[Rahulkool]

Key to happiness

TD Experience
Abarth Punto looked like a decent upgrade for my 2008 Palio 1.6. Palio had served me well for all these years, without any breakdowns. After the October launch of Abarth, I had requested for TD on Fiat website. On 10th of October 2015, I spotted a fully covered car in one corner of RDC Fiat, Chennai, I slowed down my car and on closer look, could see the Abarth alloy wheels. Immediately parked the car and went in the showroom. Sales person told that he cannot take the car out, but he can show me around. He just removed the car cover little bit so he can open the front door and I can sit inside. He was not too keen into removing the cover fully. I loved the interiors and alloys, rest was the regular punto. I told them for TD and left the place.

This is all i could see that day.


Well I waited and waited but never got the TD. I was also not in a hurry to buy the car. In between I got few calls from Fiat, Mumbai and the local dealer, they fixed up TD time and date twice but never showed up, not even apology/cancellation call.

One of my friends, who lost his Punto 90HP in the Chennai floods bought another Punto 90HP, sometime in January 2016. While checking out his car, I had just mentioned about my TD story (which never happened) with the same showroom. Well sometime in Feb he went to the showroom for some work and told them to send the TD car to me and how they are losing a prospective customer.

Well again the SA called me and we fixed up a time for TD and he didn't show up. Again few days later my friend went to the showroom, to collect some documents and inquired about the TD, he made them call me and fix a time for TD then and there. Finally they showed up with the car. I drove the car around for 3-4 kms. I have driven my cousins Linea Tjet few times in city as well as on the highway. Only thing which bothered me on Tjet that it didn't rev as freely as the Palio, after 4500-5000rpm engine on the Tjet kind of wanted you to up-shift rather than push further. Not at all a deal breaker or anything but free revving engine was something that I loved on the Palio. Tjet in Abarth seemed much freer revving and didn't feel stressed even after 6000rpm. I had read a lot of disappointing reviews about the gear shift action, but it never bothered me on Linea Tjet. On Abarth Punto I didn't feel anything wrong with the gearbox action, more on this later on the driving experience. Again these all are personal preferences.

I could not keep Palio, especially with my OCD towards maintenance, it will take too much time and money to maintain both the cars and then parking hassles. My usage of the car is very limited, so it didn’t make any sense to keep Palio and buy another car. With a heavy heart I decided to sell the Palio. I went and got Palio evaluated in RDC Fiat, Chennai for exchange and they said 90k. I felt that I could get much better price if I sell to individuals, maybe it would take few months’ time. But, the Palio was sold within a week and I got more than double than the showroom quotation.

You can read the Palio ownership review here - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-t...8-000-kms.html

Booking
I started negotiating with the showroom, initially RDC Fiat was not ready to give any discount. I had planned to take insurance from outside as I could save some money with 50% NCB from Palio. After few days of discussion they were willing to give ~20k discount. They also had a 2015 car in stock and were willing to give 40k discount on that but I wanted a 2016 manufactured car. Then I called Ramkay Fiat, another showroom in Chennai, which is situated in the other part of the city. I was avoiding dealing with them because distance from my home. Anyway, I called them and after some negotiations they were ready to give 36k discount on a 2016 car. After giving it some thought, finally decided to book the car from Ramkay Fiat.

Price
Ex showroom price of car - 9, 95,000
On road price without insurance - 11, 06,000
On road price with insurance - 11, 43,000
After discount:-
On road price without insurance - 10, 70,000
On road price with insurance - 10, 87,000
(I got the insurance from outside for 17k, showroom had quoted 37k for the same)

Color and warranty
As you might know color options are very limited in Abarth. Black color is difficult to maintain and also visibility of a black car is very less in the night (again personal opinion). Another reason was hot Chennai weather, black car gets very hot in the sun, so I was left with white color. I don't really like white color but out of options. This was one of the reasons my car purchase was delayed, I was hoping Fiat will add few more color options. If Abarth was available in red color I would have bought it few months back. Car comes with 3 years 1L kms warranty, at the moment there is not option of extended warranty.

