Mr FIAT - Your #1 source for vintage car parts

General  500 vs panda

Currently reading:
General  500 vs panda

Status
Not open for further replies.
The main difference between the panda and the 500 for us when we orderen were the ncap crash test ratings. Panda scored 3* and 500 scored 5*. We will be transporting our 2 young daughters around in it so the choice was a no brainer. We also thought the 500 was cool(y)
 
Quite right Miss R, all that fuss over such a little thing! I do have to take exception to Chris 123's assertion that diesel engines don't affect handling though. I've driven a great deal of different cars in their petrol and oil burner incarnations. So far everything front engined has had lumpen understeer in its diesel variant compared to the petrol as a consequence of that extra 7 or so % of mass carried over the front wheels. Some designers such as the people who design for Mercedes-Benz are good at designing/engineering around the problem, but unless one's going mid-engined, I reckon it remains a nasty thing to do to a car. In my opinion.
 
eribiste said:
Quite right Miss R, all that fuss over such a little thing! I do have to take exception to Chris 123's assertion that diesel engines don't affect handling though. I've driven a great deal of different cars in their petrol and oil burner incarnations. So far everything front engined has had lumpen understeer in its diesel variant compared to the petrol as a consequence of that extra 7 or so % of mass carried over the front wheels. Some designers such as the people who design for Mercedes-Benz are good at designing/engineering around the problem, but unless one's going mid-engined, I reckon it remains a nasty thing to do to a car. In my opinion.
Click to expand...
Definitely. You can feel the extra mass when you're driving for sure. You simply can't magically make the weight distribution of a car different and it does have an effect on the handling of the car. As I said you also get far more pronounced tyre wear on your front tyres as well.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Looks are better than speed ;)
Its slower than I would have liked but I test drove the Fiesta and a few other cars too and none of them seemed quick off the mark (like my old car) so I'm not unhappy with my decision.
 
306maxi said:
Definitely. You can feel the extra mass when you're driving for sure. You simply can't magically make the weight distribution of a car different and it does have an effect on the handling of the car. As I said you also get far more pronounced tyre wear on your front tyres as well.
Click to expand...

There's only 50kg difference between the diesel and 1.4.
There's a 65kg difference between to 1.2 and 1.4, and I don't see many people complaining there.
The springs on each model have been adapted to suit the weight. There is no problem. If anybody's fallen off the road in their diesel please post the pics. I'd be very interested to see them.
Personally, I'd have thought that having skinnier tyres on 15 inch wheels makes far more difference to grip, and a lack of experience and/or ability leads to people having problems controlling their car, but there you go.
 
Last edited:
Chris123 said:
There's only 50kg difference between the diesel and 1.4.
There's a 65kg difference between to 1.2 and 1.4, and I don't see many people complaining there.
The springs on each model have been adapted to suit the weight. There is no problem. If anybody's fallen off the road in their diesel please post the pics. I'd be very interested to see them.
Personally, I'd have thought that having skinnier tyres on 15 inch wheels makes far more difference to grip, and a lack of experience and/or ability leads to people having problems controlling their car, but there you go.
Click to expand...

I don't want to get into a childish fight here but springs don't do anything to correct weight distribution. They can slightly work against the effects of it but they'll never fully sort it.

At the end of the day if you have a heavier engine in the front taking you further from the ideal 50:50 weight distribution split it makes for less than ideal handling. Nobody's saying that the MJ is difficult to drive like the original 911 or something, simply that you can feel the extra weight of a turbo diesel when you're in a car which is front engined. Any driver worth his/her salt can feel the difference between having a passenger or some shopping in the back of the car let alone and extra 50-115kg's in the nose of the car.

With a heavier engine (especially a turbo diesel) at the front you're always going to see a bit more understeer when pushing due to the fact the front tyres have to cope with more torque than with other engines as well as steering and taking care of more weight than an equivalent petrol engine.
 
306maxi said:
With a heavier engine (especially a turbo diesel) at the front you're always going to see a bit more understeer when pushing due to the fact the front tyres have to cope with more torque than with other engines as well as steering and taking care of more weight than an equivalent petrol engine.
Click to expand...
Indeed - and this was the case with the Stilo - the 2.4 was a big lump up there, which is why the 1.6 handled soo much better. And yes, I drove both.
 
Stu DemonD said:
Indeed - and this was the case with the Stilo - the 2.4 was a big lump up there, which is why the 1.6 handled soo much better. And yes, I drove both.
Click to expand...
I can imagine that would be a pretty big difference in handling!!!!!

The only back to back comparison I've had was a nice long testdrive in a 1.8l 406 petrol and a good 15,000 miles of driving my 1.9 td 406. The 1.8 just had much more poise and felt more balanced than my car. Tyre wear was a problem with the 406 though because of the extra weight and torque of the diesel lump over the front wheels.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

J
Off Topic Zoe vs 500
Replies
3
Views
553
steveras57
steveras57
O
Technical 500 1.4 sport
Replies
1
Views
140
Jockstrap
Jockstrap
N
Technical Adjusting the Main Beam 2010 Fiat 500
Replies
1
Views
225
bugsymike
B
L
General Fiat 500 Gearbox
Replies
0
Views
332
LucyJaneParkes
L
D
  • Question
General Damaged drivers door 500 lounge
Replies
2
Views
191
A3jeroen
A3jeroen
Back
Top