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General i;ve been and gone and done it

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General i;ve been and gone and done it

yes I agree the badges were a little steep, i did have a look for cheaper ones but by the time you added on postage they were as much if not more than from fiat... but i threw caution and my debit card to the wind and bought the little blighters, must say they are v nice and will look the biz
 
Fionam said:
oo that will feel odd, starting off in 2nd, but hey will give it a go.
Click to expand...

It works but I'm certainly not advocating it because I expect it'll be murder on the clutch* over time. There is also no such advice in my car's manual.

[*If I read the gear ratios correctly, 2nd gear for the TwinAir Cross is effectively about 1.4 times higher than 1st gear in the equivalent regular Panda.]
 
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Fionam said:
oo that will feel odd, starting off in 2nd, but hey will give it a go.
Click to expand...

You can start in 2nd on a hill like most cars but the car struggles from a standing start on level ground in 2nd. You will get bored of changing gear a lot if driving round town with traffic lights, heavy traffic.

Someone said my advice was dubious, well don't care what they think, I HAVE driven the 4x4 TA for 3 months, and for the first couple of days I changed gear when indicated to (as a 6 gear car was new to me) and the system doesn't work well. Sometimes sure it will know you are high in the rev counter and correctly suggest a new gear but will often ask for a new gear shortly after when the engine cannot handle one, as the revs drop to 1500 and it loses power. So just shared some pointers from my experience.

Glad you love the badges :)
 
The TwinAir Cross basically has a normal 5 speed gearbox (gears 2-6), plus an extra low 1st gear for starting on really steep hills (and extra engine braking going down them)... so likely it will pull away in second OK. The MJ Diesel 'only' has a five speed box, but that is basically the upper 5 speeds of the TA 'box. Because the MJ has more torque available and at lower engine speed, it doesn't need the extra low gear. On a motorway at 70mph, the MJ in fifth is revving slower than the TA in sixth...
 
Herts Hillhopper said:
The TwinAir Cross basically has a normal 5 speed gearbox (gears 2-6), plus an extra low 1st gear for starting on really steep hills (and extra engine braking going down them)... so likely it will pull away in second OK.
Click to expand...

Well, my TA Cross doesn't like pulling away in 2nd, even on the flat. I doubt very much that its 1st gear is an extra low gear below the 'normal' gear ratios of a 5 speed box.

Sure, it's low, but not that low!
 
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BuckleyPanda said:
I looked at the Paw Badges and thought they looked nice but for the actual size of them I couldn't justify the cost. Have tried to find them cheaper but rarely sold elsewhere.

I'm a couple of days away from having mine 3 months. Mine was promised in 8 weeks, arrived in 11. So I hope yours arrives promptly.

I did a lot of mixed driving for the first couple of months, long journeys on back roads, and some high speed driving on motorways for others. Currently sitting at around 41 MPG so far. Back to more town driving now, so that may drop a little. I don't like the eco button myself but other than the gear stick gaiter coming loose, very happy with it. :)

P.S. Do they still advertise it having an AUX n USB in the glove box? As they don't actually fit those, you just get a single USB on the top of the dash which mostly has my usb mem stick in it for my tunes :)
Click to expand...

My Panda soes have these... I guess I am lucky!
 
Fionam said:
yes I agree the badges were a little steep, i did have a look for cheaper ones but by the time you added on postage they were as much if not more than from fiat... but i threw caution and my debit card to the wind and bought the little blighters, must say they are v nice and will look the biz
Click to expand...

Like the sound of your badges. Where did you get them please?
 
got them from fiat website, price was about the best as there was no postage, silly price really for 2 badges but i must admit they are v nice
 
well well i have just received a message relating to my order of fiat panda 4x4 informing me that currently they are unable to continue with the order due to CO2 emissions, they will let me know when the order can proceed wtf:mad::(:eek::bang::cry:
 
Fionam said:
well well i have just received a message relating to my order of fiat panda 4x4 informing me that currently they are unable to continue with the order due to CO2 emissions, they will let me know when the order can proceed wtf:mad::(:eek::bang::cry:
Click to expand...

That's a bummer. The new emissions testing regime hasn't exactly leapt out from a hedge in front of them, so it's a pretty poor show that they are only telling you this now.

If you really want one, cancel the order (having extracted some compo from Fiat for messing you around) and bag yourself a low mileage second-hand one instead (y)

Edit: just read your original post and seen that you were getting the Panda on a PCH deal, so my suggestion is probably unhelpful :( Have they indicated how long the wait is likely to be, or suggested any alternatives?
 
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no they didn't indicate how long the delay would be... i'm on a scheme with the NHS so it was the leasing agent that contacted me regarding co2 emissions and that other makes are all having the same problem...
 
Fionam said:
well well i have just received a message relating to my order of fiat panda 4x4 informing me that currently they are unable to continue with the order due to CO2 emissions, they will let me know when the order can proceed wtf:mad::(:eek::bang::cry:
Click to expand...

It may be that Fiat are about to update the 4x4 TA with the same engine as the Cross.

This is just a slight variant of the same engine tuned to give 90BHP rather than 85BHP. In real life use it will be even less of an 'upgrade' than the 5 BHP sounds, as the torque is the same at low to mid revs.

This is just a guess - based on the spec of the car advertised on the broadspeed website. Could just be a typo. Their discounted price has also increased.
 
It does seem that the newly-required emissions testing is having an effect at Fiat. The Fiat UK website no longer lists either the TA or the MJ engines for the 500 - just 'the old faithful' 1.2 petrol... and for the Panda, the diesel MJ has gone (except, apparently for the 4x4... and that may only because there is existing stock sitting in the UK dealer network somewhere. I suspect for new-build orders it has gone, and the TA may be in the same boat)
 
Al D said:
Fionam maybe travel in the Yeti and have a look at this. Good value high street bank personal loan rates nowadays. New one would be £15k on the road pre discount if they were making any.

Think if you emailed or rang them they would look up service history for you. :)

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classi...ly New&onesearchad=New&postcode=la80ja&page=2
Click to expand...

Arnold Clark are selling them for a lot less than that Al. Its where I got mine 20 months back for 11K new. I think they have new ones ready to go for about 12K atm.
 
Fiat's official price list for September 2018 confirms that (1) the MultiJet is not available in the Panda any more, and (2) that the TwinAir is also dropped for the Model Year (MY) 2018, except with the 4x4. All the rest of the range is shown as only being offered with the 1.2 petrol engine. https://www.fiat.co.uk/content/dam/fiat/uk/Fiat%20Price%20List%20September%202018.pdf

(see page 44 and 45)
However, if you scroll to the very end of the file (page 95) you will see Panda 'previous range' which shows the price for vehicles with other engines 'while stocks last'...
 
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