General Eco mode

[maggellwin]

Hi Folks., I’ve just bought a lhd 2016 Panda Pop 1.2 and I am trying to fathom the menu etc, when I initially went through I found Eco mode giving me the option to de activate., I tried to do so but nothing happened. Now I cannot find it at all, I want to switch it off as the car feels a little sluggish. There is no eco button on the dash….. it seems it’s lost somewhere in the menu ? Anyone any idea how to get it back??
Thanks

 

[Vic20]

Perhaps this was 'Ecodrive' you disabled, the PC software based driving analysis tool?

 

[Herts Hillhopper]

Hi Folks., I’ve just bought a lhd 2016 Panda Pop 1.2 and I am trying to fathom the menu etc, when I initially went through I found Eco mode giving me the option to de activate., I tried to do so but nothing happened. Now I cannot find it at all, I want to switch it off as the car feels a little sluggish. There is no eco button on the dash….. it seems it’s lost somewhere in the menu ? Anyone any idea how to get it back??
Thanks

There should be an Eco button just behind the gear-lever… do you not have that?

 

[The Panda Nut]

I am not aware of any 1.2s having ECO options anywhere. The TA does, but this is so it can do better on fuel consumption tests I suspect. Wht else would you want to reduce the engine poer on a relatively loe poered small engine????? The 1.2 is economical and an ECO setting would not improve matters.

ECO drive is a driver aid to efficient driving. Its (IMHO) total rubbish and no longer supported by Stellantis anyway so useless as well. Just ignore it.

The 2016 pop is a Euro 6 engine and they need to be driven with gusto to overcome the huge flat spot caused by the fairly useless and fairly pointless so called emissions gear. dOnt start me on that!! Ours is very hesitant pullimg away and if there is other traffic, its embarassing if you dont give it a lot of wellie when pulling out. Two things that can be done to improve the 'get up and go' (apart of course from servicing - which really helps) are cleaning the VVT solenoid filter and the MAP sensor. Both are easy DIY jobs for a saturday afternoon and both seem to help quite a bit. Fitting catch cans on both of our 1.2s has kept the MAP sensors clean and improved matters significantly.

If you want performace I would also use E5 fuel in preference to E10 which really dents performance a lot. It is supoosed not to do so, but it does. The plugs dont last long so annual changing is also recommended.

If you need the car to be brisk my suggestion is put your foot down firmly and get the revs up. Above 3500 the power available is dramatically better. If you use the higher revs available the VVT system can do its stuff and the car will go quite briskly. Being Italian its designed to accept a bit of stick without harm. Much has been said about the Euro 5 / 6 differences. 5 is much better than 6 where a heavier right foot is needed. Having said this we can still easily get 55 to 60mpg from the Euro 6 car.In the downloads tab on here you can find an electroic copy of the handbook for armchair reading.

Menu is accessed by the buttons on the dash, they lso do the headlamp height adjustment. Press the button marked Set to kick off. The use the up or down arrows to scroll the menu.

Eco drive is a software that can analyse your driving and give 'advice'. It requires you to have a USB stick plugged in to the car and with a registered account you were supposed to be able to down load your drives onto the ECO drive site with your laptop, and get analysis. In reality its hard work and rather a lame system. I have never made it work but if you use the avaerage MPG on the computer - if you have one - you can see what changing your driving style does to ecomomy without the hassles it provides.

 

[maggellwin]

Hey Panda nut, thanks for all that, Eco mode was definitely there when I first went through the menu from the dash “set” button when stationar, but weirdly it’s no longer in the menu. There is no eco button in front of the gear-lever. I has heard that eco 6 dents the get up and go but a Fiat software update fixed it? I’ll look at the vvt and map sensor, I have a handbook but it says the eco button is by the gearstick
cheers.

 

[Herts Hillhopper]

So far as I know there are no options for anything to do with the engine in the menu you see displayed above the fuel gauge.

Pressing the 'Set' button should cycle tough this (or similar) list of options:

Menu
Dimmer (for dash lighting)
Speed buzzer
Trip B Activate/deactivate
Set date and time
Show radio
Autoclose (lock on driving away)
Units of measurement
Langauge
Buzzer volume
Service (miles to next service)
Passenger airbag
Reset tyre pressure warning
and exit

Not all these are visible if the engine is running.

Thinking back, I also have a hunch that the 1.2 engine doesn't have an 'eco' mode – and so would not have the button by the gear-lever – but may be wrong there.

 

[Panda IIs]

Hey Panda nut, thanks for all that, Eco mode was definitely there when I first went through the menu from the dash “set” button when stationar, but weirdly it’s no longer in the menu. There is no eco button in front of the gear-lever. I has heard that eco 6 dents the get up and go but a Fiat software update fixed it? I’ll look at the vvt and map sensor, I have a handbook but it says the eco button is by the gearstick
cheers.

In your original post you say it's a lhd (Left Hand Drive) vehicle unless this is a typo? If this is the case can we assume the ECO message you saw was associated with the menu being viewed in English? Where did the car originate from if LHD? I do believe there are going to be different specs across Europe so we may not be comparing apples with apples here?

 

[maggellwin]

Perhaps this was 'Ecodrive' you disabled, the PC software based driving analysis tool?

Maybe but you would expect still to see it in the menu when disabled in order to switch it back on. It is different spec than a U.K. model as it has alloys and roof rails not generally on a Pop but then I guess they could have been extras. Cheers