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General Things I love about the Panda

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General Things I love about the Panda

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4x4Panda

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Hi all

Here's just a few little things that appeal to me from a design perspective:

1. The P A N D A print on the dash and door trims
2. The 'hidden' Panda badging:
- on the inside top edge of the boot
- moulded into the rear light clusters
3. Red-colour rear washer jet so that it blends into the high level brake light unit.
4. Nice big allen-head screw to attach the pull strap for the boot
5. Those alloys
6. The fold flat front seat

Just a few that have registered at the 'surprise and delight' level

:):)
 
4x4Panda said:
Hi all

Here's just a few little things that appeal to me from a design perspective:

1. The P A N D A print on the dash and door trims
2. The 'hidden' Panda badging:
- on the inside top edge of the boot
- moulded into the rear light clusters
3. Red-colour rear washer jet so that it blends into the high level brake light unit.
4. Nice big allen-head screw to attach the pull strap for the boot
5. Those alloys
6. The fold flat front seat

Just a few that have registered at the 'surprise and delight' level

:):)
Click to expand...

All those details are pleasing, but for me it's the very roomy feel (for such
a small car) and the outstanding visibility all round. And the TA's character!



Chris
 
Keep them coming chaps!

I'll add:
The 'squircular' steering wheel that only looks that way, but thankfully isn't.
Fantastic air conditioning - this car has executive-saloon cooling power.
Excellent audio system that integrates perfectly with my iphone.
A heated screen that actually works (!)
This is best handling and ride quality I've yet experienced in a small car. A Citroen C1 I drove for a week recently was rubbish in both respects by comparison.

My wife had the Panda for a week while I borrowed her X3 and after she'd had her car back for a day I remarked: "I bet you're glad to have the BMW back" and her reply was "yeah, its okay I guess". It seems she has also been smitten by the little FIAT...

(I will truly get onto the small dislikes at some point, but right now they don't seem very important)
 
I traded my 500 1.2 lounge for a Panda TA and have no regrets. The power delivery is astonishing and the noise that little engine makes is worth it alone!

The other outstanding feature is the excellent ride quality which is a perfect balance between firmness and comfort.

Love all the little touches and details too. It's a breath of fresh air in a world of blandness!
 
4x4Panda said:
Keep them coming chaps!

I'll add:
The 'squircular' steering wheel that only looks that way, but thankfully isn't.
Fantastic air conditioning - this car has executive-saloon cooling power.
Excellent audio system that integrates perfectly with my iphone.
A heated screen that actually works (!)
This is best handling and ride quality I've yet experienced in a small car. A Citroen C1 I drove for a week recently was rubbish in both respects by comparison.

My wife had the Panda for a week while I borrowed her X3 and after she'd had her car back for a day I remarked: "I bet you're glad to have the BMW back" and her reply was "yeah, its okay I guess". It seems she has also been smitten by the little FIAT...

(I will truly get onto the small dislikes at some point, but right now they don't seem very important)
Click to expand...

The only negative I have is the speakers I feel are poor. The radio, media playback from USB and iPhone Bluetooth are as good as ever but my A500 had inter scope and even now going from my girlfriends mini to the panda I do find the sound quality average. Yes I've changed the radio settings for loudness, bass, etc. but I just think they can't produce much real bass. Anyway, as I say it's the first and only negative so far.

On a positive note yesterday I drove 2 miles from my house to the local shops and a new 'normal' panda went the other way (which makes a change to a 500/mini/ds3) then as I was arriving in the village a green new 4x4 panda was going in the other direction too :) 2 pandas (one a 4x4) in a two mile journey I was made up. Flashed the 4x4 and put my hand up but I think he thought I'd gone mad :-(
 
catnash said:
One of the many great things I like is a hook type thing in the boot, used it many times to carry takeaway bags.
Click to expand...

Thanks for mentioning this, I'd not spotted it :eek: (I'm sure there are some
storage cubbies I haven't yet found too...)

The inner edge of the moulded hook on mine is a bit sharp, so I'll be
filing it smooth before hanging any plastic bags from it :D

There are also a couple of anchoring loops at the seatback base in the
boot which might be useful sometime.



Chris
 
I like the Big wing mirrors as on the Mk 3 they were small ,also like the front dash storage area and the small storage by and under the gearstick ,the 2 front door areas where you can put bottles ,but as there's so many things you can say that is better on the new Mk4 Panda ,Just one last thing in jan or feb 2012 last year I was looking at buying a Normal Panda mark 4 But I'm glad I waited and did not spend my money and by chance saw the 4x4 version as that was to Top it All
 
philboo said:
The only negative I have is the speakers I feel are poor. The radio, media playback from USB and iPhone Bluetooth are as good as ever but my A500 had inter scope and even now going from my girlfriends mini to the panda I do find the sound quality average. Yes I've changed the radio settings for loudness, bass, etc. but I just think they can't produce much real bass. Anyway, as I say it's the first and only negative so far.

I agree, the functionality is great and the blue & me integration works well but the sound quality is actually ****e, really ****e. I'm not an audiophile but really would expect something better in this day and age. Sounds like the speakers have been made from biscuit tins! I think I may look to replace them at some time in the future with plastic lunchboxes or something.
Click to expand...
 
Hey philboo and divingscubaboy,

I know what you mean about the quality of the stereo in the Panda as delivered from the factory. We only used to have a basic 500 1.2 Pop but the sound quality was always very good IMO.

Take a look at my post here; this info was pinched from the previous gen Panda section. The basic functionality of the Blaupunkt stereo and the one in the new Panda is pretty much identical:

https://www.fiatforum.com/panda-iii/304660-stereo-eq-settings.html

The settings suggested are the first post in the link attached to the above thread.

Let me know how you get on - hopefully it is of some use to you. If not, well never mind! Haha!:)
 
Thanks Super Uwe :)

I'll certainly try those settings in my 4x4. I actually think the Mk4 sounds better than the Mk3 - both 'un-touched' / as delivered. So, I'm hoping it will be even better with the same tweaks (y) I recall that it was nigh on impossible to find the button-pushes that activated the EQ controls, so I'm hoping they are not as expertly hidden in this car as well...
 
Super Uwe said:
Hey philboo and divingscubaboy,

I know what you mean about the quality of the stereo in the Panda as delivered from the factory. We only used to have a basic 500 1.2 Pop but the sound quality was always very good IMO.

Take a look at my post here; this info was pinched from the previous gen Panda section. The basic functionality of the Blaupunkt stereo and the one in the new Panda is pretty much identical:

https://www.fiatforum.com/panda-iii/304660-stereo-eq-settings.html

The settings suggested are the first post in the link attached to the above thread.

Let me know how you get on - hopefully it is of some use to you. If not, well never mind! Haha!:)
Click to expand...

Hey super Uwe thanks, that's made a big improvement. I'd only changed loudness, bass and treble and never looked at that EQ. I guess seeing it flat I guessed was just a visual indication and I didn't even realise the EQ bands are customisable and I'd just cycle through pre-set silly modes (eg jazz, concert hall, Etc.) which usually always sound worse.
 
Thanks for the feedback!

I thought the suggested EQ settings were really useful when I tried them out, and the good thing is that you can still play around with bass, treble etc to your liking. The chap who quoted them originally was happy with -6 bass; I usually have it on at least +2. Each to their own of course!

I have no idea what they were thinking with the original settings; IMO they sounded terrible, almost like three or four sheets of paper had been taped over the front of the speakers!:)
 
I failed to find the graphic equaliser thingummy this morning...

Can anyone tell me which buttons to push?

Sorry if that sounds very lazy of me... :D
 
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