Carlo Abarth was an Austrian who rose to fame with his breathed upon versions of Fiat cars that won thousands of races and set world records in the 1950s and 1960s. Fiat now owns the brand and plans to relive the glory days.
Abarth is now a sub-brand like AMG is to Mercedes and Msport to BMW. More realistically, it will be like the John Cooper MINIs. The Grande Punto is the first on sale here, to be followed from next year by a hot 500 and others later. Well, here‘s hoping.
Maybe, it is not a bad time to be launching an affordable sports hatch. With soaring fuel prices and penal taxes in the offing, enthusiastic drivers may downsize and seek their fun in a smaller package. Starting from a realistic £13,500 the Grande Punto Abarth undercuts most of what is out there.
The Fiat badges have gone and are replaced by the scorpion logo. This signifies that the car has been transformed in terms of styling and engineering. Not only does it look good with all the style touches, it also performs in a much more dynamic way to the everyday Punto.
An entertaining 1.4-litre turbo-charged engine is at the heart of the package. This produces an impressive 155bhp that translates into spirited performance. A sport button alters the turbo settings and firms up the steering to produce a more responsive drive. That is as much power as some two-litre machines.
They have also gone to town with the handling and fitted disc brakes all round. Driving on rain-lashed Yorkshire roads, I was impressed with the grip and cornering control. Puddles did not deflect the car and I felt confident about its behaviour. Later I was able to stretch the Electronic Stability Control, fitted as standard, and can report that this is a car that can keep you out of trouble.
The obvious competitor is the MINI Cooper S, an icon that is hard to topple. The Punto gives you almost as much driving satisfaction, is cheaper and, as the Grande title reminds you, roomier. This is an entertaining car for the enthusiastic driver that responds well to almost every command. Gear changing is swift and light and the springing is hard but it is not uncomfortable to travel in.
This is partly down to the figure-hugging front seats and spacious cabin. The interior has also the Abarth bespoke look with more badges and red-needled instruments. There is a lot of kit including side airbags, trip computer, MP3 player, air conditioning, fog lights and cruise control.
Safety wise, it boasts a five star crash rating and has reserves of road holding. Economy is rated at an optimistic 40mpg, but that would be hard to achieve if you are enjoying the car.
If you want to turn your Grande Punto Abarth into a hotter hatch, you can fork out an extra £3,500 for a big wooden box full of more tuning and suspension parts that turn it into the Esseesse model. A dealer must carry out this conversion within a year or 12,000 miles of purchase. It ups the power to 180bhp and brings the 0-62mph time down from 8.2 to 7.5 seconds.
I dunno about spending the extra. As it stands, the Grande Punto Abarth has enough power and handling for most people in today’s driving conditions. It is an impressive debutante for a new era of affordable fun driving.
AT A GLANCE
ENGINE - 1.4-litre, turbo-charged petrol unit turning out 155bhp
PERFORMANCE – Accelerates to 62mph in 8.2 seconds, 129mph top speed potential
ECONOMY – 40mpg on combined cycle
EMISSIONS 162g/km carbon dioxide.
PRICE - £13,500
