Test drive Fiat Punto Evo 3 doors since 2009 hatchback
Dad bought
Poor Europe! They are forced to buy small cars to park in narrow alleges, pay low road taxes and refill from pipes. Here we have a completely different matter. Microphorers of the B-class are bought mainly by people who are not even going to ride them. Well, let's say, for the young. Or for parents. Or for ... however, it doesn’t matter. Dad suggested - you can refuse. It happens that a machine acquired from the best motives turns into punishment without a crime. Or are we behind life? 
He who started a motorist career with a micro -lines will understand us. I can’t imagine how I went to Matiz? - The newly-naked owner of Golf V is surprised, who will not get rid of the habit of bibling with a bruised chest. Oh yeah! This is a completely different car! - You will hear from a friend who got out of two hundred and the sixth and saddled three hundred seventh. Everyone knows that small city cars have a lot of advantages. But for some reason you forget about them when, from the traffic lights, the european car of the year distant 1967, still produced in Togliatti, burst forward to you. It saves that the Universe is still expanding. Probably, therefore, the cars that seemed small yesterday become larger. Having received two new items for the paired dough-Fiat Grande Punto and Renault Clio III-we walked around the BES and perplexed: do they call it a b-class? Put the corsa of the previous generation nearby, and you will agree with us that newcomers are huge, like buses.
Here are some numbers that will help to evaluate how much cars have grown. So, Grande Punto against just Punto. In length - plus 165 mm, in width - plus 17 mm, in height - plus 10 mm. Not impressive? It is quite natural, because the previous point was also a degassing in its class. Now let's compare Clio III with the predecessor. We get an increase in a length of 211 mm, in width - 67 mm, in height - by 73 mm! The wheelbase elongated by more than ten centimeters is the secret of the capacity of the interior of the French machine. And the trunk of Clio III now accommodates 288 liters (the predecessor was a little more than 250, and the Italian competitor - 275 liters) or with the rear seats of 1038 (Grande Punto - 1030).
And where does the Germans? The financial crisis in the company, even in Italian, is a powerful incentive to rethink everything you do. Together with colleagues from Opel Fiat, a couple of years ago, he resolutely took up the creation of a new car class B, which will share the platform from the future (and now real) Corsa. The novelty decided to name Grande Punto, which in itself is symbolic: we did before, they say, just Punto, and now we did something more - the point of support. Well, the car turned out to be voluminous. Now he is the main healthy man in the classroom. But, in my opinion, Fiat made a real breakthrough in the design of small cars. And at the same time, in equipment (I have not even doubt that specialists from Russelsheim helped in these Fiat residents). You will see the first time Grande Punto in the mirrors and exclaim: is Maserati really? No, oh God, this is Aston Martin!
Guys, this is Fiat. Before that beautiful from all sides that I can’t even believe. If he was not drawn by Michelangelo, then who? A tiny nameplate on board suggests: Georgetto Jujaro. Alas, beauty was sacrificed to beauty. Due to the triangular windows, the front racks are taken far to the hood and overlap the most responsible sectors when traveling intersections. Back through the salon mirror, you also can’t see much because of the powerful rear racks wrapped in the cabin.
But the interior, ergonomics, and especially equipment, are raised again. The three -spoke steering wheel has a sports profile, and the gearbox lever is sheathed with skin. There is a separate climate control and anti-circus system. Audio Blaupunkt develops non -huty sound pressure through six speakers and reproduces disks with MP3. There are completely luxury things-a rain sensor and tire pressure, parking sensors and cast discs, a cruise control and a steering electric power steering switch to City mode.
Japanese trace. The creators of Clio, who took a Platform from under the Japanese Mira for the new car (the same chassis is used for Renault Modus and Nissan Cube) also tried their best. And they were rewarded-the third version of the popular micro-listen in Europe received the title of a car of the year-2006. Sizes - what is needed. The machine is fully consistent with the old -Soviet ideal inside more than outside. And the exterior is quite effective. Huge headlights flow on the hood. The roof line rises high, but it does not look shed, but dynamically. The board with unpretentious front arches passes into a powerful but not heavy food. It seems that now the car will push off its tidy limbs and, spreading in the air, will fly, forcing others to admire the elegant stop-signals and oval rear window. Suddenly you catch yourself thinking that the third Clio did not really dear to any city crossover. Road clearance is impressive. High front and rear overhangs can be immediately written into pluses.
The device does not graze in front of a high border. And imagine if Clio stood on wheels such as a lanky neighboring outlander? You would show who the king of parking is now in the flowerbed! Eh, here it would be still all -wheel drive, and you can roll for winter fishing ... Don't even dream. With the heating of our Clio, something happened. Overboard -1, speed -110, stove (sorry, air conditioning) showed +27, and barely warm air blew from the snot, although shortly before that the car warmed up after night parking, very intensively, in seven minutes (heating, by the way, equipped Mirrors and seats). The on -board computer also made him be nervous. In the morning, gasoline was filled with a full tank, and the electronic indicator of the fuel level, like the counter of the remaining path, did not even move the pixel. The devices woke up only after dinner. True, the dials were pleased: the computer said that the consumption in the city was 7 liters per hundred.
