Abarth Grande Punto
Discussion
Hi All,
Thought I would upload pictures of my Abarth Grande Punto. There are around only 350 of these cars in the UK in total, so spotting another one is a rare occurrence!
I have owned it over two years now and enjoyed every minute with it, fun to drive and doesn't break the bank on running costs. I love the fact that it is aggressive and is discrete enough that I don't get many trying to race me away from lights etc, although its fun to keep up with some more interesting cars!
Lovely Seats
Interior shot
Specs for people that are interested, as standard car
Engine
* 4 cylinders in line, 4 valves per cylinder, 1368 cc
* Power: 155 hp at 5500 rpm
* Max torque 206 Nm at 3000 rpm (230 Nm at 3000 rpm Sport Boost mode)
* Drive-by-wire throttle with no mechanical connection
* Garrett IHI RHF3-P10.5 fixed geometry turbocharger
Transmission
* 6-speed gearbox
* Dual cable external gearbox drive
Suspension and steering
* MacPherson strut front and anti-roll bar
* Torsion beam suspension at the rear
* Lowered sports suspension
* Electric power steering with Sport Boost mode
Brakes
* Fixed front calliper: Brembo M4—40, four piston
* Ventilated front brake disc - 305 mm x 28 mm
* Rear calliper with piston - 54 mm
* Rear brake disc - 264 mm x 11 mm
Original Wheels & Tyres
* Aluminium alloy, 7" x 17"
* Tyres: 215/45R17
Assetto Wheels & Tyres
* Aluminium alloy, 7" x 18"
* Tyres: 215/40 ZR18
CO2 emissions
* 159 g/km
Fuel consumption
* Urban consumption: 30.1 mpg
* Extra-urban consumption: 54.3 mpg
* Combined consumption: 42.2 mpg
Dimensions
* length 4041 mm
* width 1721 mm
* height 1490 mm
Weight
* 1185 kg
Performance
* Top speed 129 mph
* 0-62mph 8.2 secs (7.8 Seconds in Sport Mode)
After owning the car about 2 years (May 2012) I found what's called the Assetto Kit, which is an official fit dealer handling pack, up for a steal in comparison to the cost of what was contained within it. It was a brilliant man maths choice to get it fitted, as I needed new front pads and my tyres didn't have much tread left!
Kit contained
4 x White Wheels, + P Nero Tyres (215/40/R18)
Drilled front and rear disks
DS2500 Front Pads (Same Calipers as the Clio 197)
SS spring kit (lowers 15-20mm)
Which made it look like this
Discs
#
Some will hate the wheel colour, its a personal taste thing as I like them (brother hates them), but as it was the last kit in the UK I didn't really have a choice on the colour. They come in a Titanium version as well which might be to other peoples tastes.
I have taken it on a few of the Herts runs and people have been quite surprised how quick it is around the lanes, on straights more powerful machines will leave it behind but it suits the middle of the fast enough but not insane running costs hot hatches.
Pros:
Handles reasonably well
Quick enough of the line, the 0-62 times require 2 gear changes!
Mid Range is great because of the turbo
40-50 mpg if you really want to (I know this is PH an mpg means nothing!)
Average around 28-34 mpg
Bluetooth + MP3 player off USB stick
Cons:
Electrical assist steering, it feels lifeless and doesn't really give enough feedback!
Damping can be interesting on big bumps mid corner!
Those 215/40/R18 tyres will be expensive to replace
Ride on very bumpy roads, especially in the back seats
Drive by wire can be a bit annoying
Thought I would upload pictures of my Abarth Grande Punto. There are around only 350 of these cars in the UK in total, so spotting another one is a rare occurrence!
I have owned it over two years now and enjoyed every minute with it, fun to drive and doesn't break the bank on running costs. I love the fact that it is aggressive and is discrete enough that I don't get many trying to race me away from lights etc, although its fun to keep up with some more interesting cars!
