General 1.6 16v Mjet Sporting - replaces 1.9?

[Aresby]

Believe me, if I could afford a Bravo I would test drive one.

But I certainly wouldn't try one out to see whether it was like a Punto because I would be so dissatisfied with the Punto afterwards! (I'm guessing here, but hire cars I've driven have that effect on me).

Anyway I test drove the 1.9 and I can confirm that the seats were fine (looked sporty, felt just like my own) and there was no turbo lag to speak of, although it was not anything like my old Astra GTE 2.0 120 which was the most powerful car I've ever owned! And the most fantastic to drive, especially if you fed it super unleaded!

So I'm now going to do my sums and see how it stacks up. Did you know that Fiat now charge extra for any other colour than WHITE? Same colour as my Astra GTE though, so maybe that's an omen. A good one.

Anybody have any experience of Rain Sensor or Parking Sensors? Worth the money? I had rain sensors on a Golf hire car once and it was pretty neat but a different manufacturer may have implemented it differently.

 

[Tris Harris]

ive got rain sensors and parking sensors and they both work very well

and i didnt mean to buy a bravo, i just meant to see what the engine was like.

 

[Aresby]

ive got rain sensors and parking sensors and they both work very well

and i didnt mean to buy a bravo, i just meant to see what the engine was like.

OK, that gives me confidence that they are worth the money. Do the rain sensors give a variable intermittent wipe then? In other words, my current car has a 3 second intermittent wipe, when I really want a variable one, anything from half a second to ten seconds between wipes. Does the rain sensor effectively give you that?

I understood your point about checking out the engine in the Bravo but it's a better quality car and I dare not trust myself to test drive it; otherwise I'd be wanting to buy one (which I can't afford)! The 1.9 was OK (not as good as I'd been led to believe but better [responsive] around town than my 1.3).

Thanks for your responses, BTW, most helpful.

 

[cardinalbiggles]

No model is available of the 1.6 Mjet 120 for a test drive so the dealer suggests I test drive a 1.9 Mjet 130 Sporting just to get a feel for the seats and general driveability.

As I already have a Grande Punto 90 Mjet 1.3 I agreed as all I want to do is check that the seats are still comfortable and that the dreaded turbo lag that my model suffers from at junctions is not present on the 1.9 (and hence, fingers crossed, on the 1.6 neither).

What do you guys think, will I get a good idea of what I may end up ordering?

Or the MiTo it is available with the 1.6Mjet at 120bhp if you are close to an Alfa Dealer.

 

[Aresby]

Or the MiTo it is available with the 1.6Mjet at 120bhp if you are close to an Alfa Dealer.

I'm not, but your infomation means I'm getting a warm fuzzy feeling that at least the engine is not being introduced for the first time with the Punto as a a guinea pig.

In fact it looks like the 1.6 Mjet 120 (or even the 105) is going to be a feature in most of Fiat's offerings in the future.

Am I right in thinking that the 1.6 120 is an Mjet and not a Tjet (or that is the latter just the petrol version)?

 

[punto_matt]

White has always been the only colour you dont have to pay for.

 

[Tris Harris]

OK, that gives me confidence that they are worth the money. Do the rain sensors give a variable intermittent wipe then? In other words, my current car has a 3 second intermittent wipe, when I really want a variable one, anything from half a second to ten seconds between wipes. Does the rain sensor effectively give you that?

Yeah, if you have auto wipers, you dont have the intermittent setting on the stalk- the rain sensor varies the speed of the intermittent wipe according to the conditions (and guages it well in my opinion, better than my dads 335d) right up to the fastest constant on setting. Parking sensors are nice and loud aswell, and leave about a foot behind you when the beep is constant (ie telling you to stop).

I'm not, but your infomation means I'm getting a warm fuzzy feeling that at least the engine is not being introduced for the first time with the Punto as a a guinea pig.

In fact it looks like the 1.6 Mjet 120 (or even the 105) is going to be a feature in most of Fiat's offerings in the future.

Am I right in thinking that the 1.6 120 is an Mjet and not a Tjet (or that is the latter just the petrol version)?

1.6 is an m-jet (multijet) which is diesel. T-jet is turbo petrol engine.

 

[Aresby]

Yeah, if you have auto wipers, you dont have the intermittent setting on the stalk- the rain sensor varies the speed of the intermittent wipe according to the conditions (and guages it well in my opinion, better than my dads 335d) right up to the fastest constant on setting. Parking sensors are nice and loud aswell, and leave about a foot behind you when the beep is constant (ie telling you to stop).

That's bad news for me then. Means it suddenly becomes a must-have item (although at 80 quid you wonder why Fiat didn't just include the damn thing and have done with it). Perhaps I can negotiate this as a freebie!

Thanks for the clarification regard Mjet and Tjet. The 1.4 Tjet Sporting is also on offer at my local dealer at around 1000 to 1200 cheaper than the soon-to-be-available 1.6 Mjet Sporting.

Decisions, decisions. Long-term Mpg vs OTR price. Low down torque vs sprightly performance. The Tjet is quicker (it says) to 62mph than the Mjet although they are both the same power. The Tjet seems very similar in peformance/power as my ex-Astra GTE 2.0 which was one of the best cars I had for 3 years. These days I'm not interested in fast sprints, more in overtaking on the motorway which my current 1.3 90 Mjet already does very well. So I guess either of the other two would still perform better...

Decisions, decisions...

 

[Ulpian]

Do you have to buy a new car NOW. If you can wait six months you might find the engines have been improved substantially?

 

[Aresby]

Do you have to buy a new car NOW. If you can wait six months you might find the engines have been improved substantially?

Nope, January 2010 (ie in 6 months) is when my PCP comes to an end and I either have to pay a 3000 balloon payment or hand the car back in and walk away or, most likely, part exchange it for a minimal amount of equity after that balloon payment.

The last time I did all this the dealer wanted me to have a 3rd year service and MOT before he would give me a p/ex figure so I just walked and got a Fiat Punto instead!

So this time, I want to get it all sorted out beforehand. Delivery won't be before the number plate change in September anyway (not because of the snob value, but because of the eventual p/ex value in 3 years' time. It actually makes a difference!).

The 1.6 Mjet 120 seems to be a "new" engine anyway, although I don't think it is of the Mjet-2 family (yet) which will improve it. But I don't want to wait until January as it also would mean I take a new car at the worst possible time of the year (weather wise: dark, cold, icy, snow, fog etc).

 

[Tris Harris]

Hold off as long as possible, multiair may hopefully be available for the petrol engines which sounds like it will be awesome!