Tuning 1.2 new panda
- Thread starter puyopop
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Tuning 1.2 new panda
You can get ones with delivery miles from Motorpoint , think they've 18 Pops in stock all with delivery miles
Motorpoint are selling these for £5999. Why anyone would pay list price for a basic Panda is beyond me.
That's a lot of car for the money, however you look at it.
Keep it 10 years and that's just £600 a year. There are plenty of folks spending at least double that keeping an older Panda on the road.
Back to the OP's question; there have been some reported issues with the latest Euro6 1.2 engine (remember the watchdog 500 story); some cars have been remapped with varying degrees of customer satisfaction. The great advantage of buying a car from stock is that you can test drive before you buy; that should tell you all you need to know.
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I know if I had the money / facility for finance I'd be getting one! Spending much more than that on an older one atm!
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Buying from stock can be good if you aren't too fussy about any options or colour choice.
You can only buy the colours and spec they have, but you can get them quick as you are not waiting for it to be built and there's obviously good deals on them.
There's a mid life face lift coming soon (new grille and colours?) and it's offical announcement isn't too far away, so there is/will be to be a big effort to shift stocked cars, which can only help buyers negotiate.
If you fancy a different spec, colours and options, there's always Fiat Privilege and Affinity.
These are special rate deals for the likes of the Police, NHS, BT workers (and families), but I believe members of British Cycling also qualify.
Privilege is for PCP deals.
Affinity for outright sales.
http://www.westmidspolfed.com/member-services/services/?/Fiat-Group
It's true the euro 6 1.2's from March 2014 don't drive quite like the others that came before it, but they do drive like nearly all other modern cars do these days.
Fiat seems to have revised the engine management system and the first thing you notice is the car increasing the rpms it's self as you lift the clutch (like most modern cars), so they'll creep and start to set off as you lift the clutch on their own.
If you prod the pedal yourself too early (or not expect it and stamp on the pedal), it can somethings bog the engine down a little and/or jerk and shudder, you just need to time your pedal input as it starts to move for a smooth take off.
All this setting your rpms and clutch biting point we all learnt years ago is almost defunct except of the steepest hills on nearly any new car, it's not just Fiat. It's perhaps more likely Fiat's effort on this isn't the best out there though.
They also feel a bit raspy and buzzy further up the rpm range, they are certainly not as slick as before when you hang on to first and second gear, they really do want you to change up sooner rather than later.
For congestion charge reasons, I usually drive a 2012 euro 5 to work and a 2014 Euro 6 home (the Mrs does the reverse at a different time) and to tell the truth, I don't really notice the difference now between the two, perhaps the euro 6 shuffles along in traffic a little better now I'm used to how it drives.
You can only buy the colours and spec they have, but you can get them quick as you are not waiting for it to be built and there's obviously good deals on them.
There's a mid life face lift coming soon (new grille and colours?) and it's offical announcement isn't too far away, so there is/will be to be a big effort to shift stocked cars, which can only help buyers negotiate.
If you fancy a different spec, colours and options, there's always Fiat Privilege and Affinity.
These are special rate deals for the likes of the Police, NHS, BT workers (and families), but I believe members of British Cycling also qualify.
Privilege is for PCP deals.
Affinity for outright sales.
http://www.westmidspolfed.com/member-services/services/?/Fiat-Group
It's true the euro 6 1.2's from March 2014 don't drive quite like the others that came before it, but they do drive like nearly all other modern cars do these days.
Fiat seems to have revised the engine management system and the first thing you notice is the car increasing the rpms it's self as you lift the clutch (like most modern cars), so they'll creep and start to set off as you lift the clutch on their own.
If you prod the pedal yourself too early (or not expect it and stamp on the pedal), it can somethings bog the engine down a little and/or jerk and shudder, you just need to time your pedal input as it starts to move for a smooth take off.
All this setting your rpms and clutch biting point we all learnt years ago is almost defunct except of the steepest hills on nearly any new car, it's not just Fiat. It's perhaps more likely Fiat's effort on this isn't the best out there though.
They also feel a bit raspy and buzzy further up the rpm range, they are certainly not as slick as before when you hang on to first and second gear, they really do want you to change up sooner rather than later.
For congestion charge reasons, I usually drive a 2012 euro 5 to work and a 2014 Euro 6 home (the Mrs does the reverse at a different time) and to tell the truth, I don't really notice the difference now between the two, perhaps the euro 6 shuffles along in traffic a little better now I'm used to how it drives.
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Yes, I realised about forty years ago that, for very basic cars, buying new works out cheaper in the long run than buying used. Unfortunately that realisation didn't put the necessary funds into my pocket until a few years later.
Until then, just do the best you can not to spend anything that isn't going to give you a return; it's all too easy to get obsessed with making everything perfect, which on a 10yr old Panda, is totally uneconomic.
Lots of horror stories going on about Euro 6 1.2s. The one we hired in Spain in June I drove for 1000 miles. I was rather shocked at how smooth and torquey it was compared to our Euro 5. It felt less smooth when thrashed but drove very nice indeed.
