I'll admit something here. I'm not a typical Fiat customer. I went through a phase of buying one Italian car after the other and then I got to the age of twenty, started buying German and Japanese vehicles and never really looked back. It would take something rather special to tempt me to buy something from the Fiat stable and for years nothing really appealed enough for me to put pen to paper. Just recently, however, I can feel the resistance weakening. First Alfa Romeo launch a series of models that are jaw-droppingly pretty and then Fiat followed suit with the Grande Punto, a model which redefines how a supermini should look.

Styling is all well and good, but without the engineering to go with it, customers often tend to feel short-changed when the aesthetic novelty has worn off. Fortunately, Fiat have their bases covered and in the 1.3-litre Multijet engine fitted to the Grande Punto, they have one of the most advanced small diesels anywhere. No manufacturer can hope to rack up respectable sales for their supermini without a decent diesel powerplant and Fiat have four to rely on. The 1.9-litre Multijet is available in 130bhp Sport guise but the engine we look at here, the 75bhp 1.3-litre Multijet unit, is offered in four distinct trim variations with the choice of three or five doors. Entry level customers get Active or Dynamic versions, plus there's a sporty-looking GP model and a plush Eleganza variant (that comes with a 90bhp version of this engine).

75bhp may not look like a huge amount of hustle by modern standards but this car is no sluggard. Okay, so the sprit to 60mph of 13.6 seconds isn't going to detach your retinas, but there's plenty of torque on tap in the mid range, Fiat quoting a maximum figure of 190Nm on stream from as little as 1,750rpm. This means that you won't need to rev the engine until the valves are bouncing in order to make decent progress. An extra-urban fuel economy figure of 80.7mpg may read like a misprint but Fiat stand by it, quoting a combined figure of 62.8mpg and an urban figure of 45.6mpg. The CO2 emissions figure of just 119g/km is also very creditable.

"These Multijet engines give the Grande Punto the engineering to back up the styling"

In traditional diesel engines, fuel is fed to the injectors by a mechanical pump, the injection pressure rising with the rpm of the engine. This has repercussions on how efficiently the fuel is burnt, leading to noise, poor emissions and so-so fuel economy. A common-rail engine, however, maintains a constant injection pressure regardless of the weight of the driver's right boot, and these Multijet engines use injectors that divide the main injection into a series of smaller shots, the idea being to reduce emissions and noise while at the same time increasing performance.

So much for the engineering. Many customers will never pop the bonnet and will instead be sold by the sleek good looks of this car. It's the work of Italdesign-Giugiaro in partnership with Centro Stile Fiat and it's one of their best-resolved products to date. Five-door or three-door version, it makes no difference. The shape just works.

What has helped the car's proportioning is a subtle letting out of its belt. As its name suggests, this version is significantly bigger than the Punto it replaces, helping the stylists create a sleeker profile. In fact, it's fully 23cm longer than the old car, but only 2cm wider and a mere centimetre taller. These proportions lengthen the look and the sleek styling is aided with neat detailing such as the Formula One-style door mirrors and the wry badging.

Interior space - as you would expect from a car this generously endowed in the wheelbase department - is a standout feature. The 275-litre boot is about average for the class but rear leg and headroom is very good indeed. Fiat claim the interior 'represents the epitome of Italian style', although that may be stretching the point a little. It's rather minimalist in fact, the main dials being housed in a curiously flat-topped binnacle with an unexceptional centre console that, from a purely aesthetic perspective, is probably the car's weakest point. Still, it's undoubtedly functional, and if you get confused by the big buttons, self explanatory ventilation controls and stereo controls, then modern life has really got on top of you. One particularly smart touch is the extension of body colour to the soft trims and dash inserts. If the dashboard was finished in grey or black it would look a little dull, but specify it in red and it really lifts the cabin.

The Grande Punto also scores well in terms of safety. Fiat claim it's one of the three safest cars it's possible to buy and the Grande was designed from the outset to bag a prestigious (and almost mandatory these days) Euro NCAP five-star award, the quest proving ultimately successful. With a massively rigid chassis and airbags that seem able to sprout from any compass bearing, the Grande Punto will look after you if you drive it into the scenery. Unfortunately this preoccupation with passive safety rather comes at the expense of active safety, the chunky pillars making all-round visibility something of an issue.

The Grande Punto is a seductive little thing and will, for most buyers, make most sense when fitted with a 1.3-litre Multijet engine. It really doesn't need to be as good as it is, the smart styling giving it an almost unfair advantage. If you're not the sort who buys Italian cars, now may well be the time to ask yourself why not.

TOP 4 GRANDE PUNTO DEALS

The results below show the top GRANDE PUNTO deals on buyacar

	Fiat Punto Grande 1.3 Multijet Dynamic 5dr [75] Hatchback
	ETR	Mthly £149	Saving £3,195	Price £8,302
	Fiat Punto Grande 1.3 Multijet Active 3dr Hatchback
	ETR	Mthly £131	Saving £2,752	Price £7,375
	Fiat Punto Grande 1.3 Multijet Active 5dr Hatchback
	ETR	Mthly £138	Saving £2,942	Price £7,772
	Fiat Punto Grande 1.3 Multijet Dynamic 3dr [75] Hatchback
	ETR	Mthly £141	Saving £3,005	Price £7,905

typical 13.68% APR

PCP finance quote over 48 months,  10,000 miles pa,  deposit of £1000