Hi, sorry if this is a silly question......... I have a 2014/64 reg Panda 1.2 69bhp Pop. Can anyone tell me how I can tell if my car has ESP or not. I would assume there should be a button on my dash?
When it first went on sale (in the UK at least), ESP was an optional extra for the Panda. At some point it became standard kit, but I'm not 100% sure when that was. There is no button to turn ESP on or off, but the upgrade also included ASR, (traction control) which you can turn on or off.
If your car has these functions, you should have a button marked ASR just in front of the gear lever between the window controls. Our car is a 2015 Easy and it has the button. The height adjustable driver's seat is also standard now, but again I'm not 100% sure when they made the change.
Hope that helps.
Paul
Edit: the brochure I got from the dealer in November last year has it marked as an option, so it might have been quite a recent change (or the dealer had old brochures!). Fiat claim that cars with ESP/ASR are not affected by the issues with the Euro6 1.2, which may explain why it is now standard kit.
Not sure if it is related but it might be worth a reading for you at this post by Goudrons: https://www.fiatforum.com/panda-iii/422549-initial-start-up-ignition.html?p=4052692That's most helpful thanks. My car has the ASR button but is also displaying the "features" described by the 500 users. ie it has a distinct flat spot when pulling away sometimes and is very difficult to move off when on a slope.
Fiat CS are saying the "fix" is only being applied to cars without ESC (as they call it) Also it appears, according to Fiat CS at least, that my Euro 6 69bhp engine is not the same as the one's they fit in the 500
Seems I am going to have a problem getting my car sorted
That's most helpful thanks. My car has the ASR button but is also displaying the "features" described by the 500 users. ie it has a distinct flat spot when pulling away sometimes and is very difficult to move off when on a slope.
Fiat CS are saying the "fix" is only being applied to cars without ESC (as they call it) Also it appears, according to Fiat CS at least, that my Euro 6 69bhp engine is not the same as the one's they fit in the 500
Seems I am going to have a problem getting my car sorted
Not sure if it is related but it might be worth a reading for you at this post by Goudrons: https://www.fiatforum.com/panda-iii/422549-initial-start-up-ignition.html?p=4052692
Our car has a small flat spot (slight hesitation when pulling off) but there are no problems with hill starts (I tested it fairly thoroughly after we collected the car). I'm not too worried about the flat spot as my old Mazda (1.5 16v DOHC) used to have a similar power curve - nothing... nothing... noth... POWERRRR!
Somewhere else on the forum it was mentioned that there is a different software update for ESC equipped cars. Why not call your dealer and ask them if they can find out if there is an update for your car by the chassis number?
What is it with modern cars and flat spots. I had a c2 vts that had a rubbish flat spot at 3500rpm. Drove me potty
You'll no doubt get no where with Fiat CS or any dealer on this, no one else has, whether Panda or 500!
It seems more and more common that cars are programmed to include this clutch lift-increase rpm thing with various degrees of success.
Seems Fiat's success with this hasn't been as good as some others.
The ECU has control over the air/fuel at idle, but when the clutch starts to lift a switch on it somewhere informs the ECU what's happenening and increases fuel/air, that is until the clutch is released and it's back over to you!
The idea of this prevents stalling and helps gearchanges as well (as it blips the rpm up inbetween changes).
A couple of things can happen that makes life difficult.
First is you've learnt to drive like me (properly) and have over the years started off by setting your rpm yourself.
So when you pull away you have the ECU controling the fuel and air, and you've also now opened the throttle body.
This sucks in extra air it's not quite metered fuel for so the car bogs down or pauses until the fuel delivery catches up.
Another thing is, yes the ECU increases rpm on the clutch but when it's done, it's back over to you and the rpm returns to idle speed.
So you're away on "auto" then just as you are moving away, the rpm drops and you bog down if you've not quite timed the throttle pedal and caught the falling rpms quick enough.
Add either of these scenarios to a hill and it can be quite difficult to get going smoothly.
Going back to my comment about driving properly, my Lad has started to learn, his instructor's car, being a modern one does exactly the same thing.
Trouble now is, the crappy old C2 we've bought him doesn't do this and he's having difficulty getting it away for stationary.
He can't quite get his head around why it won't rev it's self on lifting the clutch!
The trouble I have is the Mrs prefers my 4x4TA too, and the Mother in Law!