If a car looks good, it will be forgiven a multitude of sins by besotted buyers. So what if the seats are too soft or the boot's a bit pokey, the way it sets your heart aflutter when you glimpse it outside your house each morning will gloss over a whole catalogue of shortcomings. Exactly the sorts of weaknesses that are noticeable by their absence on Fiat's Grande Punto. You might expect some kind of trade-off for those clean, Italianate lines but even in entry-level 1.2-litre guise, it feels like a keenly-honed package.

It will need to be too. The UK supermini market is no pushover, even for a bright young thing like the Grande Punto. Household names like Ford's Fiesta, Vauxhall's Corsa and Renault's Clio will not be conceding ground without a fight. The Fiat needs real substance behind its style and it will need to be evident even in less glamorous versions like the 1.2-litre 8-valve models we feature here.

There's no escaping the fact that the Grande Punto is a good-looking car. The designers have steered well clear of grandiose statements and convoluted detailing, keeping things fresh and simple. It works, and crucially, it does so even on the base spec models. You don't need big alloy wheels or a set of ground-hugging spoilers to get the best out of this car visually. The core look is common throughout the range and that could be a key strength in attracting buyers to the not-so-plush derivatives.

The 1.2-litre 8-valve Fire petrol engine is the Grande Punto's least powerful and least expensive. If you plan on covering substantial mileages or if you take to the motorways on a frequent basis, it may not be the unit for you. If, however, the majority of your driving gets done around town, this pleasantly nippy powerplant will do fine. It isn't adverse to the odd longer trip either, there's a top end of 96mph and 65bhp maximum power at 5,500rpm to get you motoring but the engine sounds like it's working hard at higher speeds and this may become wearing over time. The 0-60mph sprint takes 14.5s so it's really more of a brisk jog, but far more important is the 46.3mpg fuel economy and the 145g/km CO2 emissions which combine to help keep running costs down.

"The asking price is certainly appealing as is the strong fuel economy"

The 1.2-litre engine lags only 10bhp behind the 75bhp 1.3-litre Multijet diesel but when you compare the petrol's peak torque rating of 75lb/ft at 3,000rpm with the 140lb/ft at 1,750rpm of its oil-burning stablemate you begin to appreciate why it struggles for grunt in some situations. The Grande Punto is, after all, a substantial vehicle - over 4m long, nearly 1.5m high and weighing in at 1015kg in 3-door 1.2-litre form. The 1.2-litre unit still manages to endow it with decent flexibility and nimbleness for urban driving with the lightweight engine aiding manoeuvrability when compared to the heavier diesel options that tend to bog-down the front end a touch.

Prices start at £8,450 and customers can opt for this engine in one of two trim levels, the entry-level Active and the Dynamic. The 5-door models are £600 more expensive in each instance and Active buyers can specify the self-explanatory AirCon pack for £500. The Grande Punto looks very well-equipped with remote central locking, electric windows, Follow Me Home headlamps, a CD stereo and Dualdrive electric power steering fitted as standard on all models. On the safety front, there are twin front airbags and three point belts for all three rear passengers plus ABS with EBD all helping the Punto to achieve its 5-star NCAP rating. The Dynamic adds air-conditioning to the list plus alloy wheels, side and curtain airbags, body-coloured heated wing mirrors and split-folding rear seats. The latest cars also feature upgraded interior trim materials.

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.

Like the existing Punto, the Grande version features the 'City' button which reduces steering effort when parking to fingertip levels. With the City mode disabled, the steering gains a bit more feel although the Punto has never been a car with a particularly natural and feelsome helm. One of the areas that have come on leaps and bounds since the launch of the last Punto is refinement and Fiat have added a significant amount of sound deadening material to the Grande and worked on reducing vibration in the engine bay. The result is that the car is far more hushed at motorway speeds, helping to reinforce that all-important perception of quality.

There's definitely a case for bypassing this 1.2-litre engine and opting for one of the Grande Punto's more muscular units if you do cover big mileages or if you place particular value on performance. Otherwise, for the type of short-trip urban motoring that many supermini drivers do almost exclusively, the smallest engine in the range will be perfectly adequate. The asking price is certainly appealing as is the strong fuel economy but, most importantly, buyers get the Grande Punto's classy looks for the minimum possible outlay.

TOP 5 GRANDE PUNTO DEALS

The results below show the top GRANDE PUNTO deals on buyacar

	Fiat Punto Grande 1.2 Active 3dr Hatchback
	ETR	Mthly £109	Saving £1,606	Price £6,949
	Fiat Punto Grande 1.2 Active 5dr Hatchback
	ETR	Mthly £117	Saving £1,776	Price £7,379
	Fiat Punto Grande 1.3 Multijet Dynamic 5dr [75] Hatchback
	ETR	Mthly £150	Saving £2,470	Price £9,050
	Fiat Punto Grande 1.3 Multijet Active 3dr [AC] Hatchback
	ETR	Mthly	Saving £2,131	Price £8,189
	Fiat Punto Grande 1.3 Multijet Dynamic 3dr [75] Hatchback
	ETR	Mthly £141	Saving £2,300	Price £8,620

typical 11.99% APR

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