Sheepy1209
New member
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2012
- Messages
- 18
- Points
- 4
First things first; we already own a Panda, a 2011 1.2 MyLife, which has been used for driver instruction by my wife for about a year now.
The car's held up well but we're thinking of upgrading to a 2012 Panda and wondered if anyone had views on its suitability for learners.
The Mk3 Panda has proved itself to be ideal in most respects; great visibility, enough power but not too much, flexible driving position. There are a few areas though where it's not been so good:
- It can be a bit tricky for learners finding the biting point with the accelerator being a bit 'unpredictable', especially after a warm start. At first we thought it was just a light pedal, but it's more that it doesn't seem 'connected' at times. (I don't mean that literally, I know it's 'fly-by-wire'). This means it's easy to stall.
- There's a problem when accelerating briskly in first; it cuts out briefly then picks up again. This is covered in a thread in the Panda section, it seems to be a common problem but I haven't seen a confirmed fix yet.
- No rev counter
- Image; girls are happy with it, young lads don't want to be seen dead in it (except for one who specifically wanted to learn in this car because his Dad's bought him a Panda!)
The main concern is the clutch/accelerator issues; even I sometimes struggle to drive it smoothly and I've been driving 30 years. Has anyone encountered any similar issues with the 2012 1.2? Is it generally easy to drive?
Also; how drivable is the Twin Air at town speeds including manouvering? Would typical gentle learner driving benefit economy with this engine? (I'd thrash the pants off it of course).
Rev counter - what trim levels include one of these? (I think we'd go for Easy anyway because we want air con).
Image: well, that's personal and we're getting enough business anyway. The MyLife does feel a bit basic and cheap but on the other hand it's astoundingly simple to operate.
We're aware that you can't see the speedo from the passenger seat and thought this would be a deal breaker, but it's not a requirement for tests and we can get a GPS speedo for instruction.
The car is also our runabout and gets used for all sorts of jobs; from taking stuff to the tip to long motorway runs (legal limit; it's plastered in driving school vinyls). It has been amazingly useful, and we'd be reluctant to go away from Pandas if we can help it.
The car's held up well but we're thinking of upgrading to a 2012 Panda and wondered if anyone had views on its suitability for learners.
The Mk3 Panda has proved itself to be ideal in most respects; great visibility, enough power but not too much, flexible driving position. There are a few areas though where it's not been so good:
- It can be a bit tricky for learners finding the biting point with the accelerator being a bit 'unpredictable', especially after a warm start. At first we thought it was just a light pedal, but it's more that it doesn't seem 'connected' at times. (I don't mean that literally, I know it's 'fly-by-wire'). This means it's easy to stall.
- There's a problem when accelerating briskly in first; it cuts out briefly then picks up again. This is covered in a thread in the Panda section, it seems to be a common problem but I haven't seen a confirmed fix yet.
- No rev counter
- Image; girls are happy with it, young lads don't want to be seen dead in it (except for one who specifically wanted to learn in this car because his Dad's bought him a Panda!)
The main concern is the clutch/accelerator issues; even I sometimes struggle to drive it smoothly and I've been driving 30 years. Has anyone encountered any similar issues with the 2012 1.2? Is it generally easy to drive?
Also; how drivable is the Twin Air at town speeds including manouvering? Would typical gentle learner driving benefit economy with this engine? (I'd thrash the pants off it of course).
Rev counter - what trim levels include one of these? (I think we'd go for Easy anyway because we want air con).
Image: well, that's personal and we're getting enough business anyway. The MyLife does feel a bit basic and cheap but on the other hand it's astoundingly simple to operate.
We're aware that you can't see the speedo from the passenger seat and thought this would be a deal breaker, but it's not a requirement for tests and we can get a GPS speedo for instruction.
The car is also our runabout and gets used for all sorts of jobs; from taking stuff to the tip to long motorway runs (legal limit; it's plastered in driving school vinyls). It has been amazingly useful, and we'd be reluctant to go away from Pandas if we can help it.