Grande Punto - not such a belter

Nov 9 2009 Peter Hayward

IT can be awkward to reach the seatbelt in most three door cars, but the Fiat Grande Punto is particularly bad.

With the seat set back for a tall driver, the belt gets caught between the door frame and the side, and can be very difficult to get out.

I drove the lowest powered 1.4 eight valve with 76bhp, and I thought this would be plenty.

Wrong. All the urge comes at the top end of the rev-range with plenty of vocal accompaniment and there is very little acceleration lower down.

There is no power to spare. Real urge does not start until 4,000 revs and the red line is 6,500.

That's fine if you are not looking for the kind of performance I expect but a real driving average of 42-45 miles per gallon is very good.

Performance is better if the right foot is pushed right down to the floor, but go for the 16 valve if you want a bit to spare.

The ride is good whether on a country road or in town and road-holding and grip are excellent.

Interior

Fiat do very good interiors and this one is no exception, with a stylish dash and basic stereo controls on the steering wheel.

Equipment includes electric front windows and mirrors and a city button to make the steering superlight in tight situations - but aircon is an extra which is unusual these days.

FAST FACTS

Fiat Grande Punto

Price: £10,000

Mechanical: 76bhp, 1368cc, 4 cylinder petrol engine driving front wheels via 5-speed manual gearbox.

Max speed: 103mph

0-62mph: 13.2 seconds

Combined mpg: 47.9

Insurance group: 7

CO2 emissions: 139g/km

BIK rating: 15%

Warranty: 3yrs/ 60,000 miles

Marks: 8/10

Main rival: Ford Fiesta, Kia Rio