ABARTH GRANDE PUNTO 1.4 Turbo 3dr (2008)

So much power in a small car, and really efficient

The Abarth Grande Punto Turbo is an awesome combination of small size and big power. The 'sport' button adds even more fun on top. First of all I never thought I'd get inside a 1.4 litre car and see a six speed gearbox lol, they've clearly juiced a lot of power out of this thing somehow. Zero to sixty in 8 seconds, not bad!!! That certainly sees off all the racer boy Golf noobs at the lights. Plus I regularly have it cruising at over 100, never seems bothered by that. But the best part is that none of this comes across in the fuel costs. It is a 1.4 at the end of the day and it gets about 30-40 mpg - I could probably do better if I behaved better. The insurance is a bit much but that seemed to be the case with any car that had anything interesting to offer.

The sport button in the Abarth Turbo is really a masterpiece. Without that down it's a pretty smooth ride, almost relaxing, and you can pretty much understand that you're in a 1.4. Put it down though and as soon as you tickle the accelerator it roars, rarraaaaaaagghghghhh! Very satisfying, and the throttle becomes way more responsive too. It's a different machine then. For the price and the size of it, you could do a hell of a lot worse for a sporty little beast. The button itself is really cool too, this big red thing in the middle of the dash. PUSH THE RED BUTTON hahaha..

Decent stereo controls on the steering wheel, if a little bit sticky at times. The main stereo panel and aircon controls and all that look a little bit.. hmm, a little bit ordinary though, and that lets it down a little bit. I mean you're not really paying for a muscle car so fair enough, but it just takes some of the shine off. Mind you the racing seats and the rest of the interior don't look boring, and anyway you'll be concentrating on the road when you get behind the wheel.

I had the suspension lowered on this for more feedback and more fun, but obviously this has made it quite a bit less comfy, so you won't be driving your nan out round the shops in it. Mind you it's actually got lots of space for a car like this, I mean the boot in the Abarth Grande Punto really is bigger than you'd expect. I got me and three mates in with all our football kit and some of the gear four our five a side game. It swallows all that easily enough.

I reckon one of the biggest problems with this is first of finding one anywhere (took me about four months from starting to look to actually buying it, plus a cross-country trip - but that was lots of fun in this car anyway). Secondly is getting parts for it, cos it's hardly a Yaris there aren't many about.