Hi noob here. This is my first post, first thread but hopefully I'll become a regular visitor.

I've put a deposit down today on a low mileage 100HP in white. I go to see it on Saturday and will hopefully be driving away not getting the train back unless there's something amiss with it.

The car's way up north (another country!) but the Scottish roads on the return home to Stockport should make for a memorable drive in what I hope will be a great car.

I can't wait for the weekend

Hello there. Welcome to fiat forum.

I'm sure you'll enjoy your drive back!
From what I remember those Scottish roads are great!

You will enjoy the drive back, Scotland is just a big race track

Welcome to the Forum & nice to see another soon to be 100HP owner enjoying the wonders of what 100 horses can do in a small car.

Just to warn you the suspension is quite hard so ur be bounching if your driving on an uneven road.

You will love the engine note as you whip though the B roads but you wont like the petrol consumption after lol

Thanks for the welcome

So I picked the car up from Perth on Saturday. It's a 10 plate with 2800 miles (a few more now ), in white but no options sadly. I'll be upgrading the speakers and somehow connecting my ipod too it soonish.

What a great little car! I ended up going home via a stop off in Newcastle using A and B roads mostly. I found a good mix of roads and some truly fantastic ones. It would be almost worth moving to Scotland just to drive round all day. It didn't stop bloody raining the whole way but the grip, braking and handling were great. Sunday was more of the same, this time across Country Durham, Cumbria and Yorkshire still peeing it down. By about 7 is was getting dark and foggy too so I headed to the M6 at Lancaster and found my way home. It turns out it's not bad on the motorway either.

I can't wait to see what it's like in the dry but despite poor conditions the Panda managed to put an actual smile on my face several times. The ride was firm but mostly OK with some surfaces/bump combinations really upsetting the little thing. I was only thrown out of my seat once though...

If I can make this work here's a pic of el Panda having a breather on a very damp buttertubs pass.

Looking good

Hi rodentracing.

I have just joined and was viewing your posts with interest.

Presumably you bought your car from Arnold Clark in Perth.

I saw it on their web site a few weeks ago and was quite interested until a big yellow sold sticker suddenly appeared one morning.

Presumably you are still enjoying your purchase and I am prarticularly interested to find out just how bumpy these things are.

Perhaps its other attributes make up for any discomfort.

I am a sports bike rider (7 hours in the saddle yesterday around Perthshire and the Trossachs) and so, by comparison, perhaps the 100 BHP model is quite comfortable after all.

Any comments would be appreciated.

Regards.

The rear suspension is pretty stiff.

Speedbumps need to be taken slowly.

Under load into a corner it 'pogos', which is quite unsettling. The car still seems to track okay round the corner despite this, but hit a bump mid-corner and it has a good chance of skipping.

I feel that the rear damping/spring rates are not well resolved.

Sorry for saying it again, but if only it had a rear ARB.

I suspect the spring rates are not the main culprit once you accept that the Panda wasn't going to get the 500 ARB upgrade; as usual Fiat has under-damped on rebound on the back in particular and the bump rubbers seem to come in to play too early in the spring travel. I'm close to getting a pair of Koni Sport dampers for the back but I'm hesitating because: 1, they are the same for all non-4wd Pandas and the spring rates are very different between models, though I'm sure that there would be enough adjustment to compensate; 2, I can't find out if they're adjustable on the car - the general info on the Koni web site is that 8040-series dampers - which includes the Sport range for 500 and Panda - are not but the specific info for the 8040-1347Sport for the Panda is that they are adjustable on the car using a detachable knob (no giggling at the back, please). An e-mail to Koni to clear this up has not been dignified by a reply - in the past I've used Konis that needed to be taken off and fully compressed till a kind of dog arrangement engaged with the valve adjuster - great dampers but this was a pain that I'd sooner avoid. I'd really like to try some Koni FSDs - I'm assuming that those for the 500 would fit on the rear and that their auto-adjustment would cope with any spring rate/weight differences, especially as the FSDs are the same for all models of 500 - but they only appear to be available as complete sets of four.