Take on for a (long) spin I'd say.
Take on for a (long) spin I'd say.
Oh god, and here I am having spent £150 on a total gearbox overhaul!!! (DIY, of course)
I know it will never be perfect, but I've started valuing the learning process, the satisfaction of self repairing it and the fact that outside of accountancy and cycling it's my joint third hobby at this point (the car).
Perhaps more importantly, it's not leaving my penny-less. I've budgeted my money quite well I think, and in the next year £800 set aside for potential car problems - this is £150 out of it, but there's very little in regards to 'replacing things for the sake of it' left to do now, even if I wanted to!
The ultimate aim is to do my best to keep the Panda on the road for maybe another 5 years if I'm lucky. I'm aware that I could walk out of work today and find it in the car park, having been smashed into and written off with no note! But at the same time, even the lustful thought of a brand new Panda will have this same factor of reality, only difference is, if a new Panda got written off I'd be paying for it for the next 5 years either way!
In the future, I want a new one or nearly new one regardless, and I probably won't be able to do a lot of this work to it with warranty the inevitable more complex than a FIRE engine it will probably house, but by then, I'll have a steady income and the ability to replace it should the worse happen!
For now I can dream and make Fiat's online configurator blow up due to constantly using it
The value of the skills you're leaning is far greater than what you're spending, and unlike a new Panda, they will last you for a lifetime.
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I now live in Devon but home was Derby.
My mother bought her Panda automatic from Norris Brothers of Tamworth. It was a few years ago but their service to an easily influenced elderly lady was excellent.
Norris Brothers. 105-108 Lichfield St, Tamworth B79 7QB
www.norrisbros.co.uk
01827 53960
My mother bought her Panda automatic from Norris Brothers of Tamworth. It was a few years ago but their service to an easily influenced elderly lady was excellent.
Norris Brothers. 105-108 Lichfield St, Tamworth B79 7QB
www.norrisbros.co.uk
01827 53960
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My last car was a Renault Espace 2.0 Turbo. Its been great with a major house move and a new family & had its moments (like all Renaults), but overall pretty good. I got three years motoring for £3000 plus service costs. I thought the clutch release bearing and failed and was about to scrap it then thought to properly check the hydraulics. The fault was a burst flexible hose (and right bar steward to replace) so the car still has some value.
I have zero emotional attachment towards it. Not a thing. Nothing. Nada. I don't even like opening it's bonnet. Sorry car but I just don't. If it went for scrap I would simply be fed up that its tyres and battery are still good.
The Panda however has been with me about 3 weeks and I love it. Swapping the back axle should have been a horrible chore but it really wasn't. Not many cars do that for me and one that's new to me needed serious work should have been really P****ing me off. But it hasn't and its getting better every day. maybe I just like small cars, but I really doubt that any new Panda will be up there with this one in the happy owner category.
That said, I could be well tempted by an Abarth 500 with all the goodies.
I have zero emotional attachment towards it. Not a thing. Nothing. Nada. I don't even like opening it's bonnet. Sorry car but I just don't. If it went for scrap I would simply be fed up that its tyres and battery are still good.
The Panda however has been with me about 3 weeks and I love it. Swapping the back axle should have been a horrible chore but it really wasn't. Not many cars do that for me and one that's new to me needed serious work should have been really P****ing me off. But it hasn't and its getting better every day. maybe I just like small cars, but I really doubt that any new Panda will be up there with this one in the happy owner category.
That said, I could be well tempted by an Abarth 500 with all the goodies.
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My last car was a Renault Espace 2.0 Turbo. Its been great with a major house move and a new family & had its moments (like all Renaults), but overall pretty good. I got three years motoring for £3000 plus service costs. I thought the clutch release bearing and failed and was about to scrap it then thought to properly check the hydraulics. The fault was a burst flexible hose (and right bar steward to replace) so the car still has some value.
I have zero emotional attachment towards it. Not a thing. Nothing. Nada. I don't even like opening it's bonnet. Sorry car but I just don't. If it went for scrap I would simply be fed up that its tyres and battery are still good.
The Panda however has been with me about 3 weeks and I love it. Swapping the back axle should have been a horrible chore but it really wasn't. Not many cars do that for me and one that's new to me needed serious work should have been really P****ing me off. But it hasn't and its getting better every day. maybe I just like small cars, but I really doubt that any new Panda will be up there with this one in the happy owner category.
That said, I could be well tempted by an Abarth 500 with all the goodies.
I've had both, and if you rev a panda enough (4k+) it almost sounds like the abarth, OK it doesn't accelerate anything like but the handling isn't a million miles away either, oh and it's costs half to run to!
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I had a 1746 Abarth Punto a bit front end heavy but ****ing quick!!
The old Mini 1275 could be taken to over 100bhp with just a single SU carburettor. Who knows what the 8V Fire engine could do in the right hands.
David Vizard where are you?