Lovely Seats
Interior shot
Specs for people that are interested, as standard car
Engine
* 4 cylinders in line, 4 valves per cylinder, 1368 cc
* Power: 155 hp at 5500 rpm
* Max torque 206 Nm at 3000 rpm (230 Nm at 3000 rpm Sport Boost mode)
* Drive-by-wire throttle with no mechanical connection
* Garrett IHI RHF3-P10.5 fixed geometry turbocharger
Transmission
* 6-speed gearbox
* Dual cable external gearbox drive
Suspension and steering
* MacPherson strut front and anti-roll bar
* Torsion beam suspension at the rear
* Lowered sports suspension
* Electric power steering with Sport Boost mode
Brakes
* Fixed front calliper: Brembo M4—40, four piston
* Ventilated front brake disc - 305 mm x 28 mm
* Rear calliper with piston - 54 mm
* Rear brake disc - 264 mm x 11 mm
Original Wheels & Tyres
* Aluminium alloy, 7" x 17"
* Tyres: 215/45R17
Assetto Wheels & Tyres
* Aluminium alloy, 7" x 18"
* Tyres: 215/40 ZR18
CO2 emissions
* 159 g/km
Fuel consumption
* Urban consumption: 30.1 mpg
* Extra-urban consumption: 54.3 mpg
* Combined consumption: 42.2 mpg
Dimensions
* length 4041 mm
* width 1721 mm
* height 1490 mm
Weight
* 1185 kg
Performance
* Top speed 129 mph
* 0-62mph 8.2 secs (7.8 Seconds in Sport Mode)
After owning the car about 2 years (May 2012) I found what's called the Assetto Kit, which is an official fit dealer handling pack, up for a steal in comparison to the cost of what was contained within it. It was a brilliant man maths choice to get it fitted, as I needed new front pads and my tyres didn't have much tread left!
Kit contained
4 x White Wheels, + P Nero Tyres (215/40/R18)
Drilled front and rear disks
DS2500 Front Pads (Same Calipers as the Clio 197)
SS spring kit (lowers 15-20mm)
Which made it look like this
Discs
#Some will hate the wheel colour, its a personal taste thing as I like them (brother hates them), but as it was the last kit in the UK I didn't really have a choice on the colour. They come in a Titanium version as well which might be to other peoples tastes.
I have taken it on a few of the Herts runs and people have been quite surprised how quick it is around the lanes, on straights more powerful machines will leave it behind but it suits the middle of the fast enough but not insane running costs hot hatches.
Pros:
Handles reasonably well
Quick enough of the line, the 0-62 times require 2 gear changes!
Mid Range is great because of the turbo
40-50 mpg if you really want to (I know this is PH an mpg means nothing!)
Average around 28-34 mpg
Bluetooth + MP3 player off USB stick
Cons:
Electrical assist steering, it feels lifeless and doesn't really give enough feedback!
Damping can be interesting on big bumps mid corner!
Those 215/40/R18 tyres will be expensive to replace
Ride on very bumpy roads, especially in the back seats
Drive by wire can be a bit annoying
Edited by TallTom on Friday 1st February 12:27
Looks like a really nice car, very subtle styling but enough that a enthusiast would appreciate it. Can't help feeling that 155bhp now days is nothing though, even though its quite a light car by modern standards. It looks to me more like a well equipped, well styled model, rather then a hot hatch. For this reason it shouldn't have been sold as an Abarth.
zedx19 said:
Looks like a really nice car, very subtle styling but enough that a enthusiast would appreciate it. Can't help feeling that 155bhp now days is nothing though, even though its quite a light car by modern standards. It looks to me more like a well equipped, well styled model, rather then a hot hatch. For this reason it shouldn't have been sold as an Abarth.
There is a 180BHP model also with larger turbo, the 155 is reasonably quick, its not like the older abarths as such e.g. the old 500, 13BHP to 26BHP with the Abarth SS kit, but as a modern equivalent I think its pretty good. More interesting than some other more generic hot hatches.One of the best things about it are the brakes, awesome stopping power!
Gilhooligan said:
Nice! My mate had a bravo with the 150hp 1.4 turbo lump (presumably the same engine) which had a nice surge to it when you booted it. I can imagine that in a lighter car with a sportier chassis would make for a nice hoon vehicle.
Yes pretty much the same engine I think, 5bhp less and a lot less weight and much better brakes! It has uprated roll bars over the original T-Jets also.Very nice, always wished the wife would have upgraded her 8v Active Sport for an Abarth...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/170983148880?ssPageName=...
