Panda 2012+ Chichi, the Angry Panda

Squadrone Rosso said:

Hit 760 miles this morning.

Not a drop of oil used. Fuel economy continues to disappoint at 33mpg / 230 miles a tank.

Cleaned her again on Saturday. Looks brill. One tiny stone chip on the bonnet need doing but Tuscany Green paint sticks are unobtanium from what I understand.

For those with heated front screen, have you removed the warning sticker off the screen?

Cheers,

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Not quite so bad as that with the Antarctica, but below 40mpg. I'm a bit puzzled as I usually get better, but I think the answer lies in my wife's commute to work.

It should get better.

Ordered some 374/C touch up paint from www.carpaintrepair.co.uk too.

Came back from London yesterday and by way of a change used the M1. During the 50mph SPECS monitored bit I averaged 62mpg.

By the time I got to Manchester my average was 40mpg though, 70 and above really kills economy on the Cross, especially if you throw in a hill or two. Got to London on one tank and was really low on motion lotion, I got 33 litres in for the trip back oop North, the low fuel warning had been on for yonks and def seems to be fuel tank half empty rather than full in the outlook stakes.

My repairer has threatened their parts supplier that unless the outstanding fog lamp and its surround is not supplied soon then they won't pay their invoice for all the bits they have had so far! Good job Po's driveable!

I'm really intrigued by the very variable fuel economy reported for the twin air. My Cross has now done 1700 miles. I've had it for 1100 of those miles and my average over all those 1100 miles is 49mpg with 360 miles typically between fill ups. The average speed is 36mph. Those 1100 miles were covered on a mix of A roads, B roads, motorway, and over hill and dale in the Peak District last week including some very steep climbs in low gear. I don't drive especially slowly but do tend to accelerate gently and change up with the gear shift indicator.

Are the low mpg's reported as a result of many short trips and/or high speed motorway driving?

I'm really enjoying the twin air, especially its low end grunt which is not unlike a diesel when climbing hills.

I do 16 miles a day. Say 4 on a NSA Backroad, 11on the M4 & no more 1 in traffic.

The M4 is busy in the morning so no more than 65mph.

Faster on the way home so no more than an indicated 85......

My 500 would give 44 on the same run.

My Brera does 20....lol

Worked out brim to brim, 229 mile, 7.65 gals, 29.93 mpg

I'm running her on V Power or Momentum. Might try the standard stuff.....

My problem is a short commute to work (5 miles or so) the engine barely gets warm, averaging 36/37 mpg on this route. Keep between 50 and 60 and the world is your Lobster, as I mentioned earlier I got 62 mpg at a steady 50 on the M1. 70/75 I seem to average about 40/42 mpg, start getting into the 80s however and you are looking at mid 30s again. Didn't really buy the Cross for its parsimony though and I must admit I can't resist giving it the beans on a regular basis. Blame owning 14 Alfas, Honda Type R, CRXs, vRS's you get the drift for that.

Had brilliant fun in central London on Saturday , the Cross goes up kerbs like nobody's business (can't blame the TomTom but I can blame Crossrail) I am going to receive so many fines for illegal U turns if the signs are to be believed. For a car with a heavy off road bias its remarkably good in the smoke?

This is maybe going off topic from chichi the angry panda territory but I wonder how much people are using the Eco button when talking about their mpg. Maybe the diesel or 1.2 doesn't have the button. Maybe it makes the TwinAir a bit "gutless" but maybe it's perfectly adequate for round town stop start pottering.

I can't tell whether people are suggesting they're getting less mpg than they'd expect not
or but if they are then then it'd be interesting to hear the kind of Eco button percentage they're using.

I try and keep mine on and only disengage when needed like tricky junctions, slip roads, overtaking into gaps on the the motorway etc.

... and also when I fancy giving it some beans Eco-off definitely ups the beans quota, there's no denying that.

M

I use Eco in town. No place for it on the M Way

Why no place for it on the motorway?

M

In my experience Eco doesent really make the actual engine more economical it just forces you to drive it more economically - if you dont and you try to push it then it will punish you and actually be less economical then normal mode. Cruising on a motorway in Eco is fine but I would agree that you're better off in normal mode for quick overtaking etc. I did a 240 mile trip last year in Eco and achieved 61mpg which is pretty good but I suspect if I left it in normal and drove carefully I might have done even better. I drive a 500 not a Panda btw.

The Eco button hardly ever gets touched in the 500 or the Panda.

I hope to pinch the Panda tomorrow and take it into deepest darkest Dorset. It's nice to know that it's smallness means you have a better chance of parking in what seems like ever shrinking parking spaces.

MickG said:

Why no place for it on the motorway?

M

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No grunt at all.

Have to admit I never use the eco button LoL

Like the stop/start it remains firmly off, tried it didn't like it.

I like stop start. Brilliant in queueing traffic.

Squadrone Rosso said:

I like stop start. Brilliant in queueing traffic.

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Yes, but a pain in stop go traffic. I turn it off then....

The Fuhrer had a couple of smart cars with start/stop, 99.9% of the time it was fine though I was and still am very dubious of just how much motion lotion it saves or noxious nasties it doesn't put out. For the 0.1% of the time it failed to work the damned system nearly killed the pair of us. Of course Mercedes could find no fault with the system but I quickly learned they couldn't service a field full of cows anyway?

Also the start/stop on the Fortwo relied upon you having your foot on the brake therefore annoying the poor sod behind with your brake lights, something I was always uncomfortable with. The whole experience kind of jaundiced my opinion of stop/start systems somewhat.

I took the penguins into Dorset today and had a run of about 100 miles.

The car has just hit 10,000 miles and is averaging almost bang on 40 mpg.

I got stuck behind a smelly 1970s Ferrari and if I'd not been on such a windy road I would have looked to have overtaken it!

Go Panda!

Something unrelated entirely and not necessarily unique to the Cross but has anyone got raised eyebrows over the performance of the headlights? It could be me but they do seem rather good. Maybe it's the ride height of the off road Pandas, certainly the spec seems nowt out of the ordinary. By comparison the vRS Fabia had a pair of candles! For me yet another plus point and not one I expected.