General Is the 1.4T-Jet as good as they say???

[ELA]

Hi, just registered and need a little advice. I am looking at buying a new car to replaced one of mine and a few people over on pistonheads have recommended the Punto 1.4 T Jet.

My current shortlist is pretty much narrowed down now to 2 cars, the Suzuki Swift Sport and the Punto 1.4T-Jet.

I was a little worried about the Italian reliability issues but from a little reading, it would seem the Grande is a vast improvement from earlier models.
Ideally I want to spent about £5k and would really appreciate some first-hand experience from enthusiasts. Main areas of concern are:
MPG: (real world not mag/Fiat official figures)
Tuning potential: (exhaust, filter, handling etc, are there any known routes to take)
Reliability: Are there any known issues
Servicing and other running costs:

This really does look a very good forum, many thanks to the Mods for all your good work I look forward to becoming an active member here as I feel I am being swayed now in favour of the Punto

 

[SteveTjet]

Hi, just registered and need a little advice. I am looking at buying a new car to replaced one of mine and a few people over on pistonheads have recommended the Punto 1.4 T Jet.

My current shortlist is pretty much narrowed down now to 2 cars, the Suzuki Swift Sport and the Punto 1.4T-Jet.

I was a little worried about the Italian reliability issues but from a little reading, it would seem the Grande is a vast improvement from earlier models.
Ideally I want to spent about £5k and would really appreciate some first-hand experience from enthusiasts. Main areas of concern are:
MPG: (real world not mag/Fiat official figures)
Tuning potential: (exhaust, filter, handling etc, are there any known routes to take)
Reliability: Are there any known issues
Servicing and other running costs:

This really does look a very good forum, many thanks to the Mods for all your good work I look forward to becoming an active member here as I feel I am being swayed now in favour of the Punto

Hi! And welcome to to forum!

My first fiat was the grande punto 1.4 tjet. I loved it straight away, big leap from what i had previous. I have since upgraded to the abarth version, same engine with slight performance improvements.

With both cars i have never had and problems at all. The engines are very reliable (my experience) make sure you keep it well maintained and it will last a long time.

Economy: again with both cars you can average around 40mpg with careful driving and around 30mpg when your foot gets heavy

Tuning: i have gone down the tuning route with both of mine. With the tjet the most effective mod would be a remap, can get upto 150bhp with that, start upgrading to the abarth turbo (straight swap) intercooler exhaust etc and 180bhp can be achieved.

Hope this helps, have a look on the grande punto section. Plenty of good threads going on atm.

 

[Sweex]

The T-Jet is one of the most reliable engines in the Grande Punto and really is reliable!

The real world MPG is generally 30 - 38mpg depending on how you drive, on motorway journeys you can get the reading upto 40+ mpg.

The tuning potential is pretty broad, induction kit, exhaust, intercooler upgrade and a remap should see you at about 150bhp and a lot more torque.
If you get a Abarth turbo (vl36/38) and abarth injectors you can get upto 180bhp.
Anything higher you need the garret from essesse model abarths.

Known issues are in a sticky thread in the grande punto section.
Some people (myself included) have experieced clutch failure.
But I cant think of any other engine problems.

Creaky door catches, broken springs, worn suspension top mounts, worn drop links, creaky interior trim and thin paint are all problems but can be found in the commom problems thread.

Its a good idea to keep the engine serviced to fiats standards at least.
Regular oil changes do a world of good using good quality oil.
Most of us use higher octane fuels as well because the engine seems to run better as well.

I love my grande punto t-jet, its a brilliant car!
And auto express also rated the grande punto t-jet more than the swift sport for the sheer grin factor from the torque

Edit - http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/car-reviews/38955/grande-punto-14-t-jet-vs-swift-16-sport

I was wrong the suzuki won but some good points in there to consider.

 

[jameshobiecat]

I've had a t-jet for 2.5years now and I've been quite happy with it.

It's a good warm hatch with a torquey engine, low running costs and good safety; what it isn't is the sharpest driving tool around. The steering is lacking in feel and the turbo engine does its best work below 5500rpm. Its not slow, just it majors on mid range torque rather than top end.

There was an autoexpress test of the swift vs the t-jet in 2007 which you might want to google.

Servicing is every 12months/18k miles and is cheap enough. Real world fuel economy is about 30mpg in town, 37mpg on the motorway (mid to outside lane speed) and just about 40mpg on single lane a roads. The real bonus for running costs is the insurance group which is very low considering.

As for tuning, the turbo is small so wants swapping if you are after significant gains. Larger turbos from the bravo/abarth/500abarth or mito are plentiful and bolt straight on; that and a remap should see 170bhp.

As for reliability, the t-jet is just about the most reliable of the Grandes. As with all models top strut bearings can become noisy, the brake servo mounting plate can rust and minor electrical problems can occur but any car has its weakness and none of the above are that expensive to fix.

 

[jameshobiecat]

Beaten to it!