babbo_umbro said:

I suspect the spring rates are not the main culprit once you accept that the Panda wasn't going to get the 500 ARB upgrade; as usual Fiat has under-damped on rebound on the back in particular and the bump rubbers seem to come in to play too early in the spring travel. I'm close to getting a pair of Koni Sport dampers for the back but I'm hesitating because: 1, they are the same for all non-4wd Pandas and the spring rates are very different between models, though I'm sure that there would be enough adjustment to compensate; 2, I can't find out if they're adjustable on the car - the general info on the Koni web site is that 8040-series dampers - which includes the Sport range for 500 and Panda - are not but the specific info for the 8040-1347Sport for the Panda is that they are adjustable on the car using a detachable knob (no giggling at the back, please). An e-mail to Koni to clear this up has not been dignified by a reply - in the past I've used Konis that needed to be taken off and fully compressed till a kind of dog arrangement engaged with the valve adjuster - great dampers but this was a pain that I'd sooner avoid. I'd really like to try some Koni FSDs - I'm assuming that those for the 500 would fit on the rear and that their auto-adjustment would cope with any spring rate/weight differences, especially as the FSDs are the same for all models of 500 - but they only appear to be available as complete sets of four.

Click to expand...

Hi, I concur with your experience of Konis and of course agree with all the comments about the ride; My 100HP Pandamonium has 16''aftermarket alloys on with new tyres and it grips well but on poor roads it really is bumpy.... We shouldn't be too hard on the HP though - before I bought my Panda, I had three years with a new 500 Lounge Multijet and the ride in that wasn't especially good and overall it was no where near as smooth (or as much fun) as the HP.
Has anyone fitted a later spec rear axle beam from an '09 onwards 500 to a Panda - would the sturdier construction calm down a 100HP?
p.s. anyone want to sell/swop a set of standard 100HP wheels tyres? !!

babbo_umbro said:

I suspect the spring rates are not the main culprit once you accept that the Panda wasn't going to get the 500 ARB upgrade; as usual Fiat has under-damped on rebound on the back in particular and the bump rubbers seem to come in to play too early in the spring travel. I'm close to getting a pair of Koni Sport dampers for the back but I'm hesitating because: 1, they are the same for all non-4wd Pandas and the spring rates are very different between models, though I'm sure that there would be enough adjustment to compensate; 2, I can't find out if they're adjustable on the car - the general info on the Koni web site is that 8040-series dampers - which includes the Sport range for 500 and Panda - are not but the specific info for the 8040-1347Sport for the Panda is that they are adjustable on the car using a detachable knob (no giggling at the back, please). An e-mail to Koni to clear this up has not been dignified by a reply - in the past I've used Konis that needed to be taken off and fully compressed till a kind of dog arrangement engaged with the valve adjuster - great dampers but this was a pain that I'd sooner avoid. I'd really like to try some Koni FSDs - I'm assuming that those for the 500 would fit on the rear and that their auto-adjustment would cope with any spring rate/weight differences, especially as the FSDs are the same for all models of 500 - but they only appear to be available as complete sets of four.

Click to expand...

Babbo umbro.

Get the Koni's. They'll be absolutely fine. My dad put a set of non-adjustable Bilstein's on his 131 Mirafiori back in the 80's and said they were the best money ever spent. I'm pretty sure Bilstein only did one model of dampers for the 131 as well. My mum's 1990 Saab 900 runs on a set of non-adjustable Bilstein's which fit the whole range of 900 saloons. The 900 is lovely to drive, standard springs and B6 sport dampers and the handling is nice and predictable and progressive

Koni's and Bilstein's are good and they'll be setup to work well over the whole range of Panda's Nothing could possibly be worse than Fiat's attempt's at suspension damping.

If your going to upgrade your brakes disc's n pads, I recommend buying "Mintex" as they work very well..

