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panda128

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Ive spent months researching warm hatches and the panda seems to tick most of the boxes.

My concerns are - how hard is the ride really? i do a 40 mile round trip commute twice a week mainly motorway and b roads, is the cabin noise bad? my other commute is 20 mile round trip twice a week and then its jusr short journeys on top.

Would you say its an embarassing car to be seen in, if one pulled up in the car park would it get weird staresfrom people like 'what the **** is that horrible thing'

Bare in mind im 26 year old male and most of the owners seem to be female or old?? or am i wrong??

Also how much fun is it to drive really?
 
Last summer I did two trips to Croatia without any problems. (1700 Km one way)
The car hates speedbumps (I slow down to less than 20 Km/h), but is otherwise really fun.
Oh and yes I'm rather old, but that just ads to other people wondering why that old guy in the Panda is taking roundabouts ore other bends in the road so quickly.

gr J
 
panda128 said:
Ive spent months researching warm hatches and the panda seems to tick most of the boxes.

My concerns are - how hard is the ride really? i do a 40 mile round trip commute twice a week mainly motorway and b roads, is the cabin noise bad? my other commute is 20 mile round trip twice a week and then its jusr short journeys on top.

Would you say its an embarassing car to be seen in, if one pulled up in the car park would it get weird staresfrom people like 'what the **** is that horrible thing'

Bare in mind im 26 year old male and most of the owners seem to be female or old?? or am i wrong??

Also how much fun is it to drive really?
Click to expand...
The ride is fine apart from large potholes and speed bumps, but you soon learn to avoid/slow down for both.

Cabin noise isn't an issue, well no more than it is in any small car. In fact, due to having 6 gears, the 100HP is probably more civilised than many cars of a similar size, especially on the motorway. It's no rep-mobile, but it's happy to sit at 80mph all day (obviously not in the UK...:p) without deafening you.

Why would you care what anyone else thinks of your car's looks? That's just a bit...sad (no offence intended). Let's face it, it's a Fiat Panda; it's not a car anyone gives a second look to, 100HP version or not. Normal people won't pay it any more attention than they will any other small hatchback (i.e. none).

Seeing as most young people seem to think a 1.2 Corsa "Limited Edition" is a good, cool car, I wouldn't be too inclined to take their opinions to heart.
 
Matt100HP said:
The ride is fine apart from large potholes and speed bumps, but you soon learn to avoid/slow down for both.

Cabin noise isn't an issue, well no more than it is in any small car. In fact, due to having 6 gears, the 100HP is probably more civilised than many cars of a similar size, especially on the motorway. It's no rep-mobile, but it's happy to sit at 80mph all day (obviously not in the UK...:p) without deafening you.

Why would you care what anyone else thinks of your car's looks? That's just a bit...sad (no offence intended). Let's face it, it's a Fiat Panda; it's not a car anyone gives a second look to, 100HP version or not. Normal people won't pay it any more attention than they will any other small hatchback (i.e. none).

Seeing as most young people seem to think a 1.2 Corsa "Limited Edition" is a good, cool car, I wouldn't be too inclined to take their opinions to heart.
Click to expand...

does it feel quite fast? and is it good for overtaking?
 
panda128 said:
does it feel quite fast? and is it good for overtaking?
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No, it's not a fast car, it's a fun car. That said, it's not slow either and on a twisty road it's surprising how quickly you can hustle it along.

Err, it's okay for overtaking sometimes, but you have to know the limitations of only having 99BHP and be willing to rev it right to the red line to extract every single one of those BHP. A crap-ton of torque and a quick, modern auto-box is what you really want for overtaking, the 100HP has neither.

My dad's Audi is a perfect overtaking machine, but it has the handling prowess of the USS Nimitz. It's swings and roundabouts, I guess.
 
i know its not fast fast but i wasent sure if it could feel fast on the straights if you floor it
 
panda128 said:
i know its not fast fast but i wasent sure if it could feel fast on the straights if you floor it
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Speed is relative I guess. In any car there's less thrill in going fast in a straight line, with more thrill found on curves. This is where the 100hp aces it.


It'll average 35-38mpg generally and costs £155 a year in tax.


You need to test drive to see if you 'get it'. And by test drive, do the road-humps as well. We have a 100hp and a Panda 1.2 and the 1.2 is absolute bliss on road-humps......


(Another old owner speaking)
 
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panda128 said:
i know its not fast fast but i wasent sure if it could feel fast on the straights if you floor it
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There's no "kick in the kidneys" feeling, if that's what you mean? That comes from loads of torque, usually provided by a turbocharged (or massive) engine.

The 100HP isn't a particularly slow or particularly fast car, but it's got a very linear, revvy (7000RPM red line) power delivery, which doesn't feel fast in the same way a really torquey engine does.

Saying that, when I get out of the deathly slow sheds some of my mates drive and into my car, it suddenly feels like it's got rocket up its exhaust (y)!
 

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Matt100HP said:
There's no "kick in the kidneys" feeling, if that's what you mean? That comes from loads of torque, usually provided by a turbocharged (or massive) engine.

