General Panda Test Drive

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General Panda Test Drive

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I'm a Seicento owner, and I had a test drive today in a Panda 1.2 Dynamic. I was really dissapointed with it though. It felt really slow :eek:, even compared to my 899cc Sei. Even with my foot to the floor it felt gutless. Is all of the torque before 3000rpm? Is this how they are, or are they better when they're warm or something?

I found it noisier than my Sei too which really suprised me, there was a continuous low pitch drone.

Unfortunately, I don't really know about the handling or grip because the roads were all straight dual carriage ways. It was a really dull ride.

Anyway, I'm probably going to be sticking with my Seicento. I went to a Peugeot dealer yesterday, and those cars didn't even get a test drive :yuck:.
 
Its definately a lot faster than a 900cc Sei, cant say why your test drive car wasnt. However, the Panda is never going to be the fun car that the Cinq/Sei was as its far more modern, thus more boring. Its a great drive and I love them, but, cars have become terminally dull now, safety is number 1 and a car like the cento wont ever be around again. I so wish Fiat still made the Cinq sporting, that was so right! As for a fun little car, the Panda is probably the best there is, unless of course you have shed loads of cash for a Lupo GTi!!!
 
personally i think its more likely to be a problem with the car. i test drove a dynamic from our local fiat dealer, and it sounded rough (engine rattle, clonk when steering) but i have been in a friends dynamic and its perfect :)

i think what happens is that soo many test drives take place, that the car cant cope, and the fiat garages cant be bothered fixing them.
 
nuovapanda said:
Its definately a lot faster than a 900cc Sei, cant say why your test drive car wasnt. However, the Panda is never going to be the fun car that the Cinq/Sei was as its far more modern, thus more boring. Its a great drive and I love them, but, cars have become terminally dull now, safety is number 1 and a car like the cento wont ever be around again. I so wish Fiat still made the Cinq sporting, that was so right! As for a fun little car, the Panda is probably the best there is, unless of course you have shed loads of cash for a Lupo GTi!!!

It possibly was a little faster than my Sei, but it felt slower, however I didn't find it any easier overtaking vehicles. They've stopped the Lupo now :(, they're doing a Fox instead which looks bigger and heavier.
 
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christopher watson said:
personally i think its more likely to be a problem with the car. i test drove a dynamic from our local fiat dealer, and it sounded rough (engine rattle, clonk when steering) but i have been in a friends dynamic and its perfect :)

i think what happens is that soo many test drives take place, that the car cant cope, and the fiat garages cant be bothered fixing them.

Well, it's put me right off a new car now :(

The engine did sound a little noisey from the outside. At 1000 miles I wouldn't have thought it would be broken though, it was for sale too.
 
it was my understanding that a new enigne doesn't need as much running in as they used to do. partially done when u get them.

1000miles shouldn't have any effect on it. it should still work fine!!
 
christopher watson said:
think of it as 1000 miles of young drivers and people wanting to 'see what it can do' on an engine thats not even run in yet.

Yeah, will that really make that much difference in such a short time? I really feel sorry for the vehicle, my trip was probably less than 3 miles, and my foot was to the floor for a lot of it. However, the road noise wouldn't increase with abuse, and I'm not sure whether I could handle the noise.
 
Hi All,

Before I bought my multijet, I tried out a 1.1 Panda in the local town. The dealer is about two miles outside the town and I just used it in and out of town for the afternoon - I too found it lacking in the 'get up and go' department. It had 800 miles on it and I was not impressed. It seemed to struggle up the gears and overtaking was best planned well in advance.

On the other hand, the Multijet is a real flyer, it warms up quickly and then uses it's loads of torque just get on with it.

Try driving a friend's Panda that has been run in with a little more sympathy - my understanding is that these Fiat engines are best when they have a bit of mileage built up on them.

BJK
 
BJ20 said:
Hi All,

Before I bought my multijet, I tried out a 1.1 Panda in the local town. The dealer is about two miles outside the town and I just used it in and out of town for the afternoon - I too found it lacking in the 'get up and go' department. It had 800 miles on it and I was not impressed. It seemed to struggle up the gears and overtaking was best planned well in advance.

On the other hand, the Multijet is a real flyer, it warms up quickly and then uses it's loads of torque just get on with it.

Try driving a friend's Panda that has been run in with a little more sympathy - my understanding is that these Fiat engines are best when they have a bit of mileage built up on them.

BJK

Oh, I don't know anybody with a Panda, and I wouldn't be insured anyway.

Diesels take longer than petrols to warm up, and no, it's not quick. It probably takes about 5-10 miles to warm up a small petrol engine (depending on the weather). Maybe a hire vehicle would be better, if anywhere does them as hire vehicles?
 
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