My Fiesta XR2i was getting old – with 107k miles on the clock, its value was depreciating every day. At that age everything on a car starts to need replacing, and I was getting fed up with constantly putting my hand in my pocket every weekend. It was time for a change. The problem is that I’m a bit of a power freak………not that I drive around town scaring OAPs, but more that I like the option of power under my foot should I need it.

One day it came to me in a flash of inspiration – the Fiat Punto GT met all of my requirements. This car really is a wolf in sheep’s clothing and is heavily underestimated by many, and overlooked by most.

***The exterior***

The interior of the GT is neither impressive, nor poor. It is ergonomic and carefully laid out, although very plasticy. Fiat have made an attempt to provide sports seats, although in my opinion, they don’t match the power of the car, and fail to provide adequate side support. You never really feel as though you are being held into the seats effectively, which can make for an uncomfortable ride whilst cornering at speed. Although the seats are very comfortable, they are made of cloth, which can feel a little rough on bare skin. Overall I feel that given the high specification of the Punto GT, it could have benefited from some velour or leather Recaro sports seats.

Safety is another area that Fiat haven’t overlooked. With a driver’s airbag as standard, disc brakes (front and rear), ABS and side impact protection.

This is my favourite part of reviewing a car, and the Punto GT is hardly a disappointment. As previously mentioned, the car is 1.4, 8 valve, turbocharged and intercooled, producing nearly 140bhp at the flywheel. This results in the car having a 0-60 sprint of 7.6 seconds, and a top speed of 126mph – in fact the time of 7.6 seconds is even better than it sounds, in that you have to change to 3rd gear to hit 60mph… if the rev limiter was raised slightly, enabling 60mph in 2nd gear, the 0-60 time would be below 7 seconds. The in gear times are equally impressive due to the large turbocharger. The 0-100 time of just over 20 seconds is particularly impressive, and embarrasses cars such as the Citroen Saxo VTS and Peugeot 106 Gti, who are supposed to be in a similar league, but only return times of around 25 seconds. In fact, to put the 0-100 time into perspective, compare it to that of a Ford Escort RS Cosworth, which completes it in 16.5 seconds.

The GT has a very small engine (1372cc), but has the performance of 2.5 V6 cars (better than most in fact). In generates these huge power figures purely using a great big turbocharger. Most road going turbo cars have turbochargers running at a pressure of between 8-12psi (pounds per square inch), which gives a subtle “kick” to your acceleration. The Punto GT’s turbocharger runs at nearly 19psi. Great, you think!!! Well, not quite actually………couple this with the fact that the turbo starts to spool quite late (just over 3000rpm as opposed to 2000-2500rpm for many) and you’ve got a Jekyll and Hyde on your hands!! Before the boost picks up, you have a * very * sluggish car indeed – you would think that it was maybe a 1.0 litre. If you squeeze the accelerator a little harder, the car takes off like a rocket. Please don’t get me wrong – this kind of power feels lovely, but is highly impractical for town and city driving. It would be better if the turbo came in a little earlier so that you could get a little “pick up” around town!!

As previously mentioned, the Punto GT is no longer made by Fiat. They have replaced it with the Punto HGT, which is a 1.8 16 valve, non-turbo car. The price of the Punto GT when new was about £11,000. Nowadays (and this is the reason it attracted me) you can pick up 1996/7/8 models for between £4500 and £6000. If you go even older (not advisable on a turbocharged car), you can pick them up for £3000, and conversely the later 1999 models can be bought for around £7000. This is not very good news for people who bought them new, but makes the bargain of the century for people like me – especially as they have already lost the large proportion of their value, and the rate will slow down now.

***In summary***

Who should buy a Punto GT? I’ll be completely honest and say that they are probably most suited to young men. They are not a practical shopping or commuting car due to the power delivery and high fuel consumption. They were made with power and performance in mind and that it how they are best driven. They reward the enthusiastic driver and don’t like hanging around. If you like sexy Italian beasts and the feeling of power, you won’t go far wrong with one of these. There is a large choice of colours, ranging from the exotic Broom Yellow, to the more subdued black and maroon – mine is a gorgeous Midnight Blue. They go quicker than they look (which not only surprises other drivers but also keeps car thieves at bay). Just beware of Italian reliability, which isn’t the best in the world, and can be very expensive – especially with turbocharged cars.
The Fiat Punto GT ceased production in 1999 and has been replaced with the slower, albeit more driveable Punto HGT, which is a 1.8 16v non-turbocharged. It is a fact of motoring life that the models that ooze character and panache, are suited to the minority and don’t make money for the manufacturers, hence discontinuing them. The GT is one of these cars in my opinion, and if you are like me, then you’ll love it… 9/10.