Fiat Punto GT2000 16V Turbo by Mariotti
Could you reach 200 km/h with a front wheel drive car in about 20 seconds? Possible? Yes, it's possible even with a Punto GT, although under its bonnet the heart of the Lancia Delta Integrale 2000 16v turbocharged beats, emplanted by a specialist as the Mantua tuner Mariotti
All the pictures in the page are of the
Punto GT 4WD by Mariotti,
not the Punto GT described in this page.
Nevertheless
the Japanese incoming sportcars, even more wicked in the bodykits and in mechanics,
everybody knows well that the Lancia Delta Integrale is a undiscussed and clear
reference for all the tuning lovers. The old age of that project defined its own
limits, such as the heavy weight or the power loss due to the transmission. Somebody
tried to overcome these failures, transplanting the mechanics of the unforgettable
Deltona to the most successful sportcar produced by the Turinese factory, the
Fiat Punto GT. This operation has been achieved even by an hyperstamina Delta
specialist, the Mantuan Daniele Mariotti, who built most of his fame by empowering
drastically these sportcars. The transplantation just described has been made
in two ways: the former translating to the Punto all the parts that make the four
wheels revving, the latter preserving the traction only on the front wheels. The
latter transformation is hereby presented and it has been tested in depth, including
also some hard performances like the 1000m acceleration, to deploy totally the
ability of this small and not so manageable beast.
BODY
Several
labels and badges sticked for the test event to the Punto by Mariotti make it
really look like a group N car and enrich the car look, a mixture of brands which
are most choosen by the small Fiat car exciting owners. In fact you may find body
components from Cadamuro and from the official Abarth kit: the bonnets with the
hot air outlets and the spoilered bumpers are from the Venetian bodymaker, whilst
the Fiat sporting brand can be recognized by the side skirts. An important special
effect comes also from the wheels: Goodyear Eagle F1 195/45 R15 are mounted on
nice ten branched Masitaly wheels (7Jx15), the biggest size allowed by the Turinese
factory for this model. Moreover these wheels fill perfectly the arches, with
proper look balance because of the lowered springs by Simoni Racing.
COCKPIT
The inners of the Deltized Punto have been populated by classic additions and needed to monitor the engine. You may find the components series by Simoni Racing, i.e. the steering wheel, the gear knob and the pedals set, whose blue linings are reprised on the moulding of the central console and on the covering of the steering tree. In the console area, we found also the pair of gauges of the status of the engine, like the turbocharger pressure indicator and the engine oil thermometer. The soft engine tuning didn't force the tuner and the car owner further probes and instrumentation to check more parameters.
MECHANICS
Now
it's time for the most interesting part about this Punto: the transplantation
of the Delta engine in the bonnet formerly provided for a 1.4 liters engine and
not for 2.0 liters one, although turbocharged too. In order to have enough space,
some accessories have had to be moved, as for example the battery, which has been
located in the rear boot. The engine supports have been substituted to hook the
new engine, a refurbished one of a Delta Integrale 16V, supplied complete with
the original intercooler and with a Garrett T35 charger.
Whereas only two active wheels being present, the tuner opted not to push the
tuning operation to the limit and not empower too much the engine, which has anyway
enjoyed the ECU management reprogramming, the BMC Twin Air direct filter, the
sporting exhaust system of diameter of 70 mm, built ad hoc by CSC for this prototype.
These modifications will have let to reach about 260 HP of max power, with turbo
max pressure at 1.3 bar. For an affordable use a head reinforced gasket and a
increased flow fuel pump have been adopted, and the coolers have been enhanced
too: the oil cooler is new, whilst for water cooling the choice has been for the
water cooler from a Punto turbodiesel.
About
transmission the tuner expressed his preference for the gearbox of Fiat Coupé
Turbo 20V, which is equipped with limited slip differential and obviously sized
for the torque of such engine. In consequence they adopted at reinforced clutch
Valeo to avoid any trouble in the whole transmission area.
Unfortunately same reliable strategy has not been adopted for the suspensions,
which has been only equipped with a set of Simoni Racing springs, while the dampers
were still original. The bigger weight of the motoring unit and the completely
different performance should have required a more deep modification, as done in
the braking area.
