A Punto that can do 214 km/h and has 180bhp. Those are the headlines

The Fiat Grande Punto as we know it is one of the best looking hatchbacks in India. Last year Fiat India decided to give the Punto more firepower by plonking a 1.4 liter engine which churns out 89bhp to increase the Punto’s performance. As the 1.2 liter Punto was considerably underpowered.

Elsewhere in the world Fiat has launched a Punto that has the same 1.4 liter engine but makes 180bhp, yes you can read that again, 180bhp. That’s like loading a revolver with the bullets from a shotgun!! The 180bhp Punto is called the Abarth Punto Evo Esseesse. Abarth, incidentally, is a company that has been tuning little Fiats since 1959 to make them go like stabbed rats.

Before we proceed, let me indulge you a bit regarding what a hot hatchback can do. A hot hatch is the ultimate urban tool in the automobile world. When you see one on the road you probably think the teenage owner has stuck colourful bits of plastic and some vinyls to make his car look ‘sporty’. But beware, as these little cars have enough under the hood to make your hair stand on end when you go pedal to the metal.

Every petrolhead craves for a good hot hatch, after all it’s at the top of any enthusiast’s fantasy car garage list. The coolest part about hot hatchbacks is that when you pull up in one at the traffic lights beside a big, expensive and heavy performance car, the driver in the bigger car throws you a dirty look, as if to say, ‘All you have is a lousy plastic replica while I have the real deal”. However, when the lights go green the hot hatch just pulls away from the bigger car with so much ease because of the power and low kerb weight that the driver in the bigger car simply watches in amazement. And there is little he can do about it as the hot hatch wriggles through traffic while he is busy honking to get other cars out of his way. That is the magic of a hot hatch and you better be aware of the time you see one, unless you are in one that is.

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Now, back to the car. The Abarth Punto Evo has been around for a while now, however the engineers at Abarth decided that a Punto which generates 155bhp and has a top speed of 208 km/h was a joke and the car needed to be taken seriously. So, Abarth replaced the Electronic Combustion Unit and upgraded the Garret GT1446 fixed-geometry turbo charger. As a result, the Abarth Punto Evo Esseesse packs in 180bhp, goes from 0-100 km/h in 7.5 seconds and onto a top speed of 214 km/h. The six speed manual gearbox features Abarth’s option of two settings ‘Normal’ (for when you are feeling a bit under the weather)  and ‘Sport’ (for the rest of the time). The brakes are from Brembo.

Do not think that this car is all about straight line speed though. The suspension has been beefed up and there are Koni FSD dampers at all four ends so you can control some evil front wheel drive power slides. This has lowered the ride height of the Abarth Punto Evo Esseesse which makes it look even more aggressive.

This exquisitely styled and tuned hatch manages to be kind to the environment to a certain extent as well. The engine comes equipped with Fiat’s version of variable valve timing called MultiAir and is Euro 5 complaint, which says a lot about the adhering to stringent pollution norms. Further to this, the gear shift indicator helps the driver optimize fuel economy and the car also comes fitted with an automatic start&stop system. All this might sound like a bit like ‘environmnet friendly overkill’ on a hot hatch and though most owners will be busy redlining the car, it is good to know that the Abarth Punto Evo Esseesse does its two bits to save the environment without sacrificing out on the fun quotient.

Equipped with immense drool value, the Abarth Punto Evo Esseesse is probably one of the finer hot hatches out there and the tragedy we have to live with is that Fiat doesn’t have any plans on bringing this car to India. I may be too optimistic to say never and will continue to keep my fingers crossed as it truly would be more than the ultimate surprise to see this car launched here.