306maxi said:

Babbo umbro.

Get the Koni's. They'll be absolutely fine. My dad put a set of non-adjustable Bilstein's on his 131 Mirafiori back in the 80's and said they were the best money ever spent. I'm pretty sure Bilstein only did one model of dampers for the 131 as well. My mum's 1990 Saab 900 runs on a set of non-adjustable Bilstein's which fit the whole range of 900 saloons. The 900 is lovely to drive, standard springs and B6 sport dampers and the handling is nice and predictable and progressive

Koni's and Bilstein's are good and they'll be setup to work well over the whole range of Panda's Nothing could possibly be worse than Fiat's attempt's at suspension damping.

Click to expand...

I put Konis on a Mirafiori/131 Sport - I think they were specific to the model, long time ago but I remember that they transformed it. It had quite a bit of work done on the engine too - cams and twin Dellorto carbs - great car.

Jockay said:

Hi rodentracing.

I have just joined and was viewing your posts with interest.

Presumably you bought your car from Arnold Clark in Perth.

I saw it on their web site a few weeks ago and was quite interested until a big yellow sold sticker suddenly appeared one morning.

Presumably you are still enjoying your purchase and I am prarticularly interested to find out just how bumpy these things are.

Perhaps its other attributes make up for any discomfort.

I am a sports bike rider (7 hours in the saddle yesterday around Perthshire and the Trossachs) and so, by comparison, perhaps the 100 BHP model is quite comfortable after all.

Any comments would be appreciated.

Regards.

Click to expand...

Hi Jockay,

Yep that's the one. Very friendly dealership they are too.

Two weeks in and about 1000 miles under its belt and all I can say is the Panda is a great little car. Quick(ish), stops well, very agile, superb grip wet and dry, forgiving when you brake mid corner for suicidal pheasants...

The ride is firm but not too firm. Occasionally it gets caught out over the bumpy stuff. This results in a sickening thud or bang at low speeds. Going quicker you can end up pogoing. It does leave you hanging on for dear life at times but only once has it thrown me from the seat . Good job it's got a high roof . On most roads though it's absolutely fine.

Most importantly though, it's FUN! It really encourages you to stretch its legs. It feels most at home on a good B road when you're wringing its neck. It laps it up too. I now go the long way more often than not just to thrape it down some quiet back roads. The Snake Pass on Friday was brilliant.

I may consider doing something about the suspension in the future but for now it's fine. There's still a lot for me to learn about the handling, trail braking etc before I can say I really know the car. I can see myself keeping this one a while. I've not had a long termer since my e30 Beemer that I drove for 4 years (i've still got it but that's another story...) My Puma would have been a keeper were it not for everything steadily breaking then a nasty MOT day :bang:

Another pleasant surprise was the upgraded speaker pack that I wasn't expecting. No need to do any work there, it sounds very good indeed, just need to hook my ipod.

Negatives are small boot (it's okay really, just not for tip runs) and a bit tidly for passengers in the back. I'm 6' 2" and it's very comfortable for me though. If image matters to you then you won't be disappointed. It's had a great reaction from friends, colleagues, family. A couple of passengers have compared it to an original mini and a go kart!

Overall i'd recommend one. A great value little hot(ish) hatch.

Rodentracing.

Thank you very much for your honest and straight forward feedback.

I have had a number of cars over many years (Mostly company cars) and now that I am retired and to keep the costs down I have a fairly new 1.2 Active Eco.

I really do think it is a magic little car and one of the most enjoyable / fun cars I have driven.

That is whay I am thinking about a 100BHP as surely it can only ramp up the whole experience and yet still not break the bank.

I have now test driven one for a short distance and I am pleased to find it is nowhere as bumpy and rigid as I had expected - I did notice, on one of the first, corners I negotiated that it gave a little skip but having read up on it so much I knew what was going on and did not get fazed.

Seems quite difficult to find a really another minted one, like yours, at a reasonable price but I will keep looking.

Thanks again.