Young honor, the elderly road. Both machines in the test are equipped with a 1.4 -liter gasoline engine and a five -speed manual transmission. Both Clio and the Grande Punto box, frankly, are not ideal. The Italian is not too high by the clarity of the transmission. The Frenchman has better selectivity, but the turn of the lever is very sweeping, and the back is fixed slurred. I also want to climb into the pedal node and hang springs there so that the moves become more tight. I understand that when developing cars of a similar class, engineers think about how to make the pedals light even for God's dandelions, but you can’t put them to the extent that Clio! Moreover, for dandelions, a car with a machine is usually selected. The dynamic qualities of cars are beautiful - true, if you mean not acceleration, but the dynamics of braking (each is equipped with ABS and reacts to the pedal very sensitively). But when starting from the place, VAZ dozens go forward, without showing even the intention to overtake you with their buzzing. And what is doubly offended, there is no respect on the road for Clio - the car is taken from the face for cheap Logan (to Grande
Punto attitude is incomparably more loyal). So you can rely on signs of attention only from the same micro -liters. Fiat will be more frustrated at speeds up to 80 km/h, and Clio III will silently step forward after 80 km/h. The Frenchman’s motor is more powerful (and more economical), but he is cheerful only in a relatively narrow corridor of revolutions - from 3,000 to 4,500. Clio wins the level of noise, and Grande Punto is the comfort of the suspension (it works assembled and elastic). Both cars are insufficient rotation. Each steering wheel from the stop to the stop makes almost three turns, that is, it does not fall under the definition of acute. Renault exemplary holds a straight line on the road with an uneven profile, but Fiat is more clearly and more reliably performed by sharp maneuvers.
So what to buy? The young couple is perfect both. Cars are roomy, functional and safe for five stars. In addition, after two or three years, a gift for the wedding was sold for two new cars. But if on a congratulatory postcard you are going to write: from dad to your beloved son (daughter), then definitely - a stylish and well -packed Grand Punto. And if from a grateful son to an dear dad (father -in -law), then the flexible and economical Clio III. Just do not confuse - do you need a generation conflict? Are these city universal cars capable of driving quickly? It’s quite, but, alas, the hottest modifications in Russia are not yet sold. Grande Punto in the modification of Sport with a 1.9-liter Multijet diesel (the engine develops 130 hp and has a torque of 280 nm) is able to accelerate to hundreds in 9.5 seconds and reach a maximum speed of 200 km/h. At the same time, fuel consumption in the city is 7.8, and on the highway - 4.7 liters per hundred. In Renault, the charged Clio III is also called Sport, but is equipped with a 2.0-liter gasoline engine with a capacity of 197 hp. Accordingly, 6.9 seconds and 215 km/h. For such a machine, not everyone even an X-fifth will steal.
Also in specking. The Italians skillfully combined simplicity and spectacity in the interior. It seems that there is nothing special in the form of a dashboard or in the central console, but the Dynamic salon looks optimistic - thanks to a wide color insert, which, like an octopus, covers a panel, as well as a decor in the doors and seats. Materials are pleasant to the look and to the touch. The fitting of parts is at a height, you can’t particularly do not particularly give up the assembly quality. The steering wheel does not slip in your hands at all, and you find pedals and steering wheel switches exactly where the reflexes led. The seats have an advanced selection of settings, but they themselves do not differ either a pronounced sports profile or sizes. The trick is known: the smaller the furniture, the more spacious the room seems. The rear seat also does not cause negative emotions. There is a place for both the legs and for the knees. Well, perhaps the three of them will have to closely rally shoulder to shoulder - Grande Punto is clearly not designed for such a crew. The salon in the Sport is even more original - there are seats in shape similar to racing buckets, and their finish is bold - as if with large buttons. In total, taking into account the Active configuration for Grande Punto, eight varied interiors have been made.
Good to the touch. The French achieved an equally comfortable atmosphere in Clio III, but in other ways. A huge nomadic piece of plastic under the windshield is characterized by a relief texture. It is pleasant to the touch, almost does not affect the glass, dust is not visible on it. Below this waterline, the salon is finished with light gray materials, and with the properties of the chameleon-depending on the illumination of the upholstered, it may seem both beige, pink, and even blue (now you can’t say: grayness has taken it out). The seats are unpretentious and even less in dimensions than that of the competitor. But in the cabin there are elements that cause a smile - for example, balls with which you block the air flow from ventilation deflectors, small but comfortable steering wheel switches, an audio control unit on the steering wheel. Deep pockets in the doorway look practical. The glove compartment is voluminous and in addition is made cool. I address small nit-picking to smooth plastic on the beard (the design is some kind of dull and, it seems, not too durable), as well as to seal the grills of the speakers (not planted tightly). The main advantage of Clio III is expressed in two words: spacious everywhere.
Text Ruslan Tarasov, photo Andrey Danilov
We thank you for the help of organizing the shooting of OJSC COVERSTAL-AUTO, (495) 961-0195, and Renault Russia, (495) 775-4042.
Fiat Grande Punto Gasoline engine, 4 in a row
Working volume (cubic cub) 1368
Power (L.S. at rpm) 77 at 6000
Moment (nm at rpm) 115 at 3000
Front drive
Gearbox 5-speed, mechanical
Length/width/height (mm) 4030/1687/1490
Equipped mass (kg) 1040
Maximum speed (km/h) 165
Acceleration to 100 km/h (c) 13.2
Fuel consumption (city/highway, l/100 km) 7.7/5.2
Price in Moscow (price -tested car) from $ 17,400 ($ 18,500)
Renault Clio III 1.4 5D Gasoline engine, 4 in a row
Working volume (cubic cub) 1390
Power (L.S. at about/min) 100 at 5700
Moment (nm at rpm) 127 at 4250
Front drive
Gearbox 5-speed, mechanical
Length/width/height (mm) 3986/1707/1493
Equipped mass (kg) 1145
Maximum speed (km/h) 183
Acceleration to 100 km/h (c) 11.3
Fuel consumption (city/highway, l/100 km) 8.7/5.4
Price in Moscow (price -tested car) from $ 17,450 ($ 18,200)
Source: "Autopilot"