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Grande Punto to mark Fiat's renewal?
By Stéphane Schlesinger on 29 July 2005 | 
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Fiat call their new supermini 'Grande Punto', and they're damn right for it has considerably been sized up. Being 4m03 long, 1m68 wide and 1m49 high, the Punto even oversizes the Clio III. We can guess not only accomodation will benefit from this increase but also resistance against shocks, Fiat targetting a five star rating at the EuroNcap crash-tests.
Since this new car is vital for Fiat's future, they have got everything right, especially in terms of styling, a task that was granted to Giugiaro. He did a good job indeed, featuring the Punto III with a Maserati-like front end, thick wheel arches making it look steady and a funny new Punto logo.
Under the bonnet, we find 2 petrol and 4 diesel units. The first 2, a 1.2 and a 1.4 respectively delivering 65 and 77bhp, seem somewhat disappointing for lack of power, especially as the car must have put on weight. Let's hope Fiat will release the 1.6 180bhp that has been rumoured, which would allow the Punto to compete with the Clio III RS or the future Peugeot 207 RC.
There are 2 diesel blocks, a 1.3 16V Multijet outputting either 75 or 90bhp and a 1.9 Multijet, coupled with a 6-speed gearbox, delivering either 120 or 130bhp, the latter being mounted in the Sporting version.
The Punto III shares its underpinning with the new Corsa, which will be launched in 2006.
The new Punto will hit the showrooms in September in Italy and by the turn of 2006 in the UK. In the mean time, Fiat will continue to make the Punto II, perhaps to make a smooth transition to the more expensive Grande Punto.
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