Fiat Punto GT

great little car owned since 2009 never let me down in all that time usual parts need to be replaced as with any car so keep on top of that and you should be good regular services are a must, I do oil & filter change at every 3000 miles to keep my turbo in good condition, have just had a load of work done to it to keep it well maintained, so once in a while you do have to spend the cost of a full service, parts are becoming harder to find but if you go on ebay should be able to find most things, this is a specialist car so I wouldn't let just any garage work on it better to go to a fiat specialist in my experience, im sure its faster than the factory 0-60 time, some have been known to rust away but mine seems to be ok, think its the earlier models, electrics have never failed, sunroof still works, there is rust in the sunroof mechanism, probably the worst thing I can think of on the whole car, cant really fault this car as long as you get one that has been looked after, the turbo is buried in the engine bay so is a pain job but not too bad for a competent mechanic, that's probably the biggest money job is if the turbo goes but compared to new cars its cheap. this is a great car to modify very easily with the seb chip and a few modifications, i have seen some up to 500bhp, if you do modify them just make sure you know what you are doing as that's when most of them go bang. handling is not great if you go fast around the corners you do get oversteer but its easy to control and makes it a fun car to drive, low insurance good on petrol (as long as you don't floor it) and best of all it super fast, even 2 litre cars cant beat the gt. Only 230 left in England and Ireland total, only 55 registered on the roads right now, and 175 declared SORN. it seems everybody remembers the Renault 5 turbo and all wanted that car, this is the car everyone forgot and went under the radar, its kind of like a sleeper car as it looks like a normal mk1 punto or sporting and people get shocked when they realise how fast it is, real soon there be hardly any left :-) there are some still coming up on ebay between 2k-3.5k I would highly recommend it to any car enthusiast.

A car accident can be a truly scary event especially if you are the injured party.The car insurance agency involved in the road accident although sympathetic to the victims are not easy to handle with, despite many people regard those cases as extremely easy. The process of filing a car accident claim and receiving a compensation can stretch in time, but it is worth waiting as in most of the cases you get fully reimbursed for the repairs done

I owned one of this little car for over a year and I really have nothing to complain about, the car never broke down and always passed MOT, the only maintenance I have performed on the car are basic break change, oil and filters, but nothing major. Reliability so far after 18 months is 100% positive, fuel consumption is also low so all and all a very good car.

I have seen one go and there very fast to the 60 mile.Hard to get a gt from the fatory do.and not many around they will be very rear in time and a lovely car to hold on to for years to come....Who agree's??????????

I have owned this car for approximately 2 years, originally purchased to take the engine and running components out and put them into a MK2 Punto, The MK2 punto being lower spec i decided to keep this car and complete the necessary body repairs.

my car is 12 years old (R reg: 1998) with now only 53,500 genuine miles, everything works on it as it should all electrics etc, i like the fact that the car itself carries a high spec (this is the top of the range model MK1 Fiat Punto)with electric mirrors, headlamp washers, disc brakes all round and A.B.S. (Automatic Braking System) with mettallic carbon grey in colour (exceptionally rare). Being bought from an auction i never received any service history however my mechanic has informed me that this car is in exceptional condition for a fiat and looking at the engine tells me this car has had an easy life... The MOT station commented also on the condition and after replacing the handbrake cable, brake hoses and cleaning the discs (the car had been standing for a while) passed with no advisories.

Since then i have lowered the suspension 40ml on G-max gas shocks and replaced the airbox for a Pipercross Induction Kit, i did not drive the car on standard suspension as this was being done at the same time as the bodywork. It was my father who told me the standard suspension was not sufficient and advised me to uprate it as it was him whom drove the car back from auction approximately 1.5 years ago now.

My experience of this car at first was "f*ck me this is fast" it comes as i am a Motorcycle rider, the day picking this car up from the auction i dropped my father off on my CBR 600 FS which is estimated 110BHP and 0-60 in 3.6 seconds. I rode the motorcycle home and he drove the car.... Firstly it was an immediate wheelspin out of the yard along a long straight whith terrible uneven road, the car was very quick taking off.... after a while driving we ended up down some country lanes in which again the car was very quick, along the straights my CBR was faster than the GT and had enough power to overtake when pushing it very hard. This car showed itself to be exceptionally fast, a car would never usually even be in the sights of a sports bike when riding fast however it proved necessary to 'ride fast' just to stay with the Punto GT which at times tried to take off without me!

My father informs me that it was driving down the uneven road at the very first stages that he almost lost the car, and at first told me that i would require at least 5 years driving experience before getting into a vehicle like this (which according to him goes like a 3.0 litre capri), i am 22 and the argument was quickly lost due to the fact that he has always encouraged me to ride a motorcycle and supported me totally through the purchase of my CBR 600 FS and further to this raced tuned 2 stroke bikes which i had and was riding.... It was in the agreement that i would change the suspension.

