Hi everyone! I'm new to the Fiat world, having previously owned Ford Fiestas (Zetec-S & XR2) and currently running a Mk1 Mazda MX-5.

My main question is about the suitability of the 100hp as a commuting hack. My total daily commute is 80 miles, mainly round the M25 with a tiny little bit of B-road for 15 minutes at the end.

I've yet to test drive one (this weekend hopefully!) but I keep reading about their bouncy ride and buzzy engine. I'm often dubious about motoring journalists because they have cosseting BMW's and Audi's as reference points - I'm coming from a 2-seater roadster with a plastic roof, the 100hp will probably feel like driving a could of pure happiness!!

My second question is about pressing the 100hp into service to the tune of 20,000+ miles a year. I don't have the budget for a weekday hack along with a weekend toy, but I don't want to spend a fortune on something that covers both. The Panda looks like the perfect candidate, but I need some other opinions of people who use their Panda in the same way.

Thanks for your help on this

-Kerr

My commute each day is a 50 mile roundtrip along A and B roads and the Panda is a joy every day to drive in these sort of surroundings. My annual mileage will be around 20-25k miles a year.

I've recently come back from a week's holiday in North Wales (racked up around 800 motorway miles) and was surprised how good it was on the motorways. It's obviously never going to be as good as a proper motorway muncher, but we had very few stops along the way and got out the other end with no aches or pains. We were setting the pace of the traffic for most of the time too

The ride is only an issue for me over speedbumps so I try and route around them

Chris

Echo Chris's comments. Same experience in a trip including Wales covering over 800 miles!

Sorry to thread jack but I'm so glad to hear your comments guys

I'm currently in a similar situation as Kerr and am looking to sell the GP M-Jet in favour of a 100HP (just struggling to find a localish dealer with one in stock to test drive )

What is the 100HP like on the motorway? How buzzy is it at around 75/80MPH and does it hold decent MPG at these constant crusing speeds or does it suffer from high revving econemy drops?

Not really buzzy at all at 75/80mph and it's only really above 4k rpm (when it switches cam?) when it gets noisy. Quite easy to have a conversation or listen to a CD....

Sticking to 75/80mph we saw mid 40's mpg, but pacier sections caused it to drop down to around 40mpg

Chris

Cheers Chris, sounds good to me mate

I'm struggling to see much above 40MPG on the combined cycle in my GP these days.... and I dont exactly drive it hard

Think I'm going to have to take a trip down to Slough Fiat for a test drive, apparently they have a couple of 100HPs in stock.

I'm commuting 90 miles per day at the moment. And its fine, i've also done London twice from Manchester and that was fine too.

I've done a number of long trips in mine and even with the Ragazzon exhaust it's surprisingly good

I switched from a (thoroughly enjoyable and of course superior to a Mazda )Smart Roadster, as I wanted something more practical but with similar fun factor/handling/costs. Very pleased with my choice, I have a 50 mile round commute mainly B roads and it's great. Also find it absolutely fine and quite economical on motorways at 70-75mph.

I have done 15000 miles in my first year and still 3.75 inches on the front tyres!

TRS said:

I have done 15000 miles in my first year and still 3.75 inches on the front tyres!

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3.75 inches?!!! This isn't yours is it?




(yes I know it's not a Roadster )

Chris

It's remarkably refined at 70-80, even 90-100 for such a small car.

If you maintain 95 or so on the motorway, expect 33-35 mpg. Much lighter on the juice at 75-80, looking at 40mpg for me.

cheers for all the comments, gives me some food for thought.

I'm struggling to find one for sale round my way too they all seem to be 100 miles away!!

I think its absolutely fine at 75-80mph. Not buzzy at all. You do have 6 gears anyway and though they are obviously close ratio, its not an issue i've noticed.

Think the second day I had the car I was late for a skidpan day at rockingham... cruised at 90-95mph without issue... not that economical at those speeds though.

I think they are certainly comfortable enough. Okay its no BMW... i used to have a 325i coupe and that was just uber on the motorway, but you can't have it all really.

On A and B roads its great fun to peddle along though inevitably for some reason you always seem to be doing 80mph if unrestricted by traffic... its great fun knocking it down a gear and buzzing it round the corners.. it will definately make you grin. My other car is an integra type-R and that is hugely capable, but i find i need to be going 20mph faster to get the same buzz!

