View attachment 137614
Yesterday I took my new Panda and my daughter's 09 Panda to be tested on a rolling road so that we could compare the performance of the two. I decided to do this because of the problems we and others are having with the throttle response of the new car when pulling away.
The graph shows that the torque of the old car is better from tick-over up to over 3500 revs. Looking at the AFR the old car seems to do better and be 'greener' than the new one (a lower figure is bad).
Because of the flat spot it has at low revs, the new car cannot pull away immediately on the rollers, hence its readings do not start immediately.
Up to the speed limit this graph shows that the 09 car will always be in front, and will, I believe, be greener.
The operator of the rolling road testing station, who specializes in high performance racing cars, was so taken with the contrast between the two cars that he intends to write an article about it for the Motor Sport magazine. He also test drove both cars on the road, taking the new one out first. When he came back with the 09 car he had a smile from ear to ear, and commented that they were like chalk and cheese, the older car being significantly better. What have Fiat done? The drive to reduce emissions, which does not seem to me to have worked, has ruined the drive-ability of the car.
Fiat just tell us that there is nothing they can do, we just have to adapt our driving technique to suit the car. Even if you are a very good, adaptable driver it is still going to be a pig to drive. There are plenty of others complaining about the same problem and I am convinced that it is going to cause accidents when someone cannot get the car to pull away at a busy junction or roundabout is going to be hit from behind.
Comments from the technically minded would be welcome.