Fiat Punto Evo
Fiat reveals its Punto Evo - is it as exciting as the great name suggests?
This is the new Fiat Punto Evo. And yes, it shares its name with a number of performance car greats – the Lancia Delta Integrale Evo and the Mitsubishi Evo IX – as well as ourselves, but its exciting new suffix is merely the name of the facelifted Grande Punto.
It’s always been one of the funkier supermini offerings, and this mid-life update will doubtless do little to change that. Exterior tweaks amount to more complex lights front and rear as well as a new bumper and split grille up front, the combination making the styling a bit more fiddly than its Maserati Coupe-inspired predecessor.
The big news lies underneath the bonnet, with a range of conscience-pleasing engines. There are second-generation versions of Fiat’s (pretty good) Multijet diesels, as well as the debut of Multiair petrols. They boost power and torque and reduce fuel consumption by directly controlling air via the inlet valves.
Fiat reckons that compared to their regular petrol equivalents, the Multiairs boast up to 10 per cent more power and 15 per cent more torque, while cutting fuel consumption and CO2 emissions by around a tenth.
There’ll also be a dual-fuel methane engine (which is subject to a 5000 euro contribution from the Italian government’s scrappage scheme) and an LPG Punto, too.
There’s no firm information on the engines themselves (or which will make it to the UK), but we’ll find out more when the Punto Evo makes its debut at the Frankfurt motor show on September 15. As usual, we’ll be live from the show, with updates on our Frankfurt page.
