General Panda 100hp upgrade advice?

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General Panda 100hp upgrade advice?

Jimrod

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Jul 23, 2008
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Swindon
Hi guys!

I'm after a little advice from the far more experienced Fiat fanatics out there!

Had my Panda 100hp for 6 months now (I only know as I've just sent off the tax reminder form! ;)) and with just over 4500 miles on the clock I'm pretty happy with it! My prob is this - my job is now further away than I initially envisaged and my home town (Swindon) is choc full of speedbumps (the rock-hard axle-smashing types :( )

So a lot of my time is spent crashing over bumps or cruising at 70-80mph, the 100hp now seems a less sensible choice than I initially thought, while it can do the high-speeds it gets fairly noisy/bumpy and the lack of torque means more effort on the motorways than I thought (downchanging on inclines or for overtaking etc.). The hard suspension means the bumps around town are despatched at a learner-driver embarrassing 5-10mph and overall economy, while ok at about 35mpg means re-fuelling often with the tiny tank (and an embarrassing run-out-of-fuel moment to boot!).

So with all this in mind I'm thinking of changing up to a Grande Punto Sporting Diesel (the 130bhp 1.9). For a couple of years old one I shouldn't take too much of a hit on a trade-in (in theory!). Does anyone think this would be a good move? Anyone owned one? Are they built the same as the Panda? (by this I mean pretty well for an italian - aside from the bloody rattling airbag cover I've had since new!!! ;)) Reliable? Overall from what I've read they seem a decent choice - competition doesn't seem particularly any better for the money and they look pretty too!

Cheers for any advice!


Jim.
 
I'd drive one and see what you think. The things which put me off one when I was looking for alternatives to the Panda were no spare wheel, the silly light steering and the big and obstructive A pillars. Seemed to have a lot of kit, although I think it had air con rather than climate control as standard and felt very roomy inside the cabin thanks to a nice low slung seating position. Everything seemed nice and solid and well screwed together.

Chris
 
Well just had my trade-in price via Fiat Garage - £5800. Paid £7900 6 months ago so it's a bit of a hit for 4500 miles! I figured I'd be offered around that though I guess.

Will do a bit more research when I'm home from work but as I'm thinking long-term I'm probably better off getting something I'm more comfortable with, the 100hp can just feel a little wheezy at times, especially as I'm normally driving 2-up and often have 30 kilo's odd of work gear in the boot too... Seen a GP sporting 1.9d with 17k on the clock for a reasonable price (about £1k on top of the trade-in) Hmmm, sounds ok to me. Just realising I seem to be far too well off at the mo! Not had money in the bank for years! :D
 
OK, Jimrod, this is the new Panda section of this forum. How dare you mention the Grande Punto. Go and wash your mouth out with soap and water this instant!
You know that, despite the speed bumps, you would miss your Panda. Why don't you get a Panda 4x4 instead, they are great over speed bumps!
 
Interested in a T-Jet (58 plate 6500mile, 6 months old), get an easy 43mpg on a 70mph motorway cruise :), I am having impure thoughts about getting a 100HP AGAIN, it happens from time to time with me.
They suite my FUN personality :), I do a fair few motorway miles though (around 30 on my round trip to work) But I still want 1, want to drop it on coilovers, Nice Pro-Speed exhaust system, I don't even own one and I have all these ideas of hoe to tastefully modify it :).

What colour is yours?
 
14000 miles later with P100 PUF.
If you suffer speed humps or raised ramps, walk away. If i travel down to London I leave the car and use the coach.
Find it very tiring on motorway journeys, road surface is a big problem, i find to much is getting fed back through the wheel.
After 4/5 hours i have had enough.
For a daily commute it,s fine, still enjoy taking it up to The Forest of Bowland, sport button on and mind the sheep. :rolleyes:
MPG has not been brilliant, low 30,s around town, motorway i dont think i have seen over 44 MPG.
Build quality is excellent,no major rattles, nothing has broken or fallen off.
I am now going to wash my mouth out with soap, when replacement time comes, really like the look of the new KA.... ;)
 
