Abarth Grande Punto (2008 – 2010) Review

The Abarth Grande Punto was the car tasked with re-establishing this famous Italian performance brand, and it did a decent job of it. With a 155PS 1.4-litre turbo petrol engine, it was lively but not especially quick unless you opted for the pricey esseesse kit that boosted power to 180PS. However, it was enough to put the Abarth Grande Punto into contention with the likes of the MINI Cooper S, big-selling Ford Fiesta Zetec-S and even the Volkswagen Polo GTI. Read on for our full Abarth Grande Punto review.

The Abarth Grande Punto brought to Britain an Italian tradition of a crate of parts arriving at a dealer or tuning shop to upgrade a standard Fiat car. This was how it was done in the 1960s, when Abarth was at its peak of creating fast Fiats. 

Abarth special parts used to arrive at the garage in a wooden crate and the spannermen would get to work turning a humble Fiat into something more desirable.

It was a lovely story, but modern reality meant the Abarth Grande Punto was an affordable model within Fiat’s range intended to take on its warm and hot hatch rivals such as the MINI Cooper and MINI Cooper S, as well as the likes of the Ford Fiesta Zetec-S.

It also paved the way for other Abarth models such as the Abarth 500, Abarth 595 and Abarth 124 Spider.

The outcome for the Abarth Grande Punto was a 155PS 1.4-litre turbo engine in a car with firmed up suspension and stronger brakes. It also came with bold colour schemes and bigger alloy wheels, while inside there were some small improvements to the detailing.

A bigger change was the optional esseesse kit that customers could specify. This increased engine power to 180PS, and dropped the 0-60mph from 7.9 seconds to 7.2 seconds. It wasn’t a cheap option when new – it added £3500 on top of the list price – but it’s now a prized extra among used buyers.

The basics of the standard Fiat Grande Punto remain with a decently roomy cabin and boot, but so do the drawbacks of mediocre build quality and not much safety kit by modern standards.

Fancy a new Abarth ? Read our review of the Abarth 500e here.

The Abarth Grande Punto is certainly a car worth considering if you want a hot hatch with reasonable practicality.

Its spacious cabin offers more room for front and rear passengers than the likes of the Vauxhall Corsa VXR or Renault Clio RS, and it knocks a MINI Cooper S out of the equation in this respect.

The drivers sit a little more upright and higher than in most hot hatches, but this affords a good view, and all-round vision in the Abarth Grande Punto is better than most rivals.

The Abarth specification brings air-conditioning and sporty pedals, which are ideally placed for fast road and track driving.

In mid-2009, Abarth offered an upgraded set of front seats for new buyers trimmed in fabric or more expensive leather.

A lot of the points of contact for the driver’s hands inside the Abarth Grande Punto are covered in leather.

This gives an initial sense of quality, but it’s not backed up when you dig a little deeper into the cabin, where you often find sharp edges and slightly flimsy plastics.

However, there’s no faulting the basic driving position of the Abarth Grande Punto and the amount of adjustment in the steering and seating positions.

The front sports seats are also comfortable and supportive.

This hot hatch hails from a time before infotainment and touchscreens, so you get a radio and CD stereo with MP3 audio connection.

It also comes with Fiat’s Blue&Me hands-free set-up, so you can pair your phone to the car. This was still not a given in all cars when the Abarth Grande Punto was launched in 2008.

The Abarth Grande Punto didn’t exactly storm the new market in the two years it was on sale, although it was quite affordable with an entry price of £14,405.

To this, you could add the Assetto suspension upgrade for £2200 or the full esseesse package that included the suspension, plus a power increase to 180PS, for £3500.

As a used buy, the Abarth Grande Punto is hard to come by. Most have either been driven to destruction or are being tucked away by enthusiasts.

If you do find one for sale, reckon on paying around £4000 for a clean, tidy example with reasonable mileage.

Fuel economy is not the first consideration for anyone buying a hot hatch, but the Abarth Grande Punto makes an effort with an official claimed figure of 40.9mpg.

That was assessed under the old testing methods, so reckon on mid-30s in daily driving.

Insurance for the Abarth Grande Punto is in Group 30, which is a bit higher than some of its key rivals, so shop around for the best deal.

Servicing won’t be too onerous so long as the Abarth Grande Punto has been properly looked after by previous owners, but watch for broken cabin plastics and trim.

In terms of road tax, this hot hatch will cost you £240 per year based on its emissions and prices at the time of writing.

The Abarth Grande Punto has quite stiff suspension, and the ride can suffer over dilapidated urban streets. But the damping is excellent, so it can be enjoyed on B-roads, where the chassis comes together with a grippy front end to deliver a decent drive.

Things are improved further when the Sport button is pressed. Not only does the engine provide more torque, the electric steering weights up and gives you all the feedback you want.

In some respects, it’s actually better than a MINI Cooper S. You can attack rural roads with a grin from ear to ear, then, when you get to a motorway, switch Sport off and cruise in as much refinement as a MINI Cooper S.

The Assetto suspension kit came with firmer suspension and 18-inch alloy wheels in place of the standard 17-inch items.

Under the bonnet you get a mildly tweaked Fiat 1.4 T-Jet engine, mustering 155PS instead of its normal 150PS.

A sport overboost button summons an extra 23Nm of torque, bringing the maximum to 229Nm (a MINI Cooper has 160Nm and a MINI Cooper S 260Nm on overboost).

This hauls the Abarth Grande Punto to 60mph in a lively 7.9 seconds and on to 129mph, with no huge sacrifice in economy and CO2.

The esseesse package included a turbocharger with boost increased from the standard car’s 1.3 bar to 1.5 bar, a different injector rail, new water cooling and oil pipes to the turbo, a new exhaust system and revised ECU electronic ‘brain’ for the engine.

That little lot boosts maximum power to 180PS to pull the 0-60mph time down to 7.2 seconds and lift the top speed to 133mph.

The Fiat Grande Punto acquitted itself well when it was tested in period by Euro NCAP, especially for adult occupant protection. All models come with twin front and side airbags, as well as ESP, ABS brakes and Isofix rear child seat mounts.

However, this is quite an old car now, so don’t expect any driver aids such as lane assistance or autonomous emergency braking.

Few hot hatch drivers are likely to tow a trailer, but if you feel the need, then the Abarth Grande Punto can pull a braked trailer of up to 1000kg. No figure is quoted for an unbraked trailer.

The Abarth Grande Punto was offered to buyers in three levels, based on whether they wanted to opt for one or both of the options packs.

The standard car comes with a height-adjustable driver’s seat, Blue&Me hands-free communications system, a radio/MP3 player, fully adjustable steering wheel, air-conditioning, dark tinted windows, electric front windows and cruise control.

On the outside, you’ll find 17-inch alloy wheels, a deeper front bumper and fog lights.

The Abarth Grande Punto Assetto kit cost £2200 when new and brought a set of 18-inch alloy wheels along with lowered, firmer suspension for improved handling.

On top of this, new buyers could tick the box for the Abarth Grande Punto esseesse kit, which included the Assetto suspension upgrades along with tuning parts for the engine that increased power to 180PS.

Abarth Corse by Sabelt sports front seats were also offered as another option from mid-2009, although these were far from cheap at £1760 for the fabric items, and a whopping £2250 for the leather-trimmed versions.