General panda 4x4 as everyday car??

[pandamaniac]

John
Did you know Fiat Pandas were the first cars to get stop start technology!

Are you running yours on a mixture of petrol and chip fat again?
43 to the gallon, that's astonishing, are you sure you didn't make the tank bigger when you welded it up.
Dave

 

[nitro_warrior]

John
Did you know Fiat Pandas were the first cars to get stop start technology!

Are you running yours on a mixture of petrol and chip fat again?
43 to the gallon, that's astonishing, are you sure you didn't make the tank bigger when you welded it up.
Dave

Or sneak in a bit more capacity by running a 50m length of fuel hose and a fuel filter for a cruise ship!

 

[Dragon Man]

i want to get a push to brake switch wired up to the fuel cut of solenoid.. when i coast i can still engine brake but cut the fuel off..

really have any of you guys ever been on ecomodder before?

 

[VmanC]

Hi,

This is my first post here, so sorry for all the questions?

I friend had a 4x4 panda around 15 year ago and we used to take it off in the woods and on the farm and it was a great car offroad. In my current job having an off road car would be great.

I hadn't realised until I started looking that these cars have become a bit sort after, but it would be nice to own a car that's not going to keep dropping in value if i look after it.

1. So my questions are what do people think about having a classic panda 4x4 as an everyday vehicle?

2. What sort of money would I be expecting to pay for one in decent condition that isn't a massive restoration project?

3. Is the much of a difference between the Sisley or the regular 4x4?

4. Is it worth looking in Europe for an import?

I notice one on ebay at the moment for £1900, is that expensive?

Any advice would be much apprecaited.

Hi, welcome to the Forum.

I've arrived at this one a little late so your questions have already been comprehensively and accurately answered, particularly the fuel consumption issue that I know was a big concern of yours .

I can only add my own experience of running a Panda 4x4 as an every day car. I've found it to be brilliant! Even motorways and long distances are fine, I would happily drive one anywhere. As Kev ( Purple Haze) said they were originally designed to be driven every day so why not now. You do need to find a good solid one first then keep it mechanically reliable, but a Panda is one of the cheapest and easiest cars to maintain so go for it!

The added bonus is that they are FUN!!!!!

 

[nitro_warrior]

i want to get a push to brake switch wired up to the fuel cut of solenoid.. when i coast i can still engine brake but cut the fuel off..

really have any of you guys ever been on ecomodder before?

Not until last night, where I spent too long on it! I will be sleepy at work today.

Though I think, to go back on topic, that it's fair to say to a potential Panda 4x4 should expect around 35mpg (+-5mpg depending on condition and driving style). Telling a new owner 40+ is a false promise unless they are serious eco drivers. Bit like those ebay ads that say a car's like concourse when in reality the arse is falling out of them with rust!

 

[nitro_warrior]

i want to get a push to brake switch wired up to the fuel cut of solenoid.. when i coast i can still engine brake but cut the fuel off..

really have any of you guys ever been on ecomodder before?

And straight back off topic i'm looking forward to you boat-tailing your panda in the name of 45MPG!! :slayer:

 

[firstcar-Y10]

And straight back off topic i'm looking forward to you boat-tailing your panda in the name of 45MPG!! :slayer:

Although there are easier ways to achieve better aerodynamics...... not fitting too many extra sticky out lights for example

 

[Palio]

Not until last night, where I spent too long on it! I will be sleepy at work today.

Though I think, to go back on topic, that it's fair to say to a potential Panda 4x4 should expect around 35mpg (+-5mpg depending on condition and driving style). Telling a new owner 40+ is a false promise unless they are serious eco drivers. Bit like those ebay ads that say a car's like concourse when in reality the arse is falling out of them with rust!

Oh dear eco modding.......... Very worthy I know, but

Totally agree on the mpg. A fairly enthusiastic owner should get the figures in my fuelly pic below. I'm quite a good benchmark, as I'm generally heavy footed and can't be bothered to drive very economically unless I'm around town(flat out on the motorway, plenty of hooning round corners, boot full of clutter). I know it's bad but does that extra 5mpg really matter - discuss!

40+ in a non 4wd Panda is easy - mine do it, so it must be easy.

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

I know it's bad but does that extra 5mpg really matter - discuss!