But she now has a Suzuki.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/170983148880?ssPageName=...
But she now has a Suzuki.
My mate has one of these,modified, having had a re-map, chip and sports exhaust, putting out just over 200bhp. It really does pull well surprising a lot of other, pricier vehicles. Best of all, they feel a lot quicker than they actually are making it bags of fun for relatively little cost.
TallTom said:
Surprising that you had no leg room, I'm 6ft 8! I suffer with headroom problems in the passenger seat though.
O well you are taller than me! HahaWell my car is auto and my left leg can rest of the rest with my knee basically at a right angle, in the punto with my foot over the cluth pedal not pressed in my knee was well too high up, and the seat was all the way back.
So.….. thread resurrection!
So I have owned the car a while now (over 7 years!), and it now lives in London and does about 6-7,000 miles a year (currently hovering around the 81,000 mark I think). I intend to get something different in about 3-5 years and have started doing the occasional track day in it.
After wearing out the remaining brake pads on my first track day (Jan 21st 2017 Bedford) , I needed some new pads and discs, after a chat with a friend who changed his direction on changing his discs, I had the opportunity to go for an OEM+ upgrade and got the floating discs & ferodo compound pads that are fitted to the Abarth Punto Evo SS.
In Box
Fitted (save around 1/2kg a corner I reckon and stand up to a little more track abuse)
Given the mileage, I though it would be about time for a bit of a mechanical 'refresh' to ensure it lives till it gets replaced/turned into a dedicated trackday car. The car had also developed a serious 'wobble' under acceleration after new tyres had been fitted (circa @73,000 miles) and a lot of swapping wheels/balancing wheels didn't make much if any difference, so I knew there was potentially something else up with it/had suspicions what.
The M32 gearboxes are notoriously a weakpoint on these cars due to a design fault (also used in Astra/Corsa VXR) and I knew it might be a matter of time, until it went bang, with that in mind, I decided to do a gearbox + refresh what else might need doing to fix the wobble.
As all the gearbox was off & at 74,000 miles, I decided to replace the following in terms of preventative maintenance and all being the original parts:
- Clutch
- Release Bearing/Slave cylinder (one part)
- Flywheel
- Driveshaft spiders (more on this later)
I bought a revised end case (mk 2 revision, that allows larger bearing & oil gullies for bearing cooling) & it wouldn't really be a thread on Pistonheads without me saying I also decided to add an LSD to the rebuild!
While the garage took apart the car they found what was causing my wobble, its was the cup in the part of the driveshaft having a chip out of it, the part that goes through the gearbox (pretty sure its the 1/2 shaft), the cup was worn/wearing more & the opposing side was starting to wear also. So got both replaced, for piece of mind. Mileage at refresh 74,500
Costs for anyone who is interested
£1,500 - Garage Labour (including new OEM 1/2 shafts & gearbox oil (£500+ parts cost))
£270 - End case + new bearings delivered
£915 - Quaife Diff delivered (can get for cheaper now)
£1200 - Clutch, Flywheel, Spiders, Release Bearing
Total cost - c£3,900....
Part 2 shortly
So I have owned the car a while now (over 7 years!), and it now lives in London and does about 6-7,000 miles a year (currently hovering around the 81,000 mark I think). I intend to get something different in about 3-5 years and have started doing the occasional track day in it.
After wearing out the remaining brake pads on my first track day (Jan 21st 2017 Bedford) , I needed some new pads and discs, after a chat with a friend who changed his direction on changing his discs, I had the opportunity to go for an OEM+ upgrade and got the floating discs & ferodo compound pads that are fitted to the Abarth Punto Evo SS.
In Box
Fitted (save around 1/2kg a corner I reckon and stand up to a little more track abuse)
Given the mileage, I though it would be about time for a bit of a mechanical 'refresh' to ensure it lives till it gets replaced/turned into a dedicated trackday car. The car had also developed a serious 'wobble' under acceleration after new tyres had been fitted (circa @73,000 miles) and a lot of swapping wheels/balancing wheels didn't make much if any difference, so I knew there was potentially something else up with it/had suspicions what.