I think a good test drive will reveal all.

I'm currently doing 70 miles most days of the week in my new 100HP and have no complaints, it's a pleasure to drive! The dips in the road are a good laugh, makes me smile! The ride is firm as we all have said, but it's not terrible, and definitely makes the journey more exciting!

Economically mine is doing ok at the moment, but haven't had the car long so it's still running in I guess. Can manage a solid 40mpg on my journey (45 if I get stuck behind someone for a while!).

Motorway wise it's fine, and the M25 is for the most part fairly smooth anyway. It's not too loud at all, and the engine sounds lovely when revved up to 7k anyway!

Thanks for your input folks The more I read the more I want one. The test drive will come as soon as I've got a free weekend (hopefully next weekend) and if all is as good as it sounds then the GP will be up for sale very soon in favour of a cheeky little Panda

I just need to be positive that it makes sense changing from the GPS M-Jet to the 100HP. The GP has a lot going for it in the toys and comfort departments however the grin factor is sub-zero and handling although half decent it doesn't provide any feel or feedback where as from the sounds of things the Panda can provide comfort and toys while delivering the kind of driving experience that shouldn't be available in anything other than a supercar or track weapon.

Can only echo what others have said - I got mine 4 weeks ago, secondhand (from a dealer) for well under £6k, and can't think of much else that can compete for the money - Without looking at older / leggier cars...

I've probably put around 1000 miles on the car, mostly motorway (unfortunately), and it holds its speed well, only having to drop down into 5th gear on steeper hills / exiting low speed contraflows etc...

One thing I've noticed - The speedo over reads somewhat (as do all cars)...At an indicated 85, it's actually only doing 80 on the GPS...I'm a 10% +1 guy, so 78 is around the 82/83 mark...The car's quite happy loping along at this, although fuel consumption drops to the high 30's...

The M Way ride isn't bad either - I stepped out of the 100HP after a 2.5 hour journey the other day, and still felt pretty fresh...Something I could never say after driving my old Elise on the M Way for 2.5 hours...

Fluoxetine - May I ask what the stats of your 100hp are?

I'm looking locally for a 100hp. I've found one listed at £7000 second-hand that's a 56 (2007) on a shade over 10k miles. I was certain I could talk them down to £6500 (which is my max budget), but given the current market conditions do you think I could push further? I've seen one other discounted by £1000 from the original asking price, but I don't know how realistic this is.

Cheers.

Kerrzinho said:

Fluoxetine - May I ask what the stats of your 100hp are?

I'm looking locally for a 100hp. I've found one listed at £7000 second-hand that's a 56 (2007) on a shade over 10k miles. I was certain I could talk them down to £6500 (which is my max budget), but given the current market conditions do you think I could push further? I've seen one other discounted by £1000 from the original asking price, but I don't know how realistic this is.

Cheers.

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Seems pretty high seeing that you can get a new one for not that much more with no miles on the clock. I would seriously look at getting a new or pre-reg. It may be upto a grand more, but it won't have already done 10K and be nearly two years old.

trackdayqueen said:

Seems pretty high seeing that you can get a new one for not that much more with no miles on the clock. I would seriously look at getting a new or pre-reg. It may be upto a grand more, but it won't have already done 10K and be nearly two years old.

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it's the grand more that's the problem...! hehe. If I can keep it to as close to £6k as possible it'll be cheaper to own than my MX-5... If I stretch too far it'll make it more expensive to own. Something that I don't want to do!

Kerrzinho said:

Fluoxetine - May I ask what the stats of your 100hp are?

I'm looking locally for a 100hp. I've found one listed at £7000 second-hand that's a 56 (2007) on a shade over 10k miles. I was certain I could talk them down to £6500 (which is my max budget), but given the current market conditions do you think I could push further? I've seen one other discounted by £1000 from the original asking price, but I don't know how realistic this is.

Cheers.

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I've replied in your other thread: http://https://www.fiatforum.com/panda-new/164105-what-should-i-pay-100hp.html

But essentially I paid £5700 for an early '07 car with 13k on the clock...That's from a dealer, so a fair bit cheaper than the similarly aged £7k car you were looking at...

Cheers,

Ross.