Technical Why did Fiat choose this low gearing on the 1.4 8v?

[Twowheeler]

Pretty much the title.

I really like the car, but each time i'm on the motorway it surprises me that the engine runs around 3800 rpm at 120kmh. I've done some comparing to similar cars and most run lower rpm.

Fiesta 1.25/1.4 at 3400, Polo/ibiza/fabia 1.4 16v at 3300.
Corsa, Swift sport and a few French cars run the same as our punto.

But what is the reason behind it? The engine runs very quiet so it's not that big of a deal, but it feels like it could do at least the same as the Polo. Especially since the punto has a more torquey 8v engine.

Curious about the technical reasoning behind it. No need to shift down on the motorway? Better on hilly terain?

 

[varesecrazy]

The Corsa D punto is a fair bit bigger than a polo

My old tipo 1.4 was the same..
Big car little engine ..
Worked well with a 1929cc td

 

[AndyRKett]

When I had my 1.4 8v the engine revs on the motorway always annoyed me, as I usually drive diesels, my golf will do 70-80mph with a fairly peaceful ~1500 - 2000 rpm

So do do those speeds with the 1.4 seemingly screaming along at nearly twice that just felt wrong, noisy and uncomfortable

 

[MikeyB1987]

It's because it's not designed for motorway driving. The Punto always has been designed around being a city car runabout (which I think it excels at). To that end it's geared around getting up to about 50 mph quickly and the rest is irrelevant - all the 1.2's are exactly the same, they're great for town driving as they are nippy little cars and you can rev the nuts off them.
If I'm honest the thing that always baffled me was the persistance of offering just the 1.2 and 1.4 8v engines after they upped the power on the 1.2 to 64bhp on the Grande and 69bhp on the Evo, I always thought offering the 1.4 16v would make more sense

 

[johnatan]

hi Twowheeler
Hello everyone.
I have a simple solution
Install 5. gear wheel from fiat Panda 1.3 mjet!

it is very easy to do, the gearbox does not have to be removed.(can be done in less than 1h)
You will get 120kmh on 3000RMP, better fuel efficiency, less noise and less engine stress.
https://ibb.co/pLCSBX1

 

[varesecrazy]

hi Twowheeler
less engine stress.
https://ibb.co/pLCSBX1

So you have to rev it harder in 4th..

The closer ratios are to give the heavy small output car a feel of 'performance'

A 6 speed would be a much nicer car to drive
I know as Ive got a 5 and 6 speed twinair

 

[AndyRKett]

It's because it's not designed for motorway driving. The Punto always has been designed around being a city car runabout (which I think it excels at). To that end it's geared around getting up to about 50 mph quickly and the rest is irrelevant -

It’s not that it’s not designed for the motorway , the gearing is designed to the engine and to get figures that look respectable on paper, the 1.4 is a weak engine and so needs lower gearing for the 0-60 sprint and to keep emissions low at low speeds, higher gearing would equal higher stress on the engine and higher emissions.

Other puntos with better more powerful engines are much better geared. My 1.6 Punto Evo will sit at a nice quite 2000 rpm at 70-80 mph

 

[Twowheeler]

Maybe the little 1.4 8v is also a lot more efficient at those revs. Comparing it to something like an ibiza 1.4 16v then it is similar in fuel consumption.

The 8v is a quiet running engine though.

 

[Twowheeler]

hi Twowheeler
Hello everyone.
I have a simple solution
Install 5. gear wheel from fiat Panda 1.3 mjet!

it is very easy to do, the gearbox does not have to be removed.(can be done in less than 1h)
You will get 120kmh on 3000RMP, better fuel efficiency, less noise and less engine stress.
https://ibb.co/pLCSBX1

Knew they did this on the swift, but never heard about it for the punto. Good find!

 

[Twowheeler]

So you have to rev it harder in 4th..

The closer ratios are to give the heavy small output car a feel of 'performance'

A 6 speed would be a much nicer car to drive
I know as Ive got a 5 and 6 speed twinair

I've read plenty of people that complain about the punto twinair gearing though. Apparantly there's a lot of changing gear at lower speeds.