Alternatives considered
Another reason for delay in buying was Fiats lethargic performance in Indian market. I would be lying if I said I wasn't bothered about Fiats future in India. Owning a Fiat has been a love and hate relationship, but in the past few years the hate part has been taken care of by Fiat India. After sales and service has improved and my past few years of experience at fiat service center was good or average. Be it parts availability or time taken for service, I would not rate any of the experiences below average. This was not the case when I had bought the Palio. If you would have asked me if I will buy another fiat few years back, my answer would have been NO but now my opinion has changed. They have also introduced a car which is just right for my need/want.

I tried considering several other cars just for the heck of it. There are no good petrol engine cars in market (again personal preference, no offense to any of owners). There are a few but most of them have bad handling or steering, mostly both. The new Octavia is one car which I really like, but it was way out of my budget and then comes the famous Skoda after sales experience. Another car I liked was the S Cross. I requested for TD not once but twice on the Nexa website, but never got any call back. Finally went to a Nexa showroom and took a TD of the 1.6 diesel. It’s a nice car, powerful engine and good build quality but not my cup of tea, because of a diesel engine. Actually alternative considered were none at all!!

I called the TD car again from ramkay and drove it for few kms, gear shift was completely messed up in this TD car, it felt like something had broken inside. I checked with the SA and he told me that there is something wrong in the GB shift mechanism, they need to get it checked in the service center, that car had 35xxkms on the odometer. Finally paid the booking amount of 50k on 10th march 2016. SA told me that they will deliver the car before 31st march. He promptly gave me the VIN no in next few days, also updated me when the car left from the factory. It was a January 2016 manufactured car according to the VIN no.

PDI
I got a call from the SA on 23rd march evening that the car has arrived and will be in their yard. He told me that I could come and inspect the car. I went to the showroom on 26th March for PDI with printout of Tbhp PDI instructions, and then to the yard which was further 10kms from the showroom. I checked the car, odometer showed 23kms, VIN number matched, everything seemed alright. Apart from one problem, while idling it had very mild vibration (you would notice it only if you concentrate on it) every few secs, it was very random. Sometime after few mins, I thought it’s a new engine and not at operating temp so that might be the reason. It was very mild and only at idle speed, if you raise the RPM little it stopped. While the car vibrated a little bit there was absolutely no change/drop in RPM. I shouldn't have ignored it, more on this later.

I went back to the showroom and informed the SA to send the car for registration on Monday. He gave some excuse and told that can send only on Wednesday. I did the balance payment, by that time bank had also transferred the loan amount.

Couple of pics from the PDI.






Delivery
Car was not sent for registration even on 30th March Wednesday. SA called me on Wednesday and told that Thursday morning he would get the registration done and before 5PM, they will deliver. I had my doubts, I needed the car anyhow by 31st march as for next few days I was really busy in office because of year end. I conveyed the same to the SA.

On 31st march the SA called me around 4PM and told that delivery might not happen today, as the car was still at the RTO. I was a little disappointed but requested him to try, as I could take the delivery only by 5th April next. He called me again at 4:15PM and told that they have received the car and it will be ready by 5:30PM for delivery. I left for the showroom and informed couple of friends to join. I reached the showroom and finished the paper work. The delivery experience was really good, few friends had come and we had good time there. Finally they handed over the key and cut the cake. The car papers were neatly arranged in a leather organizer with embossed Abarth logo. They also gave one more set of papers which I had to keep in the car. Both of the keys are with remote type.

Then one of the guy gave demo of the car, as I started the car and while he explained the features I encountered the same vibrations while idling. I informed the SA about it and he told that I can visit the service center anytime and he will get it sorted, on that good faith I took the delivery.


