General "New" 120BHP Grande Punto?

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General "New" 120BHP Grande Punto?

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May 16, 2014
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Hi guys.

I've got a 59 plate 8v 1.4 Grande Punto, which is a big step up from my old 2004 1.2 Punto. However, I still feel like it's lacking some power so I've been looking around and seen some Multiair and some t-Jets around the 120-140 BHP area (and some even higher!).

But my question is, which model is the most powerful, and why can't I seem to find any "brand new" models offering this kind of power? There seems to be so many different versions of the Punto I can't work it out.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not really a petrolhead, but I just like a bit of grunt tbh.

Cheers :)
 
The most powerful of the puntos is the abarth with the essesse kit.

Of the 'regular' fiat badged versions the most powerful is the punto evo with the 135bhp 1.4 multiair engine: they didn't sell many of those. The most powerful grande punto is the 1.9 diesel with 130bhp followed by the 120bhp t-jet.

You won't find high power versions of the latest shape punto, fiat gave up on it and only sold low powered cheaper versions.
 
jameshobiecat summed it up very well, but just to expand on that, it depends how new you want to go really. If you want another Grande Punto, the newest you'll find is a 10 plate, and the powerful engines are as James said (1.4 T-Jet 120 & 1.9 Multijet 130). Both engines are only available in the Sporting spec and are nearly all 3 door. They did a 5dr Sporting towards the end of Grande Punto production but they're rare. They also did a 1.6 Multijet (think it was 120bhp) to replace the 1.9, but again, very rare.

Punto Evo's ran on 10, 60, 11 & 61 plate, but the vast majority were 1.2s and the 1.4 77bhp. There are a few 1.4 MultiAir's, of which the most common (if you can call it that) was the non-turbo 105bhp in Dynamic and GP specs, which can be identified by a 6 speed gearbox. Again as James said, there was a MultiAir Turbo with 135bhp and there was also a 1.6 Multijet with 120bhp, available in Sporting spec. However, ALL Punto Evo Sportings are as rare as hens teeth :(

Finally from 12 plate onwards is the 'Punto 2012'. The 135 MultiAir Turbo and 1.6 Multijet were discontinued soon after the 2012 was released, if they were ever available in the 2012 at all. Your best bet for this age of Punto is the 1.4 MultiAir 105 (non turbo), in Easy, GBT or Sporting spec, although that too was discontinued last year. The only engine you might be able to find, which doesn't sound much but has a bit more oomph, is the TwinAir 85bhp 6 speed. It was available to start with as its own 'TwinAir' trim level (most cars around are red or lime green ex-demo's) but later got rolled out onto the regular trim levels. The TwinAir has a turbo, and despite being a 2 cylinder 0.9 with only 85bhp, it actually pulls the Punto along pretty well. I test drove one and was very pleasantly surprised - if you select Puntos with engines under 1.0 litre in AutoTrader, they'll all come up, otherwise you'll be rummaging through years and years of Mk1 & Mk2 Punto's that are listed under the same catergory (Grande's & Evo's have their own listing, as I suspect you'll know) ;)

If it were me I'd go for a TwinAir in the latest shape Punto or a Grande Punto T-Jet (120bhp). The diesels and MultiAir Turbo's are good but very rare and whilst the 1.4 MultiAir 105 is more readily available, it's not an amazing engine compared to the others. :)
 
Ah thanks guys, really appreciate it. Sheesh, it's all a bit confusing innit!

Yeah I've been looking on AutoTrader etc and every time I think I find "the one" I search for that term and then get even more confused again lol.

So basically a brand new one is out of the question in terms of getting over 120BHP (not that I would buy brand new). Also, I forgot to mention it has to be a 5dr for me, so Abarth is out of the question too :(

So basically I'm better off looking at a pre-2012 T-Jet Sporting or a MultiAir Turbo if I can find them. I have seen both around, so I guess it's a case of playing the waiting game.

Cheers again!
 
Also, I forgot to mention it has to be a 5dr for me, so Abarth is out of the question too :(

If it has to be a 5dr I would bite the arm off the seller of that white T-Jet, as the more powerful engines tend to be in Sporting trim, and Sporting trim was only available with 5dr's for a short space of time, so finding one that's half decent will be tough going.

That white one looks mint to be honest, and the T-Jet is a lot more straightforward than the MultiAir's, with no threat of MultiAir unit failure (currently costing about a grand to replace). So long as it's not had loads of owners, I'd seriously consider that white one ;)
 
Ive got a S2 GP Tjet and my brother has a Evo 135 multi-air and tbh they are virtually the same to drive, the certainly performance wise.

It usually comes down to how many miles you do per year, less than 15k then petrol of which a T-jet is probably your best bet unless you really prefer the Evo, more than 15k then diesel makes sense. 1.9 diesel has reliability issues, especially if remapped and 1.6 is rare.
 
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