The good lady has just traded her Panda Sporting in for a new 500. She was sorry to see the Panda go, but after a 40 mile run on Sunday, all she would say was that the 500 was a far nicer car to drive.

As some of you will know, we had major probs with the vehicle documentation, and even after it was all sorted out we were still having probs getting the car insured.

Happy Panda driving to you all and its been great being part of the gang for the past 3 years.

Cheers Ian

Ooh shame to see you go and defect to the other side.

Still enjoy the 500.

My wife and I have one of each. She really wants the 500 but I can't help but think the Panda's a fine car as well. It goes really well and is also really comfortable. Still, she ain't having my 500 any time soon.

Fred Mumford said:

My wife and I have one of each. She really wants the 500 but I can't help but think the Panda's a fine car as well. It goes really well and is also really comfortable. Still, she ain't having my 500 any time soon.

Click to expand...

do the engines sound the same (if 1.2 petrol ones) and does the suspension, handling feel the same? it should be just different body otherwise the same engine and suspension, just a bit more power in the engine

I had a test in a 500 1.2 sport the other day - very nice car.
The 1.2 seems a little noisier in the 500 compared to the Panda but not a big difference.

Handling wise the 500 feels a little bit heavier and has a softer ride. I wouldn't buy a 500 on the handling and performance alone, the list of options and customisation makes it very tempting. Especially in red with the 16s with the chrome pack :yum:

I guess this will be the way our Panda will be going one day but not soon.

Surprising to hear the suspension on the 500 is actually softer. Although comfortable the panda is already a bit soft for us and it is not driven hard by any means.

I have the 1.2 petrol engine in both. Right now, with only 350 miles on the 500, it's nowhere near as spritely as the Panda which has done 1500 miles. The Panda's handling is quite good with 4" alloys but it's waaay softer than the 500. The 500's handling was scary at best on new tyres. However this is the same for any car on brand new rubber. Now it sticks like s**t to a blanket. It is the Sport model so I would expect the handling to be pretty good. In a head to head, it would leave the Panda for dust on handling alone. I wil report back on the engine when it's run in. However, my gut feeling is that the Panda will be better because changes have been made to the engine to make it comply with the £35 tax band on emissions. I'm guessing that means a poorer performance than the un-modified Panda engine.

so what carbon rating is the adapted 1.2?

and when did that come out?

abandon those questions - just realised youre talking about the 500.

Out of interest though, could all these panda discounts be because there is about to be an updated range soon. Any underground info??
I'll post this question as a separate thread...

There's a lot of speculation about that. I'm not so sure. Personally I think Fiat need to sort out a few other models first. The current Panda might get a facelift but I suspect that it will remain pretty much as is for a few more years.

The good lady had the 1.3Mj in the Sporting, so going to the 500 1.2 POP. was quite a shock. 1) it is so much quieter. 2) suspension seems a bit softer, it rides the speed bumps much better. 3)It seems to hit 70mph much quicker than the Panda.
Only time will tell on the mpg, if you believe the brochure there aint that much between the 1.2 petrol and the 1.3mj, but i'll wait till the engine has run in a bit before saying anything.

Tara Ian

Highlander said:

The good lady had the 1.3Mj in the Sporting, so going to the 500 1.2 POP. was quite a shock. 1) it is so much quieter. 2) suspension seems a bit softer, it rides the speed bumps much better. 3)It seems to hit 70mph much quicker than the Panda.

Click to expand...

POP = 44mpg / 65mpg
MJET = 52mpg / 76mpg

Is it me or do those POP figures seem very optimistic?....Our 1.2 Panda gets nowhere near those figures and it can't be that different can it?

Panda is 0.1 secs slower to 60....So you'd figure by 70 the MJET may have shaded it....

This is interesting because the 500 1.2 has another 9BHP over the 1.2 Panda and therefore in theory it should be quicker, but maybe in order to reduce emissions some power has been lost. I have a 1.2 Panda and certainly hope the 500 suspension is no softer than that. Best mpg from mine was 56mpg ( 36k on clock ). Fully loaded on a long run ( 300 miles mixed roads and not hanging around ) 47 mpg. I can't see the 1.2 500 ever returning 65mpg.

I must admit to taking the 500 mpg figures with a pinch of salt, but only time will tell we have only had the car 5 days.

As for the suspension, on the Sporting Panda with the Mj. engine was as hard as nails, speed bumps had to be taken at between 5 to 10 mph or your head hit the roof. I dont know if the Sporting had harder suspension or not.

Cheers Ian

We only ask once. :devil:

Highlander said:

....speed bumps had to be taken at between 5 to 10 mph or your head hit the roof. I dont know if the Sporting had harder suspension or not....

Click to expand...

10mph!....In the 100hp you don't go over speedbumps at 10mph!!!!...In fact you try not to go over them at all!