Ready for delivery


This is what welcomed us


Who doesnt like cake !!


Demo of the car

[Rahulkool]

Likes

• Decently powerful and free revving engine
• Good handling dynamics, combination of steering and suspension
• Excellent Brakes - all disk
• Safety - ABS and Airbags
• Build quality
• Excellent VFM in FTD segment of cars

Dislikes

• Limited color options + Stickers + red bits in the bumper
• Gearbox - torque limited by it (I am not talking about shift action, i find it perfectly fine)
• Average plastic quality in door pads
• Poor quality leather on steering wheel and gear knob
• Driver side AC vents placement
• Low on equipment and many will find this a deal breaker, for me this was not a priority(rain sensing wiper, auto headlamp, cruise control, ESP etc)
• Fiat sales in India, concern for every buyer
• Did i mention the lack of color options

Tyre upgrade and paint protection
After taking delivery, did a tankful at shell then went straight to Tyrestore on Greams road and got the tyres upgraded to Michelin Primacy 3ST 205/55 R16. Stock ones were Apollo Alnac. The new one was Rs 8500/tyre and buy back for Apollo was Rs 3500/tyre. In total I paid 20k for the tyre upgrade after exchange.



Got the paint protection treatment done at 3M next day. Absolutely hate the color on the car. Its looks the same from distance no matter what you do . Couple of pics after the 3M treatment. Cost was rs46xx/-






Driving experience
So far I have driven 2000kms and it’s been a mixed bag of feelings. Sometimes I do miss the NA 1.6 engine of the Palio. The way that engine revved till 7300rpm and hit the limiter was really intoxicating. The turbo engine on the Abarth is much different. For the first 1000kms I didn't rev beyond 2500-3000rpm.

I did redline the engine few times after oil change at 1000kms. After little bit of driving I understood that shifting early works better in a turbo car, there is no need to redline, like you do on NA engine. Also it wheel spins too much in 1st and 2nd gear, I did floor it like I used to do on Palio and ended up wheel spinning, looking like a show off.

For city driving low end torque is decent but sometimes I do feel the need to shift to 1st Gear, where Palio could have managed in 2nd gear. In Palio I used to shift to 1st gear only after a complete stop. In this car I have to shift to 1st gear for bad speed breakers. I find the clutch action to be ok and smooth, many people have reported it to be excessive. In bumper to bumper traffic you can just use the clutch pedal to move forward.

On the Highway, if you are above 2200-2500 rpm it pulls nicely in all gears. Progress is slow below 2000rpm, specially 4th and 5th gear it takes time to pick up the pace, or you need to down shift. Highway cruising at 3 digits speed is effortless and noise is minimum inside the cabin. Engine is around 2300rpm @ 100kmph in 5th gear.

Handling - Suspension/steering/brakes
The suspension is lot stiffer than the ones on the Palio, even when compared to the Punto 90HP. At low speeds you do feel every pothole and bad surface but as the speed picks up it gets better. Initially I was worried with 155mm ground clearance but I don't think it will be a problem with this suspension setup. Have driven with 5 people on board for few hundred kms and the rear suspension didn't sag.

Steering feel and feedback is good. At low speeds it’s slightly lighter than the Palio. Couple of newer cars which I have driven, hated the extra light steering wheel, especially on highways. I also don't like the violent kickback action on few car after you have completed a turn, it feels like steering wheel is connected to a rubber band rather than wheels.

Brakes are very powerful, but they still don’t feel like over assisted brakes I have come across in few cars with no feel whatsoever. They have good bite and feel. You can modulate them well & so far haven't had any instance of hard braking. To get a feel of brakes I did try heavy braking in a deserted road. Absolutely satisfied with the braking performance.

Coming to the gear shift action and throw, I don't find anything wrong with it. Compared to Palio the throw is slightly less. The gearshifts require little more effort than the Palio. I haven't really driven the other cars much (in term of distance) so can't compare exactly as most of the friends and family owns fiats (few other cars I have driven for longer were automatics). But I don't find the gear shift action and throw to be a deal breaker or anything.

