Warning: Before you start this car, check that there's no cats resting into the BIG bore exhaust!
Again from Drive magazine, this time from their November, 15, 1997 issue. They test drive and dyno an incredible Fiat Punto GT with no less than 237 BHP!!!
" ...and suddenly, everyone is talking about horsepower! Lots of horsepower! Double numbers from those of a factory car... When we're talking especially for the Punto GT, it's been over the top! You have to search a lot to discover a completely normal Punto GT!!!! And, of course, everyone is talking about those crazy numbers...
So, we tested one of the most powerful Puntos we could find. How much powerful? To be exact it produces 237.4 BHP at 6,170 rpm. Add the transmission losses of around 8.8 BHP and you have a grand total of 246.2 BHP at the flywheel. Given the fact that the motor has been enlarged to 1602 cc, we are talking about a specific power output of 153.68 BHP/liter!!!
From the outside, nothing tells this Punto's tale. It may be almost a door mirror's height lowered, it may have Black Sparco 15 in. wheels and a large exhaust outlet. Nothing more!
Technically speaking
Power Tuning is a Greek company that does not install an imported kit, but instead they use their own applications. There are 3 stages of improving a Punto GT. The car featured here has them all. The displacement is up to 1602 cc. The new pistons give a compression of 7.4:1, the crankshaft, the con-rods and the pistons are blueprinted and the intake ports are smoothed. A new 294* camshaft from Colombo is fitted, while the cpu's program is changed and the rev limiter is going up to 7,200 rpm. The stock turbine is replaced with a hybrid one, based on Garrett's T-25. A "fifth" bek is fitted after all these, just to make sure nothing will break under hard use.
Do all these horses behave?!
Up to 4,000 rpm this motor feels slower even than the normal motor! And it makes sense, since the new turbine is larger, not to mention the camshaft. We believed the gearbox would have had a hard time, but it did not. The first time I floored the throttle, I grabbed the steering wheel expecting it to lose control of the direction! This is not the case, with this car! Simply, my head was glued to the headrest, I hit the rev limiter in second, in less time than I would imagine, then changed up to 3rd, the pressure meter was glued at 1.6 psi, I was against forced against the seat back, 4th, rev limiter, again... all the same!
I will just only mention that it can do the 1/4 mi. in 14.79" at /166.2 km/h (102 mph).
So... will it also turn? In a way, yes. Thankfully the P-zeros were fully warmed up and they grabbed the tarmac like glue. As for the Leda shocks, they are soft enough, so that the car doesn't spin every time you touch the throttle, while at the same time, they are as hard as they need to, so you can take corners safely.
