Abarth Punto Evo review

Last year, Fiat shifted 247 Abarth Puntos in the UK. Granted, 2009 sat somewhere near the late Middle Ages in the grand league table of ‘Good Years For Selling Cars’, yet Mini still sold 4,303 Cooper Ss over the same period: seventeen times the Punto’s total. Setting the Punto against the dominant Cooper may be slightly harsh, but UK buyers also purchased more than 1,000 Abarth 500s that year.

Abarth Punto sales and new Evo basis

In Britain, then, the response to the Abarth Punto has amounted to an emphatic meh. A new version has now arrived, however, based on the facelifted Punto ‘Evo’, and it ought to win over a few additional buyers, at least in theory.

The Abarth Punto uses a turbocharged take on Fiat’s 1.4-litre ‘MultiAir’ engine. Its intelligent valve-control system saves substantial fuel while increasing torque. Producing 163bhp, it has 10bhp more than the previous Abarth Punto 1.4, although that remains a fairly restrained figure by current hot-hatch standards. The engine is polished and smooth, but the Punto feels lively rather than wild, as expected: it takes one second longer to reach 60mph than our small-hot-hatch champion, the Clio 200. An SS package, due shortly, will add around 20bhp. It may be worth waiting for.

Ride, handling and Torque Transfer Control

One caveat: our drive was limited to the marble-smooth asphalt at Fiat’s Balocco test track. We will reserve final judgement until it has faced a rough B-road, although the ride seemed well calibrated: secure and predictable with plenty of grip, if less immediate and firm than the Clio 200.

Even so, it is markedly sharper than the previous Punto. The Abarth Punto receives Fiat’s Torque Transfer Control system for the first time, an electronic imitation differential that applies braking to the inside front wheel when the Sport button is pressed. It performs effectively, pulling the nose much more tightly into sharp corners and reducing understeer. Indeed, it works so well that it is hard to picture a circumstance where you would choose to deactivate it.

A more grown-up Abarth Punto

Considering it comes from the firm behind the excitable, puppy-like Abarth 500, the Punto is unexpectedly grown-up. Is it likely to bring in a wave of new customers? Almost certainly not. Although it improves on its predecessor, it is difficult to identify what the Punto delivers that rival hot hatches cannot: its steering and gearchange fall well short of the fingertip engagement offered by the Clio, while it lacks the boutique appeal of the Alfa MiTo and Citroen DS3.

View the Punto Abarth as a mini GT instead of a hot hatch, though-a car that handles economical everyday drudgery while providing a little sparkle when required-and it begins to make greater sense. Go on, give an Abarth a home.