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Technical Help with engine choice please

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Technical Help with engine choice please

SuffolkBexx

SuffolkBexx

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Hi everyone, hoping an existing owner can offer some advice. :)

We are looking to trade-in our Panda Trekking for a 500L. We've pretty much decided on the specs, except for the engine. We're going to miss the twinair engine on the Panda very much, so something as close as possible would be great.

The options we've been recommended are the 1.4 95hp petrol and the 1.3 95hp multijet diesel. We were considering the 1.6 diesel, but apparently it won't be well suited to our driving needs (roughly 7-8k miles per year, short school run trips through country A/B roads, occasional town driving and dual-carriageways).

I've read nothing but bad things about both these engines on review sites, so I would love some thoughts from experienced owners. We tried the 1.3 diesel on a test drive (although the dealer only had an automatic) and it seemed OK, but not really enough time to make a decision. The dealer didn't have the petrol, but we also test drove a 500X with the multiair and he said it would be like that one running in eco mode. Now we're personally not keen on the eco drive in the Panda, so this makes us nervous!

While good fuel economy would be nice, we are more keen on having a capable engine.

Any advice very gratefully received. Thank you. :)
 
SuffolkBexx said:
Hi everyone, hoping an existing owner can offer some advice. :)

We are looking to trade-in our Panda Trekking for a 500L. We've pretty much decided on the specs, except for the engine. We're going to miss the twinair engine on the Panda very much, so something as close as possible would be great.

The options we've been recommended are the 1.4 95hp petrol and the 1.3 95hp multijet diesel. We were considering the 1.6 diesel, but apparently it won't be well suited to our driving needs (roughly 7-8k miles per year, short school run trips through country A/B roads, occasional town driving and dual-carriageways).

I've read nothing but bad things about both these engines on review sites, so I would love some thoughts from experienced owners. We tried the 1.3 diesel on a test drive (although the dealer only had an automatic) and it seemed OK, but not really enough time to make a decision. The dealer didn't have the petrol, but we also test drove a 500X with the multiair and he said it would be like that one running in eco mode. Now we're personally not keen on the eco drive in the Panda, so this makes us nervous!

While good fuel economy would be nice, we are more keen on having a capable engine.

Any advice very gratefully received. Thank you. :)
Click to expand...


My tuppence: Definitely petrol, whatever you go for. Short runs are pure evil on a diesel.
 
Hi Sinny, thanks for your input. :)

I've been reading about DPF this evening and it sounds rather worrying! The dealer said something about the current 1.3 diesel "clearing itself" whereas the 1.6 doesn't. Anyone know anything about this, as I can't find any info online.

The petrol is definitely looking to be the more suitable option, just hoping it's not as awful as the reviews I've read say. Maybe the increase from 85hp to 95hp will make a difference.
 
Hi, I traded in my panda twinair last year for a 500l trekking with the 1.6 diesel engine (105hp). I love the extra room and the 1.6 engine is very capable, didn't consider the 1.3 as thought it may be underpowered for size of car. Must say I haven't missed the slight lack of acceleration the 500 has compared to the twinair as the quality of ride and comfort more than makes up for it.
As said previously thou, the mpg on short lower gear runs is very poor - on long runs I get 50- 55 mpg.
Maybe the new 120 bhp diesel owners may add their thoughts on acceleration compared to the 105. Overall I am very pleased with the diesel 1.6.
 
I don't own a 500L, but I have test driven a 500L 1.4 Pop Star before when we owned our old 1.2 Panda.

The 500L is MUCH bigger than the Panda. When you look at the dimensions, it isn't all that much wider and longer than a Punto, but coming from a Panda it felt like it was huge!:)

Based on what you have said in terms of mileage/daily use, I don't think you should look any further than the 1.4 petrol. It'll do the job for most of the time, and even if you are fully loaded on a motorway, you will just need to work it a bit harder. It's a small price to pay IMO, but ultimately you will have to give it a go and see what you think as you might find it to be dreadful compared to the TA.:eek:

I just can't see the diesel engines being any use based on the initial cost premium and potential issues with the DPF if it isn't given enough of a workout.
 
SuffolkBexx said:
Hi everyone, hoping an existing owner can offer some advice. :)

We are looking to trade-in our Panda Trekking for a 500L. We've pretty much decided on the specs, except for the engine. We're going to miss the twinair engine on the Panda very much, so something as close as possible would be great.

The options we've been recommended are the 1.4 95hp petrol and the 1.3 95hp multijet diesel. We were considering the 1.6 diesel, but apparently it won't be well suited to our driving needs (roughly 7-8k miles per year, short school run trips through country A/B roads, occasional town driving and dual-carriageways).

I've read nothing but bad things about both these engines on review sites, so I would love some thoughts from experienced owners. We tried the 1.3 diesel on a test drive (although the dealer only had an automatic) and it seemed OK, but not really enough time to make a decision. The dealer didn't have the petrol, but we also test drove a 500X with the multiair and he said it would be like that one running in eco mode. Now we're personally not keen on the eco drive in the Panda, so this makes us nervous!

While good fuel economy would be nice, we are more keen on having a capable engine.

Any advice very gratefully received. Thank you. :)
Click to expand...

Why not buy a 500L with the Twinair engine or with the 1.4 Tjet?
All depends on the spec-level You have chosen, so they may not be an option for You.
 
Thank you for the great feedback everyone, we're going to stick with petrol.

My hubby questioned the dealer further about the 1.3 diesel "self cleaning" even for short runs and therefore it not being an issue. We were hoping he might forward some technical documents, but he told us he'd just been told it in a training session! I'm not going to risk buying something based on what one person has heard in training with no evidence to back it up.

Thanks again, you've all made the decision much easier. (y)
 
santa said:
Why not buy a 500L with the Twinair engine or with the 1.4 Tjet?
All depends on the spec-level You have chosen, so they may not be an option for You.
Click to expand...

Those engines sadly aren't available now, just the standard petrol and 2 diesels. Such a shame they took the really good ones away, but seems Fiat doesn't want to compete too hard with the 500X.
 
Just checked the DPF problems on Google - I have changed my mind about recommending a deisel engine!!!!!
Heap's of problems with various manufacturers with repair bills of around £1200???? The dealer never mentioned anything to me re. PDF, I only found out from the previous post(thank you for that).
Does anyone know if the PDF is covered under warranty?
Cheers, Davie.
 
SuffolkBexx said:
Those engines sadly aren't available now, just the standard petrol and 2 diesels. Such a shame they took the really good ones away, but seems Fiat doesn't want to compete too hard with the 500X.
Click to expand...

Bummer.....here in Denmark we can still get the twinair (and the diesels), but the 1.4 Tjet is no more.
 
davietich said:
Just checked the DPF problems on Google - I have changed my mind about recommending a deisel engine!!!!!
Heap's of problems with various manufacturers with repair bills of around £1200???? The dealer never mentioned anything to me re. PDF, I only found out from the previous post(thank you for that).
Does anyone know if the PDF is covered under warranty?
Cheers, Davie.
Click to expand...

Might be tricky to have something like this covered under warranty, the dealer would likely accuse you of not driving the car correctly. :/
 
Yes, it's such a shame that there aren't any more exciting engine choices in the UK for the 500L.

I guess it all comes down to demand in the end? It's not like the 500L is a massive seller compared to the 500 and Panda, so maybe that is the reason why.

Still, if you think the 500L's range is bad, the current Punto in the UK can only be ordered now with a 1.2 8v or a 1.4 8v!:):D
 
Super Uwe said:
Yes, it's such a shame that there aren't any more exciting engine choices in the UK for the 500L.

I guess it all comes down to demand in the end? It's not like the 500L is a massive seller compared to the 500 and Panda, so maybe that is the reason why.

Still, if you think the 500L's range is bad, the current Punto in the UK can only be ordered now with a 1.2 8v or a 1.4 8v!:):D
Click to expand...

The whole Fiat range is very lacking in Denmark.
We only get the Punto with a 100bhp twinair (ok, that's perhaps better than the 1.2 8v and the 1.4 8v :D ).
The 500L is missing all the new safety gadgets.
The Panda is the same, even the "new" 500 is lacking.
The 500X has pretty good specs, it's just too expensive compared with the competition (at least here in Denmark), which is why I dropped buying a 500X and bough a Mazda CX-3.
And don't get me wrong, I like the 500X; it's well build, nice design but it was just not worth it.
 
We test drove a 500X expecting it to be the car for us, but were oddly underwhelmed. Sure, it was pleasant enough and had some nice touches, but didn't seem to have a wow factor. I know we're in the minority as it's proving pretty popular and all the car review sites seem to think it's everything the 500L should have been.

We've always liked the 500L and probably should have bought it 2 years ago instead of the Panda. It was just too pricey at the time. Now with two children, we are finding the Panda is just a bit too much of a squeeze and the 500L is so lovely and roomy.

It could all be academic though if the finance company says no. The order has been placed, so fingers crossed we get some good news in the morning. :worship:
 
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