The 100HP isn't a particularly slow or particularly fast car, but it's got a very linear, revvy (7000RPM red line) power delivery, which doesn't feel fast in the same way a really torquey engine does.

Saying that, when I get out of the deathly slow sheds some of my mates drive and into my car, it suddenly feels like it's got rocket up its exhaust (y)!
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a revvy car suits me, i love diesels but its not economically viable for me to buy one so have to stick with revvy warm hatches
 
panda128 said:
is there many young lads who drive the 100hp??
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Are you the guy/girl I've just written an answer to this exact question to on PistonHeads :)? If so, see my answer there, if not, I'll paste the relevant part below:

"I was only just 19 when I bought mine, though I don't know of anyone else as young as me who has one."

Added FF special bit: There may well be people on here who are younger than me (20) who have one :).
 
Matt100HP said:
Are you the guy/girl I've just written an answer to this exact question to on PistonHeads :)? If so, see my answer there, if not, I'll paste the relevant part below:

"I was only just 19 when I bought mine, though I don't know of anyone else as young as me who has one."

Added FF special bit: There may well be people on here who are younger than me (20) who have one :).
Click to expand...


Matt - you're probably the exception anyway since you clearly don't give a toss what other people think about what you drive.


I think if anyone's considering a car strongly based on what people think about it then the 100hp is probably not for them.
 
I've found that the best cars to drive and own are usually the ones nobody knows about or looks at twice, the 100hp is a drivers car pure and simple, it rewards enthusiastic driving without ever putting you in a dangerous situation by being too powerful.
If image is your prime concern then I would look elsewhere as the 100hp is a true marmite car... for myself after owing everything from V8 powered monsters to 4x4's and even rotary once:eek:.... the panda is the only car that after a year of ownership I still genuinely look forward to climbing in to every day.
If your twenty one then there is nothing cooler than a VW or Audi but as you get older and more experienced you quickly realise that these are nice cars but very boring to drive and own and everyone and his dog owns one, small Italian cars are THE coolest thing on the planet and they are never ever boring...:D
 
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Hi

like many on here I'm one of the more mature owners of a 100hp. I've had mine since April this year. and covered just over 5k miles in that time. so I've not owned it as long as some but long enough to appreciate it's good points and bad.

Speed - if you want a fast car DONT buy the 100hp. Its not fast. I've owned a few hot hatches and driven lots of fast cars. 100hp is never going to be seem as a fast car. plenty of every day cars are faster in terms of acceleration and outright speed. it's just about nippy enough to make quick progress exciting. country lanes, corners, round abouts and its ability to carry speed is where it excels

Refinement and build - I think this is quite a strong area for the panda. mine at least. no rattles. well build and generally feels solid. Not Audi or vw levels but many have been in and commented on how well it's screwed together. especially compared to cars in same segment

images - real marmite. my wife has a few cousins from 16-20 and they hate the way it looks. I for one love it. it looks sporty enough in 80's bolt on special kind of way but does not scream look at me. especially in grey.

I needed a 5door hatchback which was exciting enough to drive in isolation and cheap to run. to me for its almost perfect

only things I can fault is the rubbish turning circle and expensive road tax. you really have to try the ride yourself. it's rubbish over speed bumps and bumpy roads but no more so then if say a hot hatch like a civic type R

if you want a small fast car I recommend a Clio 182......
 
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GunMetalPo said:
Hi

like many on here I'm one of the more mature owners of a 100hp. I've had mine since April this year. and covered just over 5k miles in that time. so I've not owned it as long as some but long enough to appreciate it's good points and bad.

Speed - if you want a fast car DONT buy the 100hp. Its not fast. I've owned a few hot hatches and driven lots of fast cars. 100hp is never going to be seem as a fast car. plenty of every day cars are faster in terms of acceleration and outright speed. it's just about nippy enough to make quick progress exciting. country lanes, corners, round abouts and its ability to carry speed is where it excels

Refinement and build - I think this is quite a strong area for the panda. mine at least. no rattles. well build and generally feels solid. Not Audi or vw levels but many have been in and commented on how well it's screwed together. especially compared to cars in same segment

images - real marmite. my wife has a few cousins from 16-20 and they hate the way it looks. I for one love it. it looks sporty enough in 80's bolt on special kind of way but does not scream look at me. especially in grey.

I needed a 5door hatchback which was exciting enough to drive in isolation and cheap to run. to me for its almost perfect

only things I can fault is the rubbish turning circle and expensive road tax. you really have to try the ride yourself. it's rubbish over speed bumps and bumpy roads but no more so then if say a hot hatch like a civic type R

if you want a small fast car I recommend a Clio 182......
Click to expand...
to be fair my current car takes 15 seconds to 60 and that can feel fun on the right road
 
I use to have a blast driving around in my micra so speed isn't everything but if you are quoting 0-60 times you are missing the point of the 100hp.

All the best with whatever car you choose to go for.
 
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