|
At first glance it looked like a mixture
of several different cars put together in
a 'cut-and-shut' sort of way, but after
having a good look around it, you begin
to appreciate how good it really looks.
No sharp lines or sticky out bits. Everything
perfectly moulded and sleek. There are,
as with the rest of the Punto's, a large
and varied number of trim and engine levels,
but externally you won't know what you are
following. The only thing that signifies
the trim level is the colour of the dot
on the word Punto on the boot. I remember
RED is sporting but that's about all!
The
boot is deceptively large and you could
easily fit in your weekend luggage or 2
x 15" MTX subs and amps. I tend to
lean towards the 3 door version but the
5 door does have its appeal. Inside the
trim is as funky as ever with controls all
to hand, including a fantastic boot release
button on the dash! The base model dials
are a little spartan and not very interesting
but again easy to see and read. Now I'm
over 6 foot and on the large side and found
the room inside a bit cramped with not much
headroom but for your average Joe it should
be fine.
And
so off on the test drive. First impressions
were good driving 'around town' with smooth
gear changes and a comfy ride. Now this
was the 1.2l 8v and when it got out on the
open road, with 4-passengers it began to
struggle and I really had to push the revs
to get any sort of decent(ish) performance
out of it. The car did get some admiring
glances though!
In
conclusion I would say that none of the
charm or driveability has been taken away
and all of the nice touches, such as the
City driving button, are still there. The
smaller engines cars are going to be great
for shopping trips or to school but for
serious fun I would suggest the 1.9(Sporting)
or similar variant. In my opinion it's going
to be a winner."
-Written
by:
'Farcough'
|