The M32 gearboxes are notoriously a weakpoint on these cars due to a design fault (also used in Astra/Corsa VXR) and I knew it might be a matter of time, until it went bang, with that in mind, I decided to do a gearbox + refresh what else might need doing to fix the wobble.
As all the gearbox was off & at 74,000 miles, I decided to replace the following in terms of preventative maintenance and all being the original parts:
- Clutch
- Release Bearing/Slave cylinder (one part)
- Flywheel
- Driveshaft spiders (more on this later)
I bought a revised end case (mk 2 revision, that allows larger bearing & oil gullies for bearing cooling) & it wouldn't really be a thread on Pistonheads without me saying I also decided to add an LSD to the rebuild!
While the garage took apart the car they found what was causing my wobble, its was the cup in the part of the driveshaft having a chip out of it, the part that goes through the gearbox (pretty sure its the 1/2 shaft), the cup was worn/wearing more & the opposing side was starting to wear also. So got both replaced, for piece of mind. Mileage at refresh 74,500
Costs for anyone who is interested
£1,500 - Garage Labour (including new OEM 1/2 shafts & gearbox oil (£500+ parts cost))
£270 - End case + new bearings delivered
£915 - Quaife Diff delivered (can get for cheaper now)
£1200 - Clutch, Flywheel, Spiders, Release Bearing
Total cost - c£3,900....
Part 2 shortly
As part of taking it easy for the first 500 miles post LSD fitting/Gearbox refresh, I had a nice weekend away in Snowdon/Snowdonia & the car was performing flawlessly. However on the way home changing lanes on the motorway at 70 or so I managed to drive through what can only be described as the Grand Canyon of pot holes, didn't spot it and it was a strip between two lanes. Resulting in the following damage
I managed to drive home on the wheel still, as no issues holding air, and subsequently got them refurbish & the wheel straightened, I went for a darker colour instead of the original White & it worked well!
Side view (Stealthy looking)
After bedding in the diff, it was time to get to use it properly and I booked another track day at Rockingham, had a great laugh there and as it was damp to begin with and I was on semi slick NS2-R tyres it was a little interesting to put the power down and you could really feel the LSD swapping power between the wheels.
In the afternoon it the track had dried & I had more importantly had some tuition (as its all about the person in the seat as well right!) and the rear tyres took a bit of a beating!
Since then I have also fitted another OEM+ upgrade, by upgrading the suspension to Koni FSD (Frequency Specific Dampening), which have made a huge difference vs stock setup (80,000 miles so partly knackered! & partly terrible dampening!). The car is a lot less crashy with them on, and my spine has thanked me!
My next track day is booked for the evening session on 29th August (Bedford again!), which given all of the mods I have fitted since the last time I has a session there, it will be an interesting comparison. I also picked up a crash helmet as it makes sense to rather than hiring one at £82 delivered vs £20 a hire
Hope you enjoyed the update! Potentially have some other plans for the car in the future (power increase), but some other life things to do first!
I managed to drive home on the wheel still, as no issues holding air, and subsequently got them refurbish & the wheel straightened, I went for a darker colour instead of the original White & it worked well!
Side view (Stealthy looking)
After bedding in the diff, it was time to get to use it properly and I booked another track day at Rockingham, had a great laugh there and as it was damp to begin with and I was on semi slick NS2-R tyres it was a little interesting to put the power down and you could really feel the LSD swapping power between the wheels.
In the afternoon it the track had dried & I had more importantly had some tuition (as its all about the person in the seat as well right!) and the rear tyres took a bit of a beating!
Since then I have also fitted another OEM+ upgrade, by upgrading the suspension to Koni FSD (Frequency Specific Dampening), which have made a huge difference vs stock setup (80,000 miles so partly knackered! & partly terrible dampening!). The car is a lot less crashy with them on, and my spine has thanked me!
My next track day is booked for the evening session on 29th August (Bedford again!), which given all of the mods I have fitted since the last time I has a session there, it will be an interesting comparison. I also picked up a crash helmet as it makes sense to rather than hiring one at £82 delivered vs £20 a hire
Hope you enjoyed the update! Potentially have some other plans for the car in the future (power increase), but some other life things to do first!
Edited by TallTom on Wednesday 15th August 21:15
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff