Fiat Punto Pop 2013 Review

Price Guide: (introductory price including statutory and delivery charges): $16,000
Options fitted: (not included in above price): N/A
Crash rating: See text
Fuel: 91 RON ULP
Claimed fuel economy (L/100km): 5.7
CO2 emissions (g/km): 132
Also consider: Holden Barina CD (from $15,990); Mitsubishi Mirage Sport (from $15,490); Nissan Micra ST-Lt (from $15,490); Suzuki Swift GA (from $15,990)

How the world has changed since Fiat first introduced the Punto to Australia seven years ago.

Then, until it was discontinued locally in 2009, the little Italian hatch was sold as a premium light car with prices ranging from $20,000 to $28,000.The top model in the range was a three-door hatch sporting a grunty 2.0-litre 96kW/280Nm turbo-diesel.

Today, the resurrected Punto sits in the thick of things at the bottom end of the market. It starts at $16,000 drive-away (for a limited period) for the entry-level Pop model and spans a narrow price range maxing out at $21,800 (before on-road costs) for the robotised-automatic Lounge version.

The big difference, apart from minor cosmetic changes that have taken place since the Punto was lifted from the local market in 2009, is in the mechanical spec.

Where the early models offered buyers a choice of four engines -- two 2.0-litre turbo-diesels and a 1.4-litre turbo petrol as well as a base atmo 1.4-litre petrol -- the new range makes do with just one.

A simple, eight-valve single overhead camshaft four-cylinder, the sole Punto engine, produces a workable but conservative 57kW/115Nm, managing decent efficiency via a high 11:1 compression ratio and reasonable torque that is helped along by the under-square bore/stroke ratio.

These work together with the standard idle stop-start system to give the Fiat competitive fuel economy and emissions readings, even if the performance capabilities are nowhere near the solid, grunty shove of the previous 2.0-litre turbo-diesel.

Today we need to think of the Punto differently.

Ranged against a staggering array of solid competition including the Holden Barina, Mitsubishi Mirage, Nissan Micra and Suzuki Swift – among many others -- the pint-size Fiat has its job cut out.

But it takes on the task squarely. In terms of price, size and equipment levels, the Punto is calculated to closely match all rivals. At basic ‘Pop’ level the Fiat is virtually interchangeable, by every measure that counts, with Euro, Japanese and Korean rivals.

Standard equipment includes six airbags, Bluetooth, Fiat's Dualdrive two-mode electric power steering, basic air-conditioning, trip computer, daytime running lights and power front windows.

There's some deficit compared with the upper level ‘Easy’ and ‘Lounge’ variants, in which a driver's knee airbag, rear parking sensors, a plusher dash layout, alloy wheels and cruise control are standard but it's a pretty fair list of equipment nevertheless -- apart from the complete lack of passenger grab-handles above the side windows.

No ANCAP figures on the new Punto are yet available, but it's expected the Fiat will get the same five-star rating as its sibling, the tiny 500.

Although the basic running gear is pretty much identical to the more expensive variants there's some compromising when it comes to on-road behaviour, particularly when compared with the Lounge version, which shows that its larger (16-inch) wheels with meatier tyres are not merely frivolous.

Even with the assistance-level choices made available through the Dualdrive steering, the base Punto is left feeling a little vague and indecisive on the road, even in a straight line where the system has a certain amount of nervousness that never quite allows the driver to relax.

The steering -- which spins from lock to lock in 2.7 turns -- is less than sharp when cornering too, which is not really quite what you would expect given the Italian heritage -- although it's certainly light enough in city mode when parking.

The suspension (MacPherson struts up front, ‘dead’ beam axle at the rear) works well for a micro-size car, swallowing all but the largest bumps with equanimity. And although some road roar does seep through, it does no harm to remember where this car sits in the marketplace...

The manual five-speed transmission is pretty workmanlike. It shifts smoothly and the ratios are about as close as you could expect with just five to choose from.

The Punto is quite low-geared, meaning that 3000rpm equates to less than 100km/h in fifth, with in-cabin noise levels rising accordingly. Coupled with the overall road and wind noise, this means the Punto is not exactly a quiet place to be, particularly at speed on coarse-mix bitumen.

The low gearing at least allows the car to pace it with traffic in most conditions, including moderately steep uphill gradients, although a bit of rowing on the gearshift is sometimes required. Indicating (again) where the Punto lies in the overall scheme of things, zero to 100km/h comes up in a sleepy 13.2 seconds.

Accelerating through the ratios, this is one car that works best if upshifts are left a little late. The base Punto doesn't show any tacho redline, so it's assumed 6000rpm is quite acceptable on the occasions you might need to wring the most out of it. That said, it spins freely in a way that belies its torque-oriented bore/stroke ratio.

Fuel consumption on test, although behind the official claim of 5.7L/100km for the manual version, was a not too shabby 6.3L/100km, and entirely competitive in the class.

Passenger comfort brings few complaints other than the back seat's meagre legroom. The driver gets a good deal with a height-adjustable seat and a two-way adjustable steering column and the vinyl rim, although it feels downmarket compared with Easy or Lounge Puntos, is no worse than the bulk of its opposition.

The hard-touch dash is no surprise at this price point either, although the circular gauges can be a little hard to read and the front door bins are pitifully tight on storage space. In fact, there’s a bit of a shortage of handy cubbies for storing things like sunglasses and mobile phones.

Same with the boot, where the basic 275 litres places limitations on what you can carry -- unless you can utilise the split/folding back seat and bump overall capacity to 1030 litres. It's nice that the 15-inch steel-wheel Punto Pop provides a full-size spare though.

In all, the base Fiat Punto, while it might not quite convince would-be buyers of any overall European superiority, stands shoulder-to-shoulder with its many competitors in every aspect that counts.

And even if in a truly pragmatic sense it means little, that Italian badge will still have undeniable emotional appeal to many shoppers in the sub-$20,000 segment.

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