 

[Sweex]

Three long replies in a very short time, brilliant work lads

 

[SJB1985]

I havent heard any complaints about it mate but see above all 3 know what they are talking about

 

[ELA]

Thanks for the cracking response guys Just one other thing, I had a look in the Fiat dealer yesterday and the cars actually look quite nice in the flesh. Is the 1.4T-Jet engine fitted in many different spec Punto Grande's? When I do a search on the equivalent of 'autotrader' over here in Germany, the 1.4t-jet seems to be fitted into a multitude of Punto Grande's: Dynamic/Sport/Emotion/Edition/Racing/Evo
Are these all the same? I basically want the same as the UK Sporting spec.

 

[Mjet220]

Id get an audi, jus sayin

 

[Mjet220]

Should just be the sporting model and possibly the other one for grandads

 

[ELA]

Id get an audi, jus sayin

Not my thing fellow. Of the, what must be, 50 or so cars I have owned, not one has been an Audi. Great if you follow trends and like badges, but not so great dynamically

 

[Sweex]

Thanks for the cracking response guys Just one other thing, I had a look in the Fiat dealer yesterday and the cars actually look quite nice in the flesh. Is the 1.4T-Jet engine fitted in many different spec Punto Grande's? When I do a search on the equivalent of 'autotrader' over here in Germany, the 1.4t-jet seems to be fitted into a multitude of Punto Grande's: Dynamic/Sport/Emotion/Edition/Racing/Evo
Are these all the same? I basically want the same as the UK Sporting spec.

Only fitted to the sportings over here in the UK.
Brilliant cars though! And very beautiful in the flesh indeed!

 

[hennabm]

Just to add what has already been said.

I had an 08 Tjet - best Punto I ever had. Overall mpg over 5000 miles was 36mpg and that included blasting it down the autobahns several times. Sitting at over 100mph with the cruise on - fantastic.

Servicing was no dearer than standard Puntos IIRC.

I'd certainly have another one.

 

[TallTom]

Torque from the T-Jet and small turbo should make it a bit more flexible to drive compared to the N/A swift and additionally feel faster in the real world.

I think the t-jet might even be cheaper to insure (if my memory servers me well) its about 3 groups lower than the swift.

As for tuning, the swift is N/A so costs a fortune for a small increase in power, the T-Jet is quite cheap to get more power if compared to the swift.

Handling, should be around about the same give or take a bit I am sure

 

[middo85]

T-jet can pull away from a swift sport easily in real world driving due to the mid range torque.

They are great little cars for town and b road driving but the gearing means they sit at 3500-4000 at motorway speeds.

They handle as well as any other sporty hatch as well, its just the electric power steering which gives no feedback.

Dynamically its no worse than my brothers new model Fiesta which the press rave about.

 

[Nem66]

Just buy a t-jet. You won't be disappointed

 

[ELA]

Sounds like a good plan Nem66 Insurance isn't really that big an issue as I have been driving a few years. The funny thing over here though is that it cost me €117 a year to insure my 911 but more than double to insure a K11 Micra (which the Punto will be replacing). In-fact even my trackday RX7 is cheaper to insure than my little 20year old 998cc Micra; absolutely crazy Had a quote of €271 a year for the Swift so I guess the T-Jet will be there or thereabouts.

I have read many on here have got a custom exhaust; is there an off the shelf solution, preferably with TuV approval. Also which induction kit works well. Is there an off the shelf Chip/Management upgrade that is recommended? Which springs? Sorry for all the questions guys. I'll repay with some feedback and hopefully some guides when I get my hands on a car

 

[kyle96]

I have read many on here have got a custom exhaust; is there an off the shelf solution, preferably with TuV approval. Also which induction kit works well. Is there an off the shelf Chip/Management upgrade that is recommended? Which springs? Sorry for all the questions guys. I'll repay with some feedback and hopefully some guides when I get my hands on a car

Best exhaust is probably a custom built stainless, decat it to get some nice sound I reckon.
Best induction kit would probably be a gsr and they actually make them for tjets unlike every other bloody fiat that people actually need gsr's for but tbh any sort of big cone filter on a turbo works well.

TMC tuning box is good but lacks in torque nothing beats a remap in this case.

Not too sure about the other aspects

 

[zed]

Quick input:

Now realised that including the wife's cars we've had 3 Pandas, a Seicento, 1 1.2 GP (now with 94K miles), 1.4 16V GP, and now Abarth Punto Evo Supersport.

The usual things apply for FIATs, but anything that goes wrong is usually cheap to fix.

Daughter now drives the 1.2 - great car for newbies

Mileage: 50mpg 1.2, 45 mpg 1.4 16V, still bedding in but a bit disappointed with 35 mpg with Abarth

Insurance: 1.2, Wife, me and 18 year old daughter £700. Was £150 until daughter was on.
But, Abarth, less than £200!

 

[Mjet220]

Not my thing fellow. Of the, what must be, 50 or so cars I have owned, not one has been an Audi. Great if you follow trends and like badges, but not so great dynamically

I said that lol different league quattro