My personal experience of the GT is one that is most positive 'I love my car!' and have the keyring to prove it :)being Fiat i do worry about When something will go wrong however this compares nothing to my CCM 650cc supermoto Motorcycle which required something to be done every single week.... and so far bar general servicing, nothing has gone wrong with my Fiat :)

The Car is Very fast, i always give my car time to warm up before booting it however it can take a while.... to give you an idea of the performance I have stayed with one of the new 59/10 plate Jaguar XF's which was giving it some however could not break away from me at all the smallest 2.7 engine produces over 200BHP upto bigger 3.0, 3.5's, 4.5 engines producing nearly 500BHP).... at another point in the same night i pulled up behind a 1.8 SEAT 20 Valve Turbo (177BHP and 1300kg) (my car being lowered looks a little meaner than usual~) and seeing him look i knew a test of performance was inevitable. the incredible thing was that i stayed with him flat out all of the way (i thought he would get away a litlle bit to be honest, but he didn't)

This car is absolutely exceptional for performance, it is a difficult car to drive at normal pace due to the fact it 'urges' to be driven at a higher pace, it's colour and standard look do not attract the police and so far i have not been stopped, my aim is to look like i am half sensible if i get stopped and not look like a boy racer as i do not wiish to be ridiculed or made example of by the Police, this car really suits that as it truly is a 'Wolf in sheeps clothing' People really do not expect this kind of performance to come out of a car like this... i have actually toyed with scoobies also but most of the time people will look at it and be like 'but it's just a punto'

My friends love it and i love it, people who have spent £5,000 - £30,000 on their cars will hate it as it doesn't have the "i have a brand new BMW" factor. If your not trying to show off and a fast practicle performance car is what you are after, than this car has everything!

The GT is a powerful car and lovely sport car, you buy a fast car without spending a lot of money Punto GT is like a little cute baby you got to take care of it.

I have a Fiat Punto GT 1996. I have read some of the reviews and there are a few GT owners with the same problem I have. The fuel injector light comes on when I am booting it. I have had a new airflow meter put on and now the light isnt coming on but there is no power in 1st and 2nd gear and it is running really lean. Once I get the reeves up and the turbo kicks in the car runs really well. Can anyone help.

All good until 1 day when I accelerate away the car misses like mad. It has started missing when under idle now too. If I put my foot down easy, it hardly misses and seems to go somewhere but still not right. Also the injector light comes on now and then, can anyone tell me what the problem is? I checked all my pipes, can't find any leaking pipes. HELP PLEASE.

I have had my Punto gt for over 5 years. Since that time I have learnt many things through trial and error.

These are the modifications I have learned should not be done on this car. I hope this helps some

The car does not like atmospheric dump valves!!! It upsets the balance and smooth running of the engine. If using an atmos valve poor idling cutting out and loss of boost can be experienced. no true performance car has them!! I have binned my forge atmos in favour of a superior recirc type.

The car does not like fancy spark plugs or leads, stick to OE leads and NGK plugs. If using other types, the electrical properties of the ignition system are changed, and poor running car result. Pops and misfires and incomplete combustion and rich running can occur..

The car should not be lowered. If it is lowered.....

The ride quality becomes harsh, and will hammer hell out of the car and all the other components which will experience increase ware. The car will become too low to the ground, and will hit the floor quite often over bumps, and speed humps are a nightmare. The tyres will not be in full contact with the ground and will be set at an angle like this / ... Instead of how they should be like this | | The geometry of the car will not be as it should, everything will be out of sync...The car will never track correctly. The tyres will ware on the inside edges badly.. It will not handle or break as good as the stock suspension. The car will become very skittish on the road. You will no longer be steering the car, the road surface will be steering you, and you will get constant negative feedback through the steering wheel. It will have no feeling of control or inspire confidence to the driver and become highly unpredictable. I recommend this car is kept on the original Monroe suspension, as it is designed and intended to be, this will offer the best handling on this car. The original suspension is extremely good and should not be changed. If you do you will regret it, honest.. The lower you go the worse it gets I took my car to within maybe 4" of the road with a G-Max kit. Maybe it would not be so bad if it was a slight drop. But the standard car handled so well before it is unnecessary, lowering can only have a negative effect due to the geometry changes... The only thing lowered suspension is good for is the looks and use on flat smooth surface race tracks. Not on the road.. Road holding can be increased with a slightly bigger wheel and a wider tyre. Some power flex arm bushes maybe a good idea too.

I've owned my Fiat Punto for just over a year and haven't had any problems till the piston ring fried on cylinder 4 coz my radiator is in bad shape so the water pump didn't cool the cylinder. Will find out in a few days how bad the damage is when taking it apart. These are great cars but things do go wrong. If you look after them it will last well but be prepared for some time down the line something goes on it. I absolutely love the car and it's definitely worth buying if you are prepared to shell out on petrol/repairs.