diesel, which features a new common-rail injector that reduces consumption by around two per cent and NOx emissions by 30 per cent, plus methane and LPG units that boost the car’s eco credentials but which won’t be on sale in the UK.
Fiat is also fitting stop-start as standard on all its Euro5-compliant petrol and diesel engines.
Fiat says the interior has been completely reworked, while the exterior has been tweaked by the addition of new bumpers and light clusters. The car is slightly longer than before, at 406cm from 403cm. All other dimensions are the same.
The Punto Evo has seven airbags as standard, including a driver’s kneebag. Options include a hill holder function to make hillstarts easier, and adaptive cornering fog lights that switch on according to the angle of steering.
A new sat-nav system is also available. Called Blue&Me-TomTom, it allows the driver to manage telephone, sat-nav and information systems via a single colour touch screen.
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Re: Fiat Punto Evo revealed
I cannot believe what Fiat have done to this car. I have just seen it on the internet.
Seems strange that they show a black car in the official pictures, which hides many of the new elements.
The original was the best looking supermini by far, but they have ruined Pininfarina's original design with that incoherent mess on the front and back (front in particular).
Sticking on that fiat 500 esque horizontal chrome strip at the top edge of the bumper just looks confusing and all that black plastic and redefined grill makes the car look like something from Korea, not from Italy.
I love Fiats, but I think they should keep their hands off the externals when it comes time for a facelift and just revise the interiors.
As a previous post correctly says, the Mk2 Punto facelift was widely slated as destroying the integrity of the original design. Now they have managed it again.
Please sort yourselves out Fiat.
Re: Fiat Punto Evo revealed
Even 100% won't crack it. They'll need to change at least another 100% to remove the sense that some of the models have been built by Indians and the interior trim specified with the same plastic that McVities use in a packet of Boasters (that was Prince Phillip irony, honest. I don't really think Indians build things badly).
They're interesting cars, and quite beautiful, but Fiat shouldn't be let off the hook for some of the crappiness; especially when it's dressed up as luxury. When all cars were crap, in the 1970s let's say, Fiats were exotic and quite cool, but now the game has advanced to the point where people have too many well-built alternatives.
Another big problem that Fiat has in England is that a lot of its dealerships have the most retarded, petulant, knobby salesmen outside of Dixons. However, they are still quite cheap, and that explains why a contributor said upstairs that they are popular in Scotland (I'm not going to lie, I really meant that).
Re: Fiat Punto Evo revealed
I have to agree, my first Fiat was a 126 if any of you can remember that far back,ok it was basic, but it was fun.Since then i have owned,Pandas,Uno,Punto,Merrea Weekend,Stilo,Croma.None of these cars ever let me down, i have owned Fords, Vauxhalls,Nissans and at this moment have a Zafira and a Golf on the drive. All these cars have been as comparable as the Fiats. The main stay of people who slag off Fiats are the ones who have never owned them only what they have herd of from the past and in the press.Yes there are bad cars but then other companies have had a duff or two on there hands before now.