Community Speak: Choosing between a Ford Figo and Fiat Punto diesel

CarToq community member Armeet Singh Sandhu told the community that he is confused between the Ford Figo diesel and Punto diesel. He also wanted to know which car was better in terms of fuel economy.

CarToq community member Kunal Sharma said, “Punto is better than the Figo in terms of power, ground clearance, equipment, handling and space. Fiat is splitting up dealerships with Tata, so the company will be more serious about the after sales services and parts availability. I can’t think of any reason to choose Figo over Punto. Ford Figo is slightly better than the Fiat Punto, only if mileage is a concern. The economy figures are very close though.”

CarToq expert Roshun Povaiah said, “The Figo diesel will be significantly cheaper than the Punto diesel variant for variant. But the Punto, as Kunal said, has more power, features, and ground clearance. However, compared to Fiat, Ford’s service offering is better right now.”

Here, we check out how the Ford Figo diesel stacks up against the Fiat Punto diesel.

Performance and Handling

Ford Figo diesel is powered by a 68 Bhp, 1.4-litre TDCi diesel motor and is mated to a 5-speed manual transmission. The Fiat Punto diesel is powered by a 75 Bhp, 1.3-litre Multijet diesel motor and is also mated to a 5-speed transmission.

Both the cars have adequate torque on tap for driving in the city, but on open roads, the Figo is slightly quicker to achieve three digit speeds than the Punto. But the Punto offers more torque and better overall performance than the Figo.

With regard to handling both the Figo and the Punto are great handlers. So there is no winner here. The Figo has hydraulic steering which feels good to use and responds well at both slow and high speeds. The Punto also comes with hydraulic power steering and has solid steering feedback that assures confidence even when the car is pushed to its limits.

Summing up, the Figo and the Punto are quite close in terms of handling and performance, with the Punto gaining a slight edge.

Space and Comfort

The Figo and the Punto are best for four occupants and just adequate for five occupants. The Figo appears to offer slightly more room for three passengers at the rear, because of its seat design, and thinner door pads. With regard to luggage space there is no winner because, the Figo offers 284 litres while the Punto offers 280 litres.

With regard to comfort, the Punto has well sculpted front seats and the rear seats too offer adequate under thigh support and lumbar support. The Figo has supportive front seats and the rear seat too is good for both city as well as long trips. The Punto has a bit more headroom than the Figo and hence, tall passengers would be slightly more comfortable in the Punto than in the Figo.

Summing up, the Figo has a mild edge in terms of space while the Punto offers slightly more comfort.

Looks

The Punto looks gorgeous from whichever angle you look at it. The classy Italian design and aerodynamic road stance makes the Punto, the best looking hatchback in its segment. The Figo is old school in its design, but looks compact and complete.

The interiors of the Punto feel a bit more premium when compared with the Figo. The 2012 Punto comes with dual tone interiors that further enhance its looks.

Overall, the Punto is a classier looking hatch than the Figo.

Features

The Figo and Punto are loaded with safety features such as airbags and ABS and comfort features such as AC, driving aids such as on board computer that calculates distance to empty, real time mileage and gadgets such as integrated music system with Bluetooth.

However, the Punto offers more features such as automatic climate control, rear AC vents (under the front seats) and steering mounted audio controls which are not offered in the Figo.

The Punto has an edge over the Figo when it comes to comfort features.

Price, mileage and VFM

The Figo diesel base variant LXI (Rs.4.79 lakh) is Rs. 80,000 cheaper than the Punto diesel base variant Active (Rs. 5.59 lakh). Similarly The Figo EXI (Rs. 5.17 lakh) is Rs 1.06 lakh cheaper than the Punto Dynamic and the Figo ZXI (Rs. 5.45 lakh) is Rs. 78,000 cheaper than the Punto Emotion.

With regard to mileage, the Figo as well as the Punto have a claimed mileage of about 20 Kmpl. Hence, in real driving conditions, both the cars will have nearly same running costs.

The Figo is a value for money hatchback for it is priced aggressively and is significantly cheaper than the Punto.

Pros and Cons

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Verdict

The Punto and the Figo are nearly equal in performance, mileage and handling characteristics. The Figo is significantly cheaper than the Punto, but lacks some of the comfort features. Overall, if you are on a tight budget, pick the Figo. But if you want more features and attractive looks, pick the Punto.