It’s hard to believe it’s now ten years since Fiat Auto launched the original Fiat Punto range. In that span over 5m cars have been sold.

The car became a best seller across Europe and here in Ireland. All sorts of people bought it, from first time buyers to professional people.

Wisely, they haven’t changed the name for the very latest models. Just the styles. ‘Elegant’ and ‘sporty’. The new car includes a number of technical and styling improvements and customers have a choice of fourteen model versions, with four engine options.

But what’s really getting Fiat people so excited is the new second-generation Common Rail turbo-diesel engine, the Fiat/GM Multijet. The engine is being used in the new Fiat Panda also.

It’s become the new buzz word from Fiat who herald the new engine as ‘one of the more significant breakthroughs in the history of automotive engineering’.

The car under review is the 5-door Punto powered by the 1.3-litre 1248cc 16v Multijet engine. Pure Punto except for what’s under the bonnet. I wanted to see what difference the Multijet engine makes to the car’s performance.

I’d already tried an Alfa powered with this new engine and was mightily impressed.

But back to the Punto. The 1248cc produces 70bhp @ 4000rpm which is quite amazing. Unthought of only a few years ago. It shows just how far Fiat engineers have taken diesel engines.

Between 2000 rpm to 5000rpm, the engine responds as if it were a 1.4 or a 1.5 petrol unit.

You can put it into third and leave it in this gear as you drive comfortably at 20mph, and there’s no need to move down a gear at roundabouts.

It’s the low down torque I really appreciate and in the Punto it’s really quite amazing, especially when compared to many other small B-Segment cars with similar sized engines; there’s also a lot of power on tap - the car simply surges forward on demand.

It all makes for easy driving in a small car.

Fuel wise, with Multijet you could travel from Cork to Dublin for less than €12 and from Galway to Dublin for under €10! Engines last far longer too. Sure, you’d put the country’s train service out of business with costs that low.

The engine is also designed to last for 250,000 km instead of the usual 150,000 and meets Euro 4 emission limits - not due to come into force until 2006.

Top speed is 102mph and the car does the 0-62mph in 13.4 secs.

The Punto Multijet is on offer in Active spec as a 3-door priced at €15,495 and as a 5-door at €15,995.

Standard equipment across the range includes: tinted windows, CD, anti-theft electronic immobiliser, ‘follow-me-home’ security headlights and the front passenger seat airbag can be de-activated quickly when you are carrying a baby-seat.

As you move up the range, comfort and safety levels are enhanced. Air conditioning, automatic dual zone climate control, Dualogic automatic/sequential gearboxes, ABS with EBD, Electronic Traction Control Systems, Cruise Control, parking sensors, rain sensors and ESP complete with ASR/MSR and Hill-Holder are all on offer.

Fiat claim this level of equipment for a car in this B-Segment is ‘unprecedented’.

The review car was pretty basic, but good. It featured remote central locking, a boot release on the floor, electric windows up front, wind up ones behind and also had manually adjusted side mirrors. Punto is great on open storage areas. There are two big deep cubbies on the top of the dash; a good enough glove box and two good, deep cupholders on the bottom of the central console. Add reasonable door bins to the list. A handy little coin tray at the front of the driver’s door bin holds parking metre, evening paper or toll charge coins. Another cubby juts out from the side of the front passenger’s seat.

Instruments are white on black by day and are all clearly visible. Visibility is good, due to the car’s low scuttle line and driver’s height adjustment (which I usually require because of my height).

Seats are comfy and offer good lumbar support. I’m not a huge fan of Blaupunkt radios, as they’re a bit on the fussy side.

The new Punto range also includes a brand new 95bhp 1.4- Fire engine with top speed of 110mph; a 130bhp 1.8- with top speed of 127mph, and the two frugal engines, the 1242 8v petrol (used in nine versions) which develops 60bhp at 5000 rpm and can return up to 58mpg with a top speed of 96mph; and the new 1248cc 16v Multijet, the subject of this review.

Punto prices are from €12,495-€22,945.