I test drove a 1.9 Diesel Grande Punto and then a 100hp at my local Fiat dealership. The decision on which to buy could not have been clearer. The Punto was a nice place to sit – beautiful steering wheel, nice classy cabin, good seating position etc. but in comparison to the 100hp it felt sluggish and just a bit dated. I know the diesel will result in the power coming later but even when it did I was not overly impressed and that diesel clatter was pretty much ever present. Everyone I asked beforehand said ‘you must get the Punto, it looks so much more impressive and nicer than the Panda, are you mad? But as soon as I pulled away in the 100hp, I realised why it had got all those great reviews. The difference was obvious even without the Sprot button on! It felt like a more solid, eager, better handling and generally more modern feeling car. The Punto just felt a bit too much like the Peugeot 307 and 206 I owned previously – good to look at but boring to drive. So my advice for what it’s worth would be if you want a great looking, comfortable workhorse of a car for long motorway journeys, go for it. But trust me, you will miss how the 100hp drives and its ability to put a smile on your face.
 
I test drove a 1.9 Diesel Grande Punto and then a 100hp at my local Fiat dealership. The decision on which to buy could not have been clearer. The Punto was a nice place to sit – beautiful steering wheel, nice classy cabin, good seating position etc. but in comparison to the 100hp it felt sluggish and just a bit dated. I know the diesel will result in the power coming later but even when it did I was not overly impressed and that diesel clatter was pretty much ever present. Everyone I asked beforehand said ‘you must get the Punto, it looks so much more impressive and nicer than the Panda, are you mad? But as soon as I pulled away in the 100hp, I realised why it had got all those great reviews. The difference was obvious even without the Sprot button on! It felt like a more solid, eager, better handling and generally more modern feeling car. The Punto just felt a bit too much like the Peugeot 307 and 206 I owned previously – good to look at but boring to drive. So my advice for what it’s worth would be if you want a great looking, comfortable workhorse of a car for long motorway journeys, go for it. But trust me, you will miss how the 100hp drives and its ability to put a smile on your face.

This is what i'm missing :) Smiles per mile, having previously owned Renault Sports which we all about driver involvment and go-kart handling :). I need to find this again, I also don't like how my turbo dies at around 5000 rpm. Where with a N/A car the revs tend to go beserk at around 4500rpm and just keep on going beserk until the redline :), I love rev hungry cars that are eager to please, and have every single one of there pretty little valves dancing on the dashboard until its' time to shift gear, and then it all begins again :)
 
Well I went for the test drive and very happy with it! The only negatives being the crashing into pot holes, (aside from which the ride seemed far better than the panda) the pretty noisy diesel (gotten too used to petrols and forgotten what a clatter the "Devil's juice" drinkers make, especially when cold ) - oh and the previous owner was obviously a smoker by the smell!

The build seemed fine, very spacious and no obvious rattles came up on the varied run. Didn't seem as pokey as I'd expected when I put my foot down a little but it was obvious there was plenty of power, again probably used to the small and light petrol pick up compared to rousing a heavy iron lump! Everything else seemed good, 17k on the clock for a late 06 plate with two main dealer service stamps.

I know it won't have quite the excitement of the Panda but I've had plenty of that (Datsun 260Z triple carb, Alfa 145 Cloverleaf etc.) and it seems I'm doing more long journeys now where you don't get the benefits of the buzzy little Panda, round my town where I thought it would excel it seems I'm only going 10 mph because of all the bloody bumps!!!

So made a decision and put down my deposit - pick it up Friday!
 
Why don't you move away from Swindon?

'tis a fair point you make ;)


Actually it's my mates & family that are the prob - I moved into the nice new bit at the top of Swindon and it's all smooth and creamy up here - as is my nice 20min cruise to work in Cirencester... It's the others who choose to live in the middle that make me smash my car to pieces or take 1/2 hour to get there going 5mph... Says a lot that the bastard who designed all our traffic "calming" is a cyclist (who doesn't even bloody drive!!!) from Reading!
 
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