Ps: These all are my opinion and I totally understand if someone likes light steering or the find gear shift action on this car bad. No offense to any other car owners or their rides.

Fuel Efficiency
Overall FE Till now is 9.78kmpl. Out of 2000kms at least 1400kms is done on highways and rest in the city. As I told initial 1000kms I restricted to 2500-3000rpm and after that I am driving it as it should be driven . I did one highway run alone and saw FE as low as 7.5kmpl while pushing it.

First 1000kms

2000kms


Early service center experience
I went to the service center around 400kms for the vibration problem. They did test everything and connected a laptop for diagnostics. They could not find any error code or problem with the car. Removed and cleaned spark plugs, it didn’t solve the problem. Service advisor wanted to keep the car so they can contact Fiat and show them the issue. I told them that I don't want to leave the car in service center now, they can check in the first service. Service advisor told me that he will check with fiat and upon their confirmation he will inform me.

Service advisor called me once after a week and told that they are still waiting for fiats reply on the matter. I was not happy with the thing as they were moving. I send a detailed email to Fiat on the matter. Next day I got a call from Fiat India and they asked me to take the car to the service center. As I was busy with work I could not go and then very next day I was going out of country for some work. While outside I got few calls from the local service center and I could not pick up. Finally I called and told that I am not in India, the service advisor suggested that they can take the car from my home if someone is available. I told him to wait and I will bring it once I am back. The car had done almost 900kms by then.

Finally after getting back, the next afternoon I went to the service center. The car was taken in almost immediately. The service manager himself was working on the car. They connected the diagnostic laptop and someone from fiat was online with them. Finally they told that they have found the problem and it has something to do with "spark angle". In the next 30 mins they changed all the spark plugs and started the car, I was standing there with hand on the engine bay to feel vibration. The engine ran for few mins and there were no vibrations, I was relieved. This whole process took 2-3 hours and the whole time the service manager and CRM was with me.

I told them to change the engine oil and oil filter, although it’s recommended only after 1 year or 15,000kms. Oil filter on the Abarth is at very odd position with limited access, that process took another 2 hours. Asked them to use Selenia K 10w40 fully synthetic engine oil. It comes in 1litre cans, 3.4l was used on the car and rest 600ml was given to me which I kept top ups, if needed.
Total cost of service was rs3176/-(oil and oil filter)

Few pics i clicked in the service center.









Interior
Initially I liked the full black interiors of Abarth. After using the car for few days, I feel that little bit of beige would have been nice. Dark color give a cramped feeling, even when the cabin is spacious. Plastic quality is decent, the soft touch front portion is nice on the dashboard.

The stock HU works fine for me, maybe will change the speakers after couple of years. Fiat has removed the blue and me system from Abarth and given uconnect system. It supports basic features like Bluetooth audio streaming, calls, USB, voice command etc. The Bluetooth call work fine so does the Bluetooth audio streaming. The Bluetooth interface is easy to use for calls, all the controls are on the steering wheel.

The USB port provides 1A, so it can be used to charge mobile phones.



Both car keys are the remote type. The boot release is also provided in the remote. Punto 90HP comes with single remote controller and boot release is not there in the remote.





The seats are nice, they feel softer and slightly smaller than the ones on the Palio. I am not a fan of leather seats, the upholstery used on seats is good with different textures and red/yellow stitching. Many people face problem while adjusting seating position in Punto. For me it took literally 2 mins while getting the delivery, I thought I will adjust it again when I get back home but didn't felt the need to change anything. Steering wheel I have adjusted little lower after few days of use.

The front seat belts are height adjustable. The seat belt warning beep comes on if you cross 20kmph without belting up and it is very loud and annoying, full points to Fiat on this.

