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General Panda 100hp: missing bits

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General Panda 100hp: missing bits

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AB100

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Just bought a 11 reg white Panda 100hp with Pandamonium and glass roof. It replaced my 3 year old 500 1.4 Sport, so it's been an interesting comparison.

1. The Panda rides much better - kinda surprised me a little. The cornering is much better, not that the 500 was bad.

2. Turning circle.........now nothing's going to beat our Seicento, but it surprised me that, although still grim, the turning circle is still noticably better than the 500 1.4, which is atrocious (presumably they did that to accommodate Abarth tyres).

3. Small doors. Nice.

4. It's noticably perkier than the 500 - not used Sport mode yet as it's very feisty. And passing cars in a white Panda seems to shock people - the yellow 500 irritated them.

Finally though, the car was advertised (as many still are) with phone bluetooth and heated door mirrors. It has neither. Shame though.
 
They've never had heated door mirrors. The Bluetooth was deleted a short while ago, I think because it can be a bit problematic at times and doesn't work all that well really.

Go on, try the Sport button!
 
You're lucky, you must have got hold of one of the last 100HPs.

Apart from when I'm stuck in traffic jams - very rare occurrence, thank goodness - and when parking in the garage, I have Sport selected all the time, not so much for the accelerator response as for the steering weight. It is surprising how much difference the 4/5 doors make compared to 2/3 - I've always preferred two doors but, especially now that half the cars around occupy the whole width of the next parking bay, the Panda's narrowness with door/s open is an advantage. Turning circle, compared to Mrs b_u's MJ and now 1.2, feels huge, can't imagine what a 1.4 500's like - confirms my dismal opinion of it. Have you tried a later 500 with the anti-roll bar rear end? Was it a definite improvement on the earlier stiff beam axle setup?

Never had any problems with Bluetooth - find it very useful - and usable.
 
Never had heated mirrors? Well, it's just one of those things - all the adverts seem to suggest it. Not to worry. And though the Bluetooth in the 500 was OK, it's not a big deal. Overall, the Panda's a much nicer car from my perspective.

Now - the 500 took some wearing in to yield more power and I assume the Panda will be the same, though it does an indicated 120+ downhill ok. I'll savout the 'sport' button till I have a few more miles than the 250 on it.

I removed the red Pandamonium stripe - just a little too much for me. Pondering a rear de-badge too, just to baffle folks even more.
 
Thanks - the irony was that the 500 was coming up for the MOT at 3 years and 20,000 miles. That's when I found the disks looked very bad and I needed an exhaust..............and none of the motor factors stocked them yet. Total cost would have been £300+ for parts alone.

I've been browing white 100hps since before I had the 500 (had it been yellow it would have been bought immediately).

I phoned the local dealer mid-Feb and asked if I could still get a 11 reg 100hp. By good fortune, they had a white glass-roof Pandamonium ready to go.

And what a deal..........£3100 to swap my 2008 500 1.4 Sport for a new Panda 100hp. The receipt says £7100 trade in and £10200 for the Panda which was specc'd at almost £12k.

Anyone still looking for a new Panda 100hp should look at Arnold Clark (mine was not from there) - they also have some Cross's.
 
AB100 said:
I've been browing white 100hps since before I had the 500 (had it been yellow it would have been bought immediately).
Click to expand...

Aha, I have always toyed with the idea of getting my 100hp wrapped in bright yellow, one day I do want to get it done because I am going to keep it for a few years. :)
 
Yes, my first non-yellow FIAT since 1998. The 500 yellow is poor compared to the Seicento yellow though.......

Probably cheaper to get a yellow diesel Panda and tune it to 95bhp. I'd kept this in mind when forking out the for the new plate on the white 100hp............YE11OW*
 
babbo_umbro said:
You're lucky, you must have got hold of one of the last 100HPs.

Apart from when I'm stuck in traffic jams - very rare occurrence, thank goodness - and when parking in the garage, I have Sport selected all the time, not so much for the accelerator response as for the steering weight. It is surprising how much difference the 4/5 doors make compared to 2/3 - I've always preferred two doors but, especially now that half the cars around occupy the whole width of the next parking bay, the Panda's narrowness with door/s open is an advantage. Turning circle, compared to Mrs b_u's MJ and now 1.2, feels huge, can't imagine what a 1.4 500's like - confirms my dismal opinion of it. Have you tried a later 500 with the anti-roll bar rear end? Was it a definite improvement on the earlier stiff beam axle setup?

Never had any problems with Bluetooth - find it very useful - and usable.
Click to expand...

The different rear end makes a huge difference. I tried a 500c and the difference was appreciable. It rode the bumps rather than skipped across them as our 500 does. Wheel size makes a huge difference as well, I've just this weekend changed over from 14" steelies with winter tyres on to 16" alloys with summer tyres and the car is just rubbish on bumpy surfaces.

Tbh I found the Panda 100hp to not have a terrific turning circle compared to our 1.2 500. Both are still far better than our Subaru which would rival the QE2 for turning circle crapulence.
 