The braking system counts on TarOx disks and Ferodo Racing brake pads, and special
brake hoses by Simoni Racing.
ON THE ROAD
It is not nice starting suddenly with the sixth gear with a car just taken
by hand and so difficult, as you can expect from a Putno with 260 horsepower,
can't you? The prime contact lets us taste the undoubt pros of a transplantation
with respect of a simple increase of power of the original engine, because an
higher cube capacity engine a bit revised is really less cumbersome: it does not
sport only an output fluidity, unthinkable with other ways of engine tuning, letting
easily a "soft circulation" every time you use the car for city shopping,
but it offers a lightning pickup without using the gearbox. Provided that the
top of lust comes from 3.000 rpms when the turbocharger is working full and we
can play with the gears.
It is obvious to say you can not sink the accelerator with the first gear, the
rush is less terrible than expected.
Most of merit goes to the scarce "scorbuticity" of the engine, but also
to the very good traction offered by the larger tyres and the presence of the
slip differential. Consequently it is not so hard to go below the threshold of
6 seconds to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h (5"77) with a relentless progression
- two wheel drive penalties only the very first meters, but since then it is very
appreciated they don't suck so much power - you get the speed of 200 km/h so blazingly:
20"37 in less than 750 meters and you reach the first kilometer at 213,5
km/h after only 24"81 seconds.
If you insist a bit more, you touch the top speed, measured at 245 km/h. We need
to explain a bit more about that: the first fact is that a bit longer final ratio
would have scored even better. The current final ratio caused the rev-counter
to stop at 6.800 rpms, i.e. at a zone where the engine was ending its push. The
best accelerations have been got, changing gear before, at 6.500 rpms.
Second
objection is due to the suspensions setup, as written above: the modification
was too light and means an excessive instability at higher speeds.
At the top speed the Punto GT is almost unmanageable and it fills a greater wheeltrack
than the body width. It looks like really that the road becomes more and more
narrow while going faster.
We won't stop to repeat any empowering operation must be always, always, coupled
with safety countermeasures, i.e. an adequate suspension set and bigger braking
system.
After testing the Mariotti's Punto, it is almost spontaneously that we strongly recommend... to imitate Barnard with any available car, that is installing an "heart" of a higher cube capacity car model, when technically feasible without thinking at all!
Performance facts
| Top Speed | 244,9 km/h at 6.800 rpm |
| Acceleration | 0-100 km/h: 5"77, in 87.2
m 0-100m: 6"22, exit speed at 105,7
km/h |
| Pick-up in 4th gear |
80-100 km/h: 2"97, after 73.7 m 80-140 km/h: 6"94, after 206.4 m |
| Pick-up in 5th gear |
80-100 km/h: 4"91, after 121.7 m 80-140 km/h: 10"98, after 320.2
m |
List
of modifications
- Lancia Delta Integrale refurbished engine (3.098 Euro)
- Reinforced head gasket (181 Euro)
- Fiat Coupé Turbo 20V refurbished gearbox (929 Euro)
- Valeo reinforced clutch (387 Euro)
- Garrett T35 turbocharger (929 Euro)
- CSC full exhaust system diameter 70 mm (775 Euro)
- BMC Twin Air filter (77 Euro)
- Increased oil cooler (361 Euro)
- Increased water cooler (258 Euro)
- Engine and gearbox supports kit (516 Euro)
- EPROM realtime remapping (465 Euro)
- Valvoline Racing motor oil 10W/60 (65 Euro)
- Bigger fuel pump (284 Euro)
- Work for installation (1550 Euro)
- Simoni Racing springs kit (181 Euro)
- Ferodo Racing brake pads (82 Euro)
- Simoni Racing brake hoses (39 Euro)
- Tar-Ox brake disks
- Oil thermometer gauge (77 Euro)
- Turbo pressure gauge (67 Euro)
- Cadamuro bonnet
- Front bumper Cadamuro
- Rear bumper Cadamuro
- Abarth side skirts
Power Racing by Mariotti
via XXIII Aprile, 37/A
46029 Suzzara (MN)
Italy
Tel/fax: 0376-522659
www.mariottiracing.it