The AC blowers are placed very high and they blow on your hands and on the steering wheel. If you adjust them for lower part of body then the air flow reduces. The blowers on Palio in comparison where in really good position, below the HU. Passenger side works fine for lower or upper part of body. The rear blower can’t be closed completely, and it’s really annoying as rear seats are rarely occupied in my car.

The leather quality on steering wheel and gear lever is of a very poor quality. Actually it feels more like plastic than leather. In comparison Palio’s was far better. The bonnet release level feels like it will fall off any time. The soft touch boot release button is moved above the HU. The seat adjustment lever quality is good, earlier many people complained of these falling off.

Car comes with auto locking door, and when you cross 20kmph the doors lock. There are two trip meters and both show various parameters like kms traveled, travel time, average consumption, average speed etc. You can also check instantaneous fuel consumption and range. Toggle of these is provided in the right hand side stalk which easy to reach and use.

Below is the various modes through right side stalk toggle.



The IRVM is not auto dimming type and it’s a pain to manually change, fiat should have provided auto IRVM. The ORVM are nice and big no complain on that.

NVH
The engine is very silent and there are no vibrations felt inside the car. The engine note is nice at high RPM, the intake note. Exhaust is completely muted. Palio had much nicer engine intake note and I do miss that.

Exterior and Stickers
Initially I had planned to remove the stickers, at least from the bonnet, and roof and boot. Few friends suggested me otherwise (few of them only said no, so they can make fun of the stickers whenever they want to ha-ha), wife is also completely against removing them. Maybe I will remove them sometime later, I don't like the stickers very much. Also need to paint the red bits on the front and back bumper black.

Overall design of the punto has been discussed many times on forum. Overall I find it to be a good time-less design and the alloys just look stunning. Overall build quality of the car is nice, panel gaps are consistent and tight. Still I am not in terms with the white color, check out few images of a friend’s punto 90HP and you will know what I mean.







Got no plates from ebay, it was shipped from kerala. Comes with black color frames.



Thats all folks, thanks for reading.

[Rahulkool]

Update on FE.

After doing a petrol top up yesterday at 2060kms, i reset the trip meter A. For next 25kms the FE was shown as 14-15kmpl. I has never seen such figures on Abarth. It always was in between 9-11kmpl. This was driving in the city with light traffic and changing gears around 2000-2500rpm. I am not sure what has happened but all of sudden FE has improved. Even with heavy foot on the highway it didn't drop below 11.5kmpl. Earlier i had seen 9.5kmpl with similar driving.





I also feel low end drivability has improved. The pull from 2nd gear seems better and also many speed bumps i could take without shifting to 1st. I am confused about the improvement in FE and low end pull.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Initial Ownership Section. Thanks for sharing!

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Congrats... :clap

Truly the most fun to drive hatch around. Wish my usage requirements and budget allowed me to upgrade from the 90hp to the Abarth.

That said, couple of points that came to my mind while reading the review-

1. The love hate relationship with FIAT India is more bordering towards love thanks only because of the dealerships and more towards hate thanks to the indifferent attitude from the management.

2. I took my car delivery from Chennai as well- the old TATA Concorde showroom at Velachery. And I remember them having this similar issue with registration, every dealer could only register their cars on a particular day as per RTO allotment.

3. FIAT diesels take around 5000 kms to open up. I'm not really sure about the petrols, but may be that could explain the increase in FE?

[h14]

Hearty congratulations on the Abarth! A rare scenario where Palio 1.6 owner upgrades to an Abarth! Either they hold on to the 1.6 or move away from FIAT completely

I'm with you on your thoughts on the gearbox and clutch. And your comparisons with the Palio on the ac vents are spot-on.

EDIT: Reg your fuel efficiency, a friend just mentioned that his T-Jet too had a similar jump after 1500kms! So enjoy the double digit figures, these numbers will stay. How much was your Palio delivering in similar conditions? Eager to know the FE of the Stile 1.6.