When you do 20k+ miles a year then yes

 

[nitro_warrior]

When you do 20k+ miles a year then yes

For purposes of discussion it's easy to put a value on it, 5mpg over 20k is £410

Whilst the aerodynamicist in me finds ecomodding interesting I personally wouldn't go to the effort, but then I don't do huge mileage, so i would never see the gain and my car would look weird(er). I see a little extra cost in fuel a fair trade off for getting to drive something fun and that I enjoy to drive

 

[Giacosa]

For purposes of discussion it's easy to put a value on it, 5mpg over 20k is £410

Whilst the aerodynamicist in me finds ecomodding interesting I personally wouldn't go to the effort, but then I don't do huge mileage, so i would never see the gain and my car would look weird(er). I see a little extra cost in fuel a fair trade off for getting to drive something fun and that I enjoy to drive

It would cost you a piffling £15-20 to drive to Panda camp this year

 

[Dragon Man]

Haha if I took off all the standard extras and the battery out the boot, I bet I could get 45mpg.

I'm all for economy modding.. There's loads of other things I could do to Talon to make him more fuel efficient. It's why I want to change the 5th gear so much.

 

[Bartpanda]

I noticed, that you are very interested in economic driving, to which the panda has been created ofcourse. What about use of LPG installation? Is it popular in UK? I use lpg in my panda 4x4, it consumes about 10 liters/100km of it while driving urban, so the cost of making 100 urban miles on lpg is about 40PLN / 8GBP, extra urban 6GBP. Is there any panda with LPG in the club?

 

[purple haze]

I noticed, that you are very interested in economic driving, to which the panda has been created ofcourse. What about use of LPG installation? Is it popular in UK? I use lpg in my panda 4x4, it consumes about 10 liters/100km of it while driving urban, so the cost of making 100 urban miles on lpg is about 40PLN / 8GBP, extra urban 6GBP. Is there any panda with LPG in the club?

There is the guy in holland with LPG.

 

[Palio]

For purposes of discussion it's easy to put a value on it, 5mpg over 20k is £410

Whilst the aerodynamicist in me finds ecomodding interesting I personally wouldn't go to the effort, but then I don't do huge mileage, so i would never see the gain and my car would look weird(er). I see a little extra cost in fuel a fair trade off for getting to drive something fun and that I enjoy to drive

True.

I've driven a Coupe for 10 years which does 29mpg everywhere however much you boot it. From there 34mpg in the 4x4 is good!

Anyway the Sisley does about 3000 miles a year, so costs me 3/20 x £410 = £61.50

As it does at least 1000 miles on the motorway at 80, those miles take me 12.5 hours. At 60 it would take me 16.5 hours (a bit more but who's counting), so saving me just over 4 hours. That 4 hours can earn me an awful lot more than £61.50 (if I do something less fun than driving a Panda, involving tax returns ), so by using more fuel I save money - Q.E.D :devil:

 

[homeward]

True.

I've driven a Coupe for 10 years which does 29mpg everywhere however much you boot it. From there 34mpg in the 4x4 is good!

Anyway the Sisley does about 3000 miles a year, so costs me 3/20 x £410 = £61.50

As it does at least 1000 miles on the motorway at 80, those miles take me 12.5 hours. At 60 it would take me 16.5 hours (a bit more but who's counting), so saving me just over 4 hours. That 4 hours can earn me an awful lot more than £61.50 (if I do something less fun than driving a Panda, involving tax returns ), so by using more fuel I save money - Q.E.D :devil:

Will you be standing as a Green candidate at the next general election...? :devil:

 

[Palio]

Will you be standing as a Green candidate at the next general election...? :devil:

There's a thought! :worship:

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

I noticed, that you are very interested in economic driving, to which the panda has been created ofcourse. What about use of LPG installation? Is it popular in UK? I use lpg in my panda 4x4, it consumes about 10 liters/100km of it while driving urban, so the cost of making 100 urban miles on lpg is about 40PLN / 8GBP, extra urban 6GBP. Is there any panda with LPG in the club?

I've not LPGed a Panda, but have got LPG in our 1.4 16v Stilo, I got it professionally converted and was well worth the cost.

Plan is if sister ever smacks it up (its her car now) to transplant it all into a Panda - 1.4 16v LPG mk2 Panda. Power and economy :devil:

 

[homeward]

Panda - 1.4 16v LPG mk2 Panda. Power and economy :devil:

Ooh: can I have a ride in that, please...? (Not that I want the Stilo to come to any harm....) :worship: