My younger brother has just bought a Punto GT, we were looking at 106 gti's but decided that they were too small.

£4000 for a 98 model with only 15 000 miles, Oz 16' alloys, tarox breaks and clifford alarm was too good to turn down. Its only the second turbo car ive ever driven the other being a Fiat Coupe, i must say it does take some getting used to, that lag business is strange, i had a Supercharged corrado before and the power was pretty instant but the turbo rush is very addictive!!!

The handling is ok but not as good as a 106 gti, the breaks are good and the overall performance is nice but i would say that they need a exhaust and boost being upped for it to be described as a hot hatch in my opinion and why the group 14 insurance?????

Still overall a good car.

Forza italia

 

I bought one for my first car a couple of years ago purely because I wanted a turbo (I didnt even look at the comptetition, saxos etc). I fitted a Scorpion Exhaust (including Decat) Piper X filter and Bailey DV and it sounded pretty sweet!
Hope he enjoys it and it's a tad more reliable than mine

 

congrats.[] not a bad price for a 98 either.

is it running the std boost valve (pierburg) or has it had a bleed/boost controller set up?


join up to puntosports.co.uk - we'll be able to tell you all the things that go wrong with them... []

 

Had a 98 R punto GT turbo from new with no problems apart from an alarm that went off all the time.

You should have some fun wasting other GTis in a straight line...not many people seemded to know how fast the punto was when I had one...surprised a few people

Loved it, apart from the lack of traction in the wet

Good fun car and not as well liked as it should be...usually by GTi badge snobs that have never driven one!

 

I think its a pretty cool car, more practicle than a saxo or 106 gti as they are so bloody small and my brother is 6", besides the Punto seems more speced up with full electrics, nicer interior and passenger air bag.

The car is standard apart from the Oz wheels, tarox breaks front n rear and a k + n panel filter... the car could do with more boost i think, i luv to put a dump valve on it but ive red sumwhere that u must use a recirculating type not an atmsopheric whooshing one... does anybody know why???

First turbo car we've owned before i hope its not too unreliable unlike my last car Corrado G60.

 

Because you don't want tosound like a turbo'd Nova(shyte).

Andy

 

Or a sensible answer would be....Bailey do a Piston type DV which works with no problems (think it's called a DV26 or DV28?).
A mate of mine fitted a DV to his Punto GT and it was one that you could adjust, it caused no end of problems making the car stall etc. Phone someone who sells em and they should be able to tell you which one you need exactly.

 

doesnt HAVE to be recirculating type, a bailey DV26, forge or collins will all work, one guys, just fitted a HKS one and it works fine it needs to be a twin piston in order to not stall the car.

a '98 will be a GT3 (3 versions of the same engine) so a limit on boost will be about 17/18psi.

make sure you buy a proper aftermarket gauge if you do up it- the in dash guage is notoriously inaccurate.

 

is that what happenes when u choose the wrong DV... the car stalls??? wow i didnt know that!!!!

I dont think we r going to mod it all that much, just exhaust and dump valve i think, it would sound wikkid then....

Dumpvalves dont increase the boost though???

thanks for the replys

 

yeah, a DV24 will vent to atmosphere (go woosh) , but because its a single piston type it will cause the air flow meter to read incorrently and the car is incredibly lumpy to drive and generally stalls at any given opportunity.

you want a bailey DV26 / Forge / Collins - just make sure they are twin piston.

or a replacement DV30 - recirculating type.

no - dump valves will not increase boost, although if its got the std plastic bosch one, you may find that the diaphragm in it has gone - so it'll be leaking boost. so when you replace it with a proper DV, it might seem a bit quicker.

cheap and easy to get 150bhp out of it, exhaust, filter, bleed valve set to 18psi will see 150 pretty much guaranteed. (DONT go too high without a chip/more fuel as you'll do a piston )

after that it gets abit more expensive- chip, hybrid, FMIC, uprated fuel pump - all in £1500 for 180-90bhp.

you'll surprise alot of people

 

I had a midnight blue GT3 for 2 years, and loved it !

 

Oh dear...

Why overlook the 306 gti-6 or Rallye?

Punto's are near the top of my sh*t car list.

Bob.

 

thanks for the nice remark bob

 

Yeah nice remark Bob, Mozza what on earth were you doing buying a car on Bob's **** list..tut tut!

While I remember, watch out for the handbreak cable freezing on this winter (design fault), I used to leave mine in 1st and leave the handbreak off when it starts to get really cold.