[Vik0728]

Originally Posted by Rahulkool

On that good faith I took the delivery.

Ready for delivery

Congrats Rahulkool on your latest acquisition and it looks TOXIC !!

I was one of the biggest admirers of the 'Pre-facelift' Punto design and have not been might impressed with the EVO's design. Though black is one of my favourite colours, IMO Abarth looks better that this white shade as the blackened head light assembly gets highlighted.

In fact, I echo your thoughts of getting rid of those stickers/decals on the bonnet and rear of the car, and get the red surrounds on the bumpers painted/wrapped in glossy black.

Wish you a very happy & fun filled motoring.

[Rahulkool]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Congrats... :clap

2. I took my car delivery from Chennai as well- the old TATA Concorde showroom at Velachery. And I remember them having this similar issue with registration, every dealer could only register their cars on a particular day as per RTO allotment.

3. FIAT diesels take around 5000 kms to open up. I'm not really sure about the petrols, but may be that could explain the increase in FE?

Thanks. If my usage was high, i don't think i could have managed with a petrol car

Maybe that was the reason for the delay, but SA didn't told me any such thing.

Did you experienced the same in terms of FE ?

Originally Posted by h14

Hearty congratulations on the Abarth! A rare scenario where Palio 1.6 owner upgrades to an Abarth! Either they hold on to the 1.6 or move away from FIAT completely

I'm with you on your thoughts on the gearbox and clutch. And your comparisons with the Palio on the ac vents are spot-on.

EDIT: Reg your fuel efficiency, a friend just mentioned that his T-Jet too had a similar jump after 1500kms! So enjoy the double digit figures, these numbers will stay. How much was your Palio delivering in similar conditions? Eager to know the FE of the Stile 1.6.

Thanks.

I don't recall anything such from my cousin who owns a early Tjet.

Palio used to give 9-10kmpl in the city. IIRC on the trackday i got 7.5kmpl. Highways it used to be ~14kmpl with 3 digit speeds. In one of the highway drives i got 17.5kmpl, i was driving very carefully with max speed of 80kmph.

Originally Posted by Vik0728

Congrats Rahulkool on your latest acquisition and it looks TOXIC !!

I was one of the biggest admirers of the 'Pre-facelift' Punto design and have not been might impressed with the EVO's design. Though black is one of my favourite colours, IMO Abarth looks better that this white shade as the blackened head light assembly gets highlighted.

In fact, I echo your thoughts of getting rid of those stickers/decals on the bonnet and rear of the car, and get the red surrounds on the bumpers painted/wrapped in glossy black.

Wish you a very happy & fun filled motoring.

Thanks.

To be frank, i was not a fan of punto design when it was launched. The Linea front end looks much better with dual barrel headlamps. With time i have started to like the punto front end, to me the evo looks better with reindeer headlamps.

Ya stickers are too loud and have to remove them, someday .

[vdm295]

Congrats Rahulcool on the purchase of the new smart looking Abarth. I am shocked to hear that fiat does not have colour choice other than black & white. I would have loved to buy one but for their lethargic sales & very bad service. You at least have two dealers their, in case you are not happy with one of them you can always go to the other one, but in my town we have only one dealer & I cannot take a chance in spite of them having such a lovely car. Hope you enjoy your car for many more miles to come.

[sourav9385]

Congrats on the Wormhole Generator bro.

If there's one person I know who deserves an Abarth, it's you.

Wishing you miles of trouble free, tyre smoking, petrol burning, pedal-to-the-metal, smile-on-your-ugly-mug-all-the-time ownership

[bottle]

Congrats on the beast , do post your impressions on the driving dynamics on open roads

And yeah you shouldn't remove the stickers for sure (ha-ha)

[keroo1099]

Congrats on the new ride. Can echo a lot of your sentiments with my T-Jet

Originally Posted by Rahulkool

Likes
[list]
[*] Average plastic quality in door pads[*]Poor quality leather on steering wheel and gear knob

Plastics are durable but look average. Lettering on the fuel release is already faded, and certain non essential parts around the seat belt guide have snapped off !!!, and I found a rubber grommet on the floor that is without a home. But since still no rattles from anywhere after 2 years, will live with the small hiccups.

