On The Road
Our test vehicle gave a good account of itself at the test track: the 0-50mph dash took 12.5 seconds with a 30-50mph time of just 7.4 seconds – good figures, and around 20% better than the old model, thanks to that extra torque.
The van also coped easily with our 33% (1-in-3) test hill, managing a standing start when fully laden without complaint. The Punto stops as well as it goes, managing a superb peak retardation of 0.96g to give a stopping distance almost 20% shorter than some of the competition. However, it would be nice to have anti-lock brakes as standard.
The Fiat Punto has a unique “Dualdrive” power steering set-up. Nicely weighted for normal use, the power assistance can be increased instantly at the press of a button on the dashboard. It sounds like a gimmick, but when parking this can be invaluable. You won’t leave it on by mistake – get up to speed with the assistance on maximum and you can veer around like a mad thing by squeezing your hand a little harder on one side of the wheel…well, almost.
In general, however, the handling is very good and makes the prospect of a drive in the Punto, whether along a motorway or through town, very inviting.
Each wing mirror has a useful convex blind-spot section, and the view out of the cab is good – unlike some small vans, where the A-pillars are intrusive.
When we drove the old-style Punto we thought the turn indicator was far too loud, saying it sounded “like there’s a small cricket trapped behind the dash”. Well, the cricket’s long gone, chased off, squashed or otherwise expired, to be replaced by a stealth indicator noise which can’t be heard above 30mph. Unless you keep an eye out for the small, inconspicuous repeater lights it’s all too easy to drive with your flashers flashing.
Cab Comfort
The Punto Van scores very highly here. Why is it that when presented with a small cabin the designers really seem to get to work to make the most of it? When they’re given a lot of space they sometimes seem to make no effort at all.# The Fiat has more storage than many large vans’ it comes in sensible shapes and is made from good-quality plastics.
The central console houses a cup holder; a good sized glove box sits beneath a deep recess on the dash, with another recess above the console.
The seat fabric is attractive and the seat is commendably supportive – Fiat seems to have improved its upholstery a good deal recently, with this model and the larger Doblò. The seat and steering wheel are both height adjustable so we think most drivers will be accommodated well by the Punto unless they are so tall they can’t get the seat back far enough. Our six-foot tester certainly didn’t find it a problem.
Seat-belts are also adjustable and they are allied to a driver’s airbag which comes as standard. A good-quality RDS stereo cassette player is also included; a combined Blaupunkt radio-CD and satellite navigation unit is available for £766 (ex-VAT).