AB100 said:
Yes, my first non-yellow FIAT since 1998. The 500 yellow is poor compared to the Seicento yellow though.......

Probably cheaper to get a yellow diesel Panda and tune it to 95bhp. I'd kept this in mind when forking out the for the new plate on the white 100hp............YE11OW*
Click to expand...

The yellow on the 500 just isn't strong enough, it's not quite the insipid yellow that the Panda's have, but it's not as nice as broom yellow.
 
306maxi said:
The different rear end makes a huge difference. I tried a 500c and the difference was appreciable. It rode the bumps rather than skipped across them as our 500 does. Wheel size makes a huge difference as well, I've just this weekend changed over from 14" steelies with winter tyres on to 16" alloys with summer tyres and the car is just rubbish on bumpy surfaces.

Tbh I found the Panda 100hp to not have a terrific turning circle compared to our 1.2 500. Both are still far better than our Subaru which would rival the QE2 for turning circle crapulence.
Click to expand...


The thing is, when it came to weighing in the 500 I was tempted by the 500 Twinair. In yellow. But I'd always fancied the 100hp.........see how it goes and see what happens to the Twinair.

I've driven the Panda 1.2 and 1.3mj in Italy and the 5-speed cars all have a nicer turning circle. The 1.4s make one look foolish - it's really not fun. Plus, that's the first diesel I've driven that doesn't feel like a 2 stroke moped with a 50 rev power/torque band.
 
AB100 said:
2. Turning circle.........now nothing's going to beat our Seicento, but it surprised me that, although still grim, the turning circle is still noticably better than the 500 1.4, which is atrocious (presumably they did that to accommodate Abarth tyres).


Finally though, the car was advertised (as many still are) with phone bluetooth and heated door mirrors. It has neither. Shame though.
Click to expand...

Turning circle is bad because of the 6speed gearbox.

As for the heated door mirrors, out Eleganza with heated door mirrors happens to have these missing (n)

Its the one thing that really pees me off with the car. Its not until you've had them you realise just how handy and at times invaluable they are.
 
Most Easterly Pandas said:
Turning circle is bad because of the 6speed gearbox.

As for the heated door mirrors, out Eleganza with heated door mirrors happens to have these missing (n)

Its the one thing that really pees me off with the car. Its not until you've had them you realise just how handy and at times invaluable they are.
Click to expand...

Yeah - the 6-speed box kills the circle, but that's life. Maybe the tuned diesel is the answer.

Yes - in all that fog yesterday, I sat there like a lemon waiting for the mirrors to demist, like in the 500.........no dice. Has anyone popped the glass off to see if the glass has heat-elements, or even if the wiring is in place? The fusebox looked a tad different to my manual, though I sensed no fuse was in. Shame on them.

Still a cracking car though. We do like it - the fun of the Seicento but quieter, faster and more economical.
 
AB100 said:
Maybe the tuned diesel is the answer.
Click to expand...

It'll hustle along quite smartly, but you'll be lacking the stiffened suspension from the 100HP, so be prepared for a lot of body roll. It'll be plenty quick around roundabouts and corners, but it'll roll enough that it can be somewhat disconcerting.

Also be aware that you may have to upgrade the clutch due to the increased torque. I've read a few reports of people having to have the clutch replaced before even 20K miles on a bone stock MJ. On the other hand, I've got 55K km on mine with the original clutch and not even a hint of slipping. In either case, don't be sloppy with the clutch or you'll kill it within a few thousand miles.

Fraguzz has posted a bit about a tuned MJ, I think he's up to 105hp(115?) or so and according to him, there's a very definite limit to how much torque the stock clutch can hold, so he fitted an aftermarket unit.

YMMV.
 
LeanMeanRacing said:
Hello and congratulations on the new purchase [even if it is not in yellow!] :cool:

Here's the inside of my 100HP's mirror:



:)
Click to expand...



Thansk for that, though my later model has the transit van door mirrors. That said - looks like plenty of wiring in there for some glass heaters.....

May have to pop the glass out.
 
KozmoNaut said:
It'll hustle along quite smartly, but you'll be lacking the stiffened suspension from the 100HP, so be prepared for a lot of body roll. It'll be plenty quick around roundabouts and corners, but it'll roll enough that it can be somewhat disconcerting.

Also be aware that you may have to upgrade the clutch due to the increased torque. I've read a few reports of people having to have the clutch replaced before even 20K miles on a bone stock MJ. On the other hand, I've got 55K km on mine with the original clutch and not even a hint of slipping. In either case, don't be sloppy with the clutch or you'll kill it within a few thousand miles.

Fraguzz has posted a bit about a tuned MJ, I think he's up to 105hp(115?) or so and according to him, there's a very definite limit to how much torque the stock clutch can hold, so he fitted an aftermarket unit.

YMMV.
Click to expand...


You're right, though my philosophy is not to keep cars beyond too many miles and drive them like they were stolen. And never to have them serviced. You can probably only get away with this on Polish built FIATs, since the 3 cinqs, 500 and 7 Seicento's testify.

NEVER buy a car I have owned.
 
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