The Pretender said:

Wonder what solution they will apply to integrate Uconnect in the Panda Dash.
I think a redesign for the hole dash is needed.

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The word 'redesign' suggests it was designed in the first place.


I'd always assumed it was the happy accident of Lego, Scalextric track and some old spray-paint tins left inside the car and melting in the intolerable heat of summer in Naples.


Please, just some decent colours would be good.

Harsh, very harsh! I much prefer the interior look of the Panda to the boring interiors some of the city car runabouts we looked at. It's not the most logically laid out, but apart from the indicator/wiper stalks it's pretty well made with decent quality materials. I was shocked when I tried a 500 as I was expecting a big step up in interior quality. If anything it felt cheaper and certainly more flimsy than the Panda.

The comment may be harsh, but so are the plastics in the cabin. While I like the whole "Panda" scribbles all over the cabin, they're extremely scratchy and most of the dash scuffs quite easily. Compared to, say, a Skoda Citigo or Hyundai i10 the interior just doesn't have the materials to compete. It's built well, I'll give it that, as it doesn't squeak and rattle, but I've seriously considered Plasti-Dip to cover the whole dash with something softer to the touch (and tangentially a tad more colorful).

Honestly, the best thing they could add is a telescoping steering wheel, and the best thing they could remove is the "not a glovebox" large bin on the passenger side and just raise the whole lower dash and glovebox so that knee injuries don't become the norm when there are people in the back as well. Slimming down the gear linkage stack would also give the driver a little more knee room.

Agreed on the knee room and reach adjustment for the steering wheel (I'm 6' 4" and my wife is 5' 2" so the first couple of minutes of any journey are spent adjusting various adjustables) as both could be improved. I don't agree with your points about the overall cabin design though.

The i10 is a singularly cheerless place to sit. If we'd ended up with one of those instead of a Panda, I'd have driven it into a ditch by now just to alleviate the boredom.

I like the Citigo. Quite a lot actually. My daily driver is a Skoda Rapid Spaceback and I had a top of the range Citigo as a courtesy car when it was in for servicing. The Citigo had a better engine (than the 1.2) and was nice to drive, but that's about it. No way is the interior better than the Panda's. Yes it's more clearly laid out, like most VAG cars, but the legroom is poor, the seats are rock hard and you're surrounded by bare metal, apart from the bits made from scratchy hard plastic. Not a soft touch surface in sight, apart from the leather steering wheel.

I like the Panda interior the way it is.
But i suspect that they have to do a big chance to get Connect integrated.
It will most likely not that simple to chance like they could do with the 500 Restyle.
i just hope Fiat don't F#ck it up with, for example, a south american Uno Dashboard.

1.0 Trecilindrico aspirato da 80 cv
0.9 Twin Air turbo da 105 cv
1.3 Multijet da 95 cv

I like the Panda interior. I do wish the dash storage area was lined to prevent marking.

It's honest, chunky & funky - just like the car

Agree that more leg/knee room could be liberated, but the single thing I'd like to see in the Panda interior? A decent cup-holder that will actually accept and support a typical cup!
Also, a fan setting that allows heat on the screen and inward facing dash vents would be a big help in warming a cold car. Maybe move the USB for Blue&Me to the dash shelf (so a phone can be rested on there - maybe on a grippier surface?)

Don't get me started on the cup holders!

M

Quick Photoshop.

And putting the clutch foot rest in the right place....

Uconnect integration will be the biggest change in the interior i reckon.

oyumurtaci said:

Honestly, the best thing they could add is a telescoping steering wheel, and the best thing they could remove is the "not a glovebox" large bin on the passenger side and just raise the whole lower dash and glovebox so that knee injuries don't become the norm when there are people in the back as well. Slimming down the gear linkage stack would also give the driver a little more knee room.

Click to expand...

Some round cup-holders would also be a help!

Edit - oops - just seen that others have got there before me. That will teach me to post before reading to the end of a thread!

If we repeat it enough, maybe Marchionne will happen upon this thread while googling and make it so...

Round cupholders, knee room, armrest, reach adjustment.

Most will not happen in this generation Panda, maybe in the next gen.

Some new colours would be nice.
Heated steering wheel as part of the winter pack or even as a standalone option would be great. I would definitely order that!

With the current status of FCA, I'm a bit worried about the longevity of both Fiat and Chrysler, along with long-in-tooth platforms.

The Pretender said:

Most will not happen in this generation Panda, maybe in the next gen.

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So I've got time to wear mine out

Till 2018.

Looking back through history, I am struggling to find a FIAT whose 'first generation' wasn't the best looker:


127
126
Strada
Panda Mk1
Uno
Cinquecento
Punto
Panda Mk3 (169)


If we use the 127 as our benchmark, the last generation was way the ugliest, thus making the Mk2 look pretty. Thus, if they totally screw up the 319 facelift, it'll make the current 319 look a proper cutie.


...Eye of the beholder and all...