Hello to you all,
Hope you've all enjoyed the two lovely Bank Holiday weekends. Back to normal tomorrow...
Anyhoo, I will hopefully be in a position to get rid of my Megane soon (yay!) and, as Mrs B's Grande Punto 1.2 has impressed me I will be seriously looking at another Grande Punto. I will be after a diesel, though, as my weekly commute amounts to a shade over 300 miles. I had a drive of a '57' plate 1.9JTD Sporting at my local 'many makes' dealer which I loved, but realistically it'll probably have to be the 1.3 Mulitjet.
I believe that the 1.3 Dynamic has slightly more power than the 1.3 Active, so that would be my choice. So, my question is this: have any of you ever driven both the 1.3 Multijet diesel Dynamic, and the 1.2 petrol Grande Puntos (Puntoes...?) and is the diesel roughly equivalent to the petrol in terms of acceleration and performance?
I don't really want to waste a dealer's time by getting them to source a 1.3 for me to test drive until I know exactly how much moolah is heading my way, so that's why I have sought your valued opinion.
Cheers, all.
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Whats is it with people on here and matching cars eg: Humph and is pair of Qashqais, Cheddar and his mooted pair of BMWs.
Jumpers and carcoats to go with?
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>> Jumpers and carcoats to go with?
Hell, no! And if anyone starts calling us Howard and Hilda I shall sulk.
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>> Whats is it with people on here and matching cars eg: Humph and is pair
>> of Qashqais, Cheddar and his mooted pair of BMWs.
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Hehe, that's looking very likely now.
Re the OP, why not the 1.9?
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>> Re the OP, why not the 1.9?
I liked the 1.9JTD Sporting that I drove. I really, *really* liked it. But the 1.3 Multijet is £100 a year less on the VED, costs less to insure and has better fuel economy. I've only ever had sensible cars, dictated by circumstances. Now, I can vote with my heart for a change. But the figures for the 1.3 are very compelling. Guess I'll just have to find a dealer that has a 1.3 in and take it for a spin.
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>> I liked the 1.9JTD Sporting that I drove. I really, *really* liked it. ... ... ... ... ... ... I've only ever had sensible cars, dictated by circumstances. Now, I can vote with my heart for a change. >>
The 1.9 is a sensible car, go for it if you like it.
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>> the 1.3 Multijet diesel Dynamic
Might be talking out my you know what as usual, but i think that engine's at least related to the 1.3 CDTi in my old Corsa.
530 miles to a tank! In todays money a tank would cost ~£50 i think.
Happiest about 60mph on the motorway but capable enough to keep up with 3rd lane traffic if needed without much fuss. Drove more like a small to medium petrol in some ways than a bigger diesel.
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The Panda forum is full of them too. The most extreme example is one family which have four Pandas.
I think some people like to play it safe and buy what they know. I bought a Panda because my mate got one and he had no trouble with it all. I had done a 130 mile journey sat in the back of it and was comfortable (I am 6ft) so it impressed me for what it was despite the obvious penny pinching in some areas compared to my Corsa I had the time.
The Corsa diesel is a FIAT Multijet unit, I think FIAT gave GM use of their small diesels in return for FIATs use of larger GM petrols.
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I drove a Doblo van with the 1.3 multijet and it didnt feel slow in that so I imagine its quite capable in the Punto, sweet little engine.
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>> I drove a Doblo van with the 1.3 multijet and it didnt feel slow in
>> that so I imagine its quite capable in the Punto, sweet little engine.
Thanks for that - did you have the Doblo fully loaded?
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No, it was just a sprited test drive, but in the end my wife wanted an auto after a confidence crisis, but otherwise the 1.3 Doblo seemed like a fantastic proposition and I may yet have one in the future.
Even in the Doblo it has some genuine tug, so in the Punto it must feel reasonably muscular altho less than the 1.9 of course.
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There's a family near me that has 1 punto and 3 grande punto, guessing they must be good little cars.
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Might be worth a look at HJ:
www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/fiat/grande-punto-2006/?section=data
As you can see, 13.6s/62.8mpg for the 75ps Active vs. 11.9/61.4 for the 90ps Dynamic. Haven't looked at the details.
EDIT: slightly different figures here
www.honestjohn.co.uk/road-tests/fiat/fiat-grande-punto/?section=performance
Last edited by: Focus on Tue 3 May 11 at 08:25
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When i researched the C2 VTS 1.6 HDI which we eventually bought, it only had one serious competitor that offered excellent power/performance/economy package with £30 VED and that was the 1.6 multijet GP Diesel.
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We had two Mondeo estates at one time too. A new yin an' an auld yin. Now they were useful. The Qashqais are just a Cheshire thing. We might buy a sunbed too.
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FIAT Grande Punto - Which diesel? - Alastairw
