Introduction

The Grande Punto had turned around the fortunes of Fiat worldwide; however it didn’t work out that well the Italian auto maker in India. This, despite the fact that the Fiat Grande Punto offers a fairly good package with gorgeous looks, decent equipment levels and the option of two petrol engine and another powered by the fabulous 1.3-litre Multijet common rail diesel unit.

Highlights:

- The ground clearance of the Grande Punto for the 1.2-litre engine has been increased to 195mm and for the other two engines has been increased by 185mm.

- The Active version now comes with a built in music system.

- The Pack versions are now discontinued and the new Emotion is now the range topper version.

The drive

For 2012, the Grande Punto has undergone some cosmetic changes on the inside and now all the variants of the Fiat hatchback get dual-tone interiors. No new features however have been added to the range topper. Instead more features have now been made available on the lower trim levels.

The 1.4-litre petrol and the 1.3-litre diesel engines have been tweaked for better economy and the ground clearance has been increased as well. The 1.4-litre petrol engine that we drove is highly refined with very low NVH levels even while idling. The engine feels a bit sluggish at low rpm, however the engine comes on song after it crosses 3000rpm. Drive the car above 3000rpm and you will have no complaints about the engine's performance.

The Grande Punto's driving dynamics however remain unchanged and its ride continues to becomposed at both low and high speeds. Instead of the earlier Goodyear GT3 tyres, the Grande Punto now gets Apollo Acelere tyres.

Verdict

The Grande Punto has been one of the hottest looking hatchbacks. The problem faced by consumers was lower trim levels didn't have too many features. So now the entry and mid-level models have a lot more frills on offer for those don't want to buy the range-topper Emotion.