Small Fiats used to be sold of prosaic things like value for money and practicality. Since the launch of the sleek Grande Punto however, desirability has entered the equation. This, not to put too fine a point on it, is a supermini you wouldn't mind your au pair parking outside your garage if your day-to-day transport was a Ferrari F430. It looks that good.

Mind you, just because a car is desirable, it doesn't mean it can't also make value-added sense at the same time. Which is in essence the thinking behind the latest special edition Grande Punto 360 model. It's based on the 1.2-litre Grande Punto Active and is available in 3 and 5-door specification.

Recognisable from the outside by the special series sticker, metallic paint, 15-inch alloy wheels and body coloured mirrors, the vehicle also gets a unique interior trim with Fiat's new logo, air conditioning, the clever 'Blue&Me' hands-free media system and a split folding rear seat. And with £1,700 worth of added equipment, these vehicles also represent decent value at £8,495 (3-door) and £9,095 (5-door), figures which are £55 less than the respective Active versions.

The '360' comes at an opportune time for Fiat dealers. 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 are not conceding ground without a fight. The Fiat needs real substance behind its style and it will need to be evident particularly in less glamorous versions like the 1.2-litre 8-valve models chosen for the '360' treatment.

As we've suggested already, 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 affordable models like this one. You don't need big alloy wheels or a set of ground-hugging spoilers to get the best out of this car visually.

"A life less ordinary has rarely looked more appealing?."

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 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.

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.

Like the old 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 tempting in this 360 version, as is the extra equipment that comes included. Most importantly, buyers get the Grande Punto's classy looks. A life less ordinary has rarely looked more appealing.