 

hey man, bobs entitled to his own opinion (even if it is wrong )

a GT would beat a GTi6 or rallye off the lights or on the motorway to silly speeds - it'd lose out top end but it IS 1400... - mid-range grunt they are shockingly quick (for what it is, i do realise that, and it definitely punches above its weight)

as i said before - you'll shock alot of people in a punto.

at the end of the day he's a young guy- which i guess is why he opted for a punto - no need for the extra size of a 306 - which are great cars in their own right (but still french )

 

Ive got nuthing against a 306 gti/rallye, i like them lots, remind s me of my astra gsi16v similar power/speed, but it was my brothers 2nd car, first being a 1.1 55 bhp punto and i thought it was too big a step for him to be honest and the punto gt is a bit more resonable.

I really like the Punto gt, its quick , comfortable and looks good especially with his Oz wheels. I know they arnt the fastest hot hatch but its a wikid 2nd car in my opinion, when i was 20 i had a nova gsi, i guess this is the same sort of thing without the bad reputation!!!

Things could be worst he could of bought a saxo!!! lol

Thanks for the performance tips, all have been noted and will be added as soon as he saves up!!

 

Firstly, sorry for ruffling any feathers. I was a bit too harsh with the sh*t comment.
However,

I beg to differ that the punto could stress a rallye or gti-6 in any situation, straight line or otherwise.

I have no doubt at all that the pugs are quicker, handle better, stop better, etc.

read any review.

Why be afraid of a hot hatch that is slightly bigger than the punto?...........you don't need an HGV licence for it.

But alas, as was pointed out, each to their own.

Bob.

p.s. I hate the fact that they are French too


Feel free to start the barage of " the punto is faster" comments. You are wrong.

 

Std Punto is not quicker than either a gti-6 or a Rallye. Sorry fiat fans

 

no offence taken bob, it is the internet afterall - not real life

mooseracer -i'd dispute that, no doubts about handling, but for 9/10 s of anyones driving, urban and d-carriageways rule.

<whisper> still quicker than a pug </whisper>

148lbs of torque as std, once you add an exhaust and filter i know of people on the owners club who have got up to 180lbs of torque.

 

Bobby..... not too big in size i ment power and insurance!

I dont think a Punto Gt would be able to see off a 306 gti/rallye either.

I still really rate them though, bags of fun with a turbo!! :-)

 

at last! someone who KNOWS

although they dont handle great (perse), even as std, they are one of the quickest hot hatches about - they are as quick as a clio williams from 50-70, and once lightly modded with a bleed (the std pierburg valve doesnt hold boost very well) it'll only get quicker.

[Edited by hoyleyboyley - 10/13/2003 11:30:03 AM]

 

Yep,

Mrs Hippy loves her Punto GT. The don't handle too well - but nothing that some decent suspension won't sort out. The are fast little cars. Mrs Hippy could be tempted to sell as see needs oil burner fuel economy soon.

 

i'll convert you all by the end just wait and see...

a good set of springs and different wheels is all you need- (185/55/14 as std, and a bit balloony, also cause the speedo to overread) change to 195/45/16's.

Rallye's run a 16.3 qtr mile AFAIK
GT's should run between 15.5 and 16

i love mine because its a Q car - its debadged so it looks like a sporting/55 whatever with an exhaust and bigger wheels.

 

my brother just bought one a week ago loves it bright yellow and not common like ur pugs

colin

 

FAO hoyleyboyley

How are your breaks on th gt? my brothers ones are uprated tarox front and rear but they feel very spongy and dont bite all that good, i think they might need bleeding as the car used to sit around for long periods of time doing nuthing, hence only 16 000 miles in 5 years!!

any ideas?

 

i've got uprated red dot pads and 20 groove discs, and they are much better than std.

could be that the fluid needs changing if its only done 16k!!!

 

Had a GT3 for a few years - it never missed a beat, just had to replace the rear trailing arms at 50k (Easy to do). The 0-60 aint that good cos you are hitting the red line approaching 60 in second but to 100 they shift. Had a Collins DV, 57i, full Scorpion system with decat, avo springs, momo strut brace, g-force brakes all round and Anterra 143's never got round to a bleed valve though or fitting the twin collins DV's Over boost in fifth was fun! As mentioned earlier go on www.puntosports.co.uk

 

I think a chipped GT could do it quite a bit of stress in a straing line. Never driven a gt turbo before though. But I was not that impresed with the gti-6 yep handles mint but not that fast

 

up to a 100 they would, i know cause i have done it, 1000kilos and a fat load of torque makes sure of that !

[Edited by Jonto - 10/12/2003 9:24:09 PM]