| |
Powertrain: 1.3 Multijet - Fiat-tuned!
Leading the onslaught for the Grande Punto is Fiat's very own (and
very impressive) 1.3 litre Multijet diesel engine. Jointly developed
by Fiat, Suzuki and General Motors we've seen this award-winning
compact turbo-diesel do duty in the Suzuki Swift, Tata Indica Vista
and Fiat's Palio, 500 and Linea. Despite so many cars sharing the
same engine, Suzuki seems to be the one to have mastered the art
of tuning the Multijet as seen on their Swift as the DDiS. Somehow
Fiat doesn't seem to be able to get the same kind of performance
out from the 1248cc DOHC oil burner and the same situation continues
with the Grande Punto. On paper it makes around 76PS of power at
4000rpm and a whopping 197Nm of torque starting at 1750rpm. But
where the Fiat-tuned Multijet is distinctly different is in the
way its turbocharger has been integrated into the grand scheme of
things. The turbo spools at a higher 2000rpm and even though you
can clearly hear the exhaust gases do the twist on the turbo's vanes
the surge you get when it does kick in is pretty mild. Coupled with
the gear ratios, this may be Fiat's ploy to make driveability more
user friendly by avoiding any unexpected surge in power, it certainly
does hamper your image of the Multijet's capabilities - especially
if you've driven a Swift DDiS before. That said, the Grande Punto
1.3 Multijet is a tame animal and quite a few people prefer it stays
that way and understandably so.
The 16 valve engine is mated with a 5 speed manual gearbox with
some well sorted gear ratios - for the tamer setting on the engine
of course. There's adequate grunt all the way to fourth gear while
fifth is more of a highway overdrive setting and does wonders to
the Grande Punto's fuel efficiency figures. Something that the Punto
does lack in the transmission department though is feel. Shifts
are rather rubbery and we had a bit of a problem convincing the
lever to slot into third during our performance tests.
View: 1.3 Multijet Specs, 1.4 Fire Specs, 1.3 Multijet Ratings, 1.4 Fire Ratings
|