Originally Posted by Rahulkool

Driving experience
So far I have driven 2000kms and it’s been a mixed bag of feelings. Sometimes I do miss the NA 1.6 engine of the Palio. The way that engine revved till 7300rpm and hit the limiter was really intoxicating. The turbo engine on the Abarth is much different. For the first 1000kms I didn't rev beyond 2500-3000rpm.

Yup, even the Jet with a remap doesn't really like to be reved past 4k, but I found that I don't really need to rev past 3k to get sufficient shove for overtaking.

Originally Posted by Rahulkool

I did redline the engine few times after oil change at 1000kms. After little bit of driving I understood that shifting early works better in a turbo car, there is no need to redline, like you do on NA engine. Also it wheel spins too much in 1st and 2nd gear, I did floor it like I used to do on Palio and ended up wheel spinning, looking like a show off.

I have learnt to drive it sedately, and use the ample torque when required.

Originally Posted by Rahulkool

For city driving low end torque is decent but sometimes I do feel the need to shift to 1st Gear, where Palio could have managed in 2nd gear. In Palio I used to shift to 1st gear only after a complete stop. In this car I have to shift to 1st gear for bad speed breakers. I find the clutch action to be ok and smooth, many people have reported it to be excessive. In bumper to bumper traffic you can just use the clutch pedal to move forward.

The long travel clutch never bothered me, but the really short 1st gear still annoys me.

Originally Posted by Rahulkool

On the Highway, if you are above 2200-2500 rpm it pulls nicely in all gears. Progress is slow below 2000rpm, specially 4th and 5th gear it takes time to pick up the pace, or you need to down shift. Highway cruising at 3 digits speed is effortless and noise is minimum inside the cabin. Engine is around 2300rpm @ 100kmph in 5th gear.

Both cars mask speed really nicely, but I get an annoying whistling sound north of 120 from around the mirrors. It's extremely relaxing to drive fast.

Originally Posted by Rahulkool

Coming to the gear shift action and throw, I don't find anything wrong with it. Compared to Palio the throw is slightly less. The gearshifts require little more effort than the Palio. I haven't really driven the other cars much (in term of distance) so can't compare exactly as most of the friends and family owns fiats (few other cars I have driven for longer were automatics). But I don't find the gear shift action and throw to be a deal breaker or anything.

I never had a problem with the gears from day one, and they have become more positive over time.

Originally Posted by Rahulkool

Fuel Efficiency
Overall FE Till now is 9.78kmpl. Out of 2000kms at least 1400kms is done on highways and rest in the city. As I told initial 1000kms I restricted to 2500-3000rpm and after that I am driving it as it should be driven . I did one highway run alone and saw FE as low as 7.5kmpl while pushing it.

Was getting a consistent 10.4 in the city, but with the hot weather it dropped by 1. Hopefully it will go back up with the weather improving.

Originally Posted by Rahulkool

The leather quality on steering wheel and gear lever is of a very poor quality. Actually it feels more like plastic than leather. In comparison Palio’s was far better. The bonnet release level feels like it will fall off any time. The soft touch boot release button is moved above the HU. The seat adjustment lever quality is good, earlier many people complained of these falling off.

What leather!! the cows must have been made of rexine. It's so bad that even with the AC on my palms sweat.

Originally Posted by Rahulkool

NVH
The engine is very silent and there are no vibrations felt inside the car. The engine note is nice at high RPM, the intake note. Exhaust is completely muted. Palio had much nicer engine intake note and I do miss that.

I found the Abarth to be even more vibe free than the Jet, and the engine made a lovely growl.

[blackwasp]

Congratulations on the sweet car! It's raining Abarths on team-BHP! Even we have recently got the Abarth Punto in White colour. Your mileage figures are cherry on the top. Just have one question. Did you experience any increase in engine oil consumption ? The manual mentions that it might be high for first 5k kms.

Also the manual quality leaves a lot to be desired! It feels very very cheap. And except for a few pages, most of them are lifted from the Grande Punto manual. Eg 2 or 4 power windows, multifunction display or normal in MiD etc. Since Abarth comes only in one version, they could have omitted the ones not applicable.

[Rahulkool]

Originally Posted by vdm295

Congrats Rahulcool on the purchase of the new smart looking Abarth. I am shocked to hear that fiat does not have colour choice other than black & white. I would have loved to buy one but for their lethargic sales & very bad service. You at least have two dealers their, in case you are not happy with one of them you can always go to the other one, but in my town we have only one dealer & I cannot take a chance in spite of them having such a lovely car. Hope you enjoy your car for many more miles to come.

Thanks, believe me service has improved hugely in recent years, it a shame that they are still carrying the burden of past service.

Originally Posted by sourav9385

Congrats on the Wormhole Generator bro.

If there's one person I know who deserves an Abarth, it's you.

Wishing you miles of trouble free, tyre smoking, petrol burning, pedal-to-the-metal, smile-on-your-ugly-mug-all-the-time ownership

thanks mate.

Originally Posted by bottle

Congrats on the beast , do post your impressions on the driving dynamics on open roads

And yeah you shouldn't remove the stickers for sure (ha-ha)

Thanks, sure will post when i take it for longer ride on highway. Looks like i need to remove those soon

Originally Posted by keroo1099

Congrats on the new ride. Can echo a lot of your sentiments with my T-Jet

Yup, even the Jet with a remap doesn't really like to be reved past 4k, but I found that I don't really need to rev past 3k to get sufficient shove for overtaking.

The long travel clutch never bothered me, but the really short 1st gear still annoys me.

Both cars mask speed really nicely, but I get an annoying whistling sound north of 120 from around the mirrors. It's extremely relaxing to drive fast.

Was getting a consistent 10.4 in the city, but with the hot weather it dropped by 1. Hopefully it will go back up with the weather improving.

Thanks, what are the power and torque nos on tjet after remap ?

Ya 1st gear is very short, even palio had the same issue, 1st and 2nd gears were short and then 3rd was really tall. It was a major irritation on the trackdays where you drive mostly on 2nd and 3rd gear.

I also observed the mild whistling sound but i felt if was more of engine noise than wind. Because i felt it happened in 3nd and 4th gear at certain RPM range. Need to check on it.

I don't have any high expectation from FE but so far its decent for a 145bhp hatch.

Originally Posted by blackwasp

Congratulations on the sweet car! It's raining Abarths on team-BHP! Even we have recently got the Abarth Punto in White colour. Your mileage figures are cherry on the top. Just have one question. Did you experience any increase in engine oil consumption ? The manual mentions that it might be high for first 5k kms.

Also the manual quality leaves a lot to be desired! It feels very very cheap. And except for a few pages, most of them are lifted from the Grande Punto manual. Eg 2 or 4 power windows, multifunction display or normal in MiD etc. Since Abarth comes only in one version, they could have omitted the ones not applicable.

Thanks, i checked the engine oil level regularly as it was mentioned in the manual but havent found any change in oil level. I have 600ml of selenia K with me in case any top up is needed.

I guess the user manual is generic because of such a low production run for this car.

[keroo1099]

@ Rahulkool, Wolf Moto quote 140 BHP and 245 Nm. The engine spools up faster with the remap, and I find that the driveability for city use has improved significantly. Throttle respones is a lot better and even the slight lag below the turbo zone is minimized.