General Autocar Magazine 4.5 Stars

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General Autocar Magazine 4.5 Stars

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Really good test in this weeks Autocar - they gave it 4.5 Stars and say "Everything that a city car ought to be. The new class leader!"

Can't say fairer than that! They say that the handling is outstanding and is far more comfortable and classy overall. They tested the 1.2 Easy at £9550. Beat the Up! Into second place. Only disappoint,ent for me is the weight that has gone up by neary 200kg. Might be good for ride quality, but little else, and now weighs 1015kg.

I really have to drive one soon I think....
 
I just find it on the internet!!

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Very positive, though I think they've conveniently skirted round the pricing issues. Mpg and acceleration not great - must be all that weight - if the car contains all that "high strength steel" why is it so much heavier than it's predecessor?
 
The pricing, whilst too high on certain models, isn't massively out of line with its rivals so i guess if they havn't critisised the Up! & Picanto for price then its abit unfair doing it to the Panda. It doesn't usually stop Auto Express but Autocar seem to be slightly more accepting of Fiats.

They do mention about 'modest outright pace' in their 'We Don't Like' section but again, maybe it's overshadowed by the rest of the package being good. 0-60 times look in-line with rivals at the end of the test, but i admit the mpg & CO2 figures for the 1.2 look poor.

Maybe the 1.2 will get close to it's claimed mpg though, like it does in the older Panda & 500. I dunno about all the rivals but Kia's new small engines seem to struggle alot with economy from owner reviews ive read, mainly because they're working so hard to keep pace. Fifth Gears test of the Kia Rio 1.1 CRDi achieved terrible results & the presenters found it way too lacking in guts. If the same is true for the Picanto 1.0 then i bet it won't get near its claimed mpg.

It's pretty unusual reading such a balanced review of a Fiat in one of the car mags, so i'm struggling to knock Autocar on this one :p
 
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