Got a new car too!

[Ferry_vO]

Already have it for almost four weeks but so far the weather's been terrible so I couldn't get decent photos...

Anyway, after a Korean, French, German, two Spanish and two more German cars I now have my first Italian car, a Fiat Grande Punto!
I love this model and with a good trade-in on my old Ford Ka I could finally afford one! Almost five years old, with just 37,000 miles on the clock.

For you Americans: It falls in the class known as the 'super mini's' which are slightly smaller than the current VW Golf/Rabbit class, but still bigger than the first two generations of Golf/Rabbit.

Interestingly the design comes partly from Giugiaro who also designed the original Golf. Performance wise it's nothing spectacular with it's 1.4 liter, 77 hp engine but it is fast enough for everyday use and fairly economic. Without even trying I can easily get 36 mpg, with careful driving over 40 mpg should be possible.

The ride is firm but not as firm as German cars (Not nealry as soft as French cars though!) and it feels very solid. No rattles or other noises. Even over 85 mph I for the most only hear the wind
noise.

So far I'm still loving it!

A few pics (Yeah I need to wash it but there's a lot more rain coming again tonight...):

 

[robcap]

Did you go to the Aviodrome today ;-)

 

[Ferry_vO]

Did you go to the Aviodrome today ;-)

Only for a few hours; I wasn't feeling too well last night, but today was a lot better. Quite a calm day, despite the '100 years of Fokker flying around the St. Bavo' event this weekend.

The drive to and from was fun though!

Edit: Photo's of the event here :http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/showthread.php?57221-Bunch-of-Fokkers!

 

[luckydog]

Back in high-school I drove a little red Fiat that was made in Mexico............
it was called the Puta Grande...

 

[kilo delta]

Congrats on your new car,Ferry. I've fond memories of "wringing out" my mother's brand new Fiat Seicento Sporting many years ago.


Oddly ,I bought a "new" car myself 3 weeks ago to supplement our BMW 320d. I picked up a one owner,59k miles,Full Opel Service History, 2002 Opel Omega 2.2lt 16v petrol. Full heated black leather interior,cruise,aircon,serviced with timing belt,tensioner and water pump replaced. MPG is between 30-35mpg which isn't too far removed from the real world figures that I'm getting from the diesel bmw! And the price?........


€1200!

Pics here... http://pix.ie/nforce/album/419259

 

[stiz]

(Yeah I need to wash it but there's a lot more rain coming again tonight...):

gonna guess your not one of these people with dogs then? that things spotless!

 

[Ferry_vO]

Dogs? Yuck!

If you look at the windows and the front wheels you can see it's not as clean as it was when I got it four weeks ago. At least you don't see it as much on these resized photos. On the originals I could count the bug splats on the license plate!

 

[stiz]

bug splats on the lisence plate .. is that it?? ours changes colours with the seasons, in winter its brown, spring its brown and silver, summers its a faded silver, autaum its brown and silver .. and so on. mind you, it does see a lot of muddy forest and cliff top roads

 

[Milton Shupe]

Great! Love the looks and economy. I know you are happy.

 

[wombat666]

Very nifty little car Ferry.
Stylish and smart.
Been looking at several similar sized cars myself, we could really use a 'City Car'.

 

[Ferry_vO]

Very nifty little car Ferry.
Stylish and smart.

Our country is small too, so it looks bigger over here.. 150 miles at most in any direction and I'm at a border!

Seriously though, it will seat four adults without problems, and it does equally well in the city and on the motorways.

The steps made in quality by Fiat over the last decade or so are incredible; most people my age will probably still remember the line of square boxes (Uno, Tipo, Tempra, Croma) and the models that came before. Most of them are now turned to orange dust.. (Quite a typical Italian problem!) Electrics were of ' Sixties British quality' too..

 

[stiz]

The steps made in quality by Fiat over the last decade or so are incredible

still not smart enough to put the steering wheel on the proper side though

 

[Willy]

Now that Fiat has bought Chrysler, we're starting to see them in the US again. I've seen a couple of Fiat commercials on the tv already.

Wasn't Panaka big on the Italian cars? Haven't heard from him in a while.

 

[Ferry_vO]

Now that Fiat has bought Chrysler, we're starting to see them in the US again. I've seen a couple of Fiat commercials on the tv already.

Don't get me started on that deal Willy... Lancia sold as Chryslers with only a badge change and vice versa...
The new Lancia Flavia (Big name from their past!) is just a Chrysler 200 with a Lancia badge...

Hopefully you'll get some real Fiat and Lancia models over there too!

Wasn't Panaka big on the Italian cars? Haven't heard from him in a while.

That was Alex (Grunau_Baby); haven't seen him in a while either!