General Thank heavens for a small drive!

[Melanabb]

... Just been to the local Fiat dealership to get my glovebox fixed on Punto and had a nose around 09 Panda 100hp and I'd LOVE to have one if I had a space on my drive... (and money obviously ) Had a look at a new shape one too, left me cold I'm afraid. Although they had a lovely 500C in forecourt, somehow it left me cold, wonder why?

 

[RUI]

The panda 100hp is a great car, it's not the fastest thing in the world but it feels like it is.
I drive our one a few times a week and love it.

 

[wigit]

if fiat had still made them i would have been tempted instead of the TA, look so spot on (especially metallic grey)

 

[loveshandbags]

... Just been to the local Fiat dealership to get my glovebox fixed on Punto and had a nose around 09 Panda 100hp and I'd LOVE to have one if I had a space on my drive... (and money obviously ) Had a look at a new shape one too, left me cold I'm afraid. Although they had a lovely 500C in forecourt, somehow it left me cold, wonder why?

I recently paid a visit to a Garage (the time I took pictures of the Fiat 850 Abarth) to test drive a 100HP but it had sold the previous day. Had only seen the pictures on the web but it was apparently a good example. They only had 2 enquiries on the car for the month (I was one of them) and the other bought the car for €1K less than the advertised price of €8K. For some peculiar reason the 1.4 engine was a greater success in the Panda than the 500.
I was thinking of it was a replacement for the Marea Weekender. There was 1 or 2 up advertised about 6 months ago but now they've got thin on the ground. I reckon it could be a classic and stands out compared to the ordinary Panda.

 

[306maxi]

I've driven a 100hp and a 1.4 500. For some reason the engine just doesn't feel as eager in the 500 and it doesn't feel as much of a go kart as the 100hp does.

 

[jnoiles]

I've driven a 100hp and a 1.4 500. For some reason the engine just doesn't feel as eager in the 500 and it doesn't feel as much of a go kart as the 100hp does.

Agreed, I drove Paul's delightful blue 100hp on the Spa-Italia trip and it feels lighter and more eager to take off to me. It almost felt like it was geared differently for better take off. He also drove my 500 for a bit and came back wanting a quaife diff fitted to his 100hp.

 

[alexGS]

Agreed, I drove Paul's delightful blue 100hp on the Spa-Italia trip and it feels lighter and more eager to take off to me. It almost felt like it was geared differently for better take off. He also drove my 500 for a bit and came back wanting a quaife diff fitted to his 100hp.

I've never driven a Panda 100HP but I have been a passenger in one, in Dublin, and I agree as well that FIAT seems to get a different result every time. The 1.4 in the 500 definitely needs higher revs to work well but it rewards with a gruff kind of sound - it does feel like the big, tough engine option for the 500, even though the 1.2 feels like it beats the 1.4 off the line (I don't think the figures agree).

Dualogic makes it easy to get great performance though, I think in Sport mode it changes gear faster than I would - time will tell if the gearbox can take it...

-Alex

 

[loveshandbags]

I've never driven a Panda 100HP but I have been a passenger in one, in Dublin,
-Alex

I hope you got a céad míle fáilte when you were here.

and I agree as well that FIAT seems to get a different result every time. The 1.4 in the 500 definitely needs higher revs to work well but it rewards with a gruff kind of sound - it does feel like the big, tough engine option for the 500, even though the 1.2 feels like it beats the 1.4 off the line (I don't think the figures agree).

Dualogic makes it easy to get great performance though, I think in Sport mode it changes gear faster than I would - time will tell if the gearbox can take it...
-Alex

The gearbox can take it all right. Rated at 150Nm whilst the engine is churning out 145Nm. Ahmett doesn't appear to have blow his gearbox but he had some little problem with the dualogic. Some have supercharged the engine and it seems to have survived. Get the impression that the clutch will go before the gearbox - so that will be your safety net.
The 1.4 engine responds well to a CAI. Questionable on the 1.2 with a recommendation for a replacement panel filter. A CAI like the Pipercross one (can be easily got and made specifically for the 100HP & 500 1.4 for around £100) wouldn't give you any more bhp but it improves the torque (which is lacking at the bottom end on a 1.4 compared to a 1.2) and it might give a little extra bhp at the top end. It makes a nice noise without sounding like a total prat.
In the manual 1.4 it easily beats the 1.2 off the line at 10.5 secs compared to 13s on the 0-60. I would guess that the dualogic might be faster to 0-60 since it probably reaches 60 in 2nd unlike the 6 speed gearbox ratio setup on the manual which needs to change into 3rd.

 

[306maxi]

I've never driven a Panda 100HP but I have been a passenger in one, in Dublin, and I agree as well that FIAT seems to get a different result every time. The 1.4 in the 500 definitely needs higher revs to work well but it rewards with a gruff kind of sound - it does feel like the big, tough engine option for the 500, even though the 1.2 feels like it beats the 1.4 off the line (I don't think the figures agree).

Dualogic makes it easy to get great performance though, I think in Sport mode it changes gear faster than I would - time will tell if the gearbox can take it...

-Alex

It was a while since I testdrove a 1.4 500, but you're right, it does feel like a 1.2 would beat it off the line. Perhaps the ones I drove just weren't run in at all. Don't get me wrong, once they got going they were definitely quicker than my 1.2. The 100hp just felt so much more eager to get going than the figures suggest and the chassis was just fantastic. I remember just going through roundabouts and having the thing just gripping very well

Agreed, I drove Paul's delightful blue 100hp on the Spa-Italia trip and it feels lighter and more eager to take off to me. It almost felt like it was geared differently for better take off. He also drove my 500 for a bit and came back wanting a quaife diff fitted to his 100hp.

I want a quaife too!

 

[loveshandbags]

It was a while since I testdrove a 1.4 500, but you're right, it does feel like a 1.2 would beat it off the line. Perhaps the ones I drove just weren't run in at all. Don't get me wrong, once they got going they were definitely quicker than my 1.2. The 100hp just felt so much more eager to get going than the figures suggest and the chassis was just fantastic. I remember just going through roundabouts and having the thing just gripping very well

I reckon that most 100HP drivers are enthusiasts and have 'fine tuned' their motors giving it a good workout when the ocassion arises. Judging by the number of 500 1.4 drivers who wait until 18K to have their car serviced it's no wonder they don't give their best. A dirty air filter and 'old' plugs impacts the responsiveness.
After getting used to the T-jet I would find it hard to resist taking some drastic action on a 500 1.4 engine and get the ports polished and the head skimmed to give it that the extra bhp that it needs. With a compression ratio of 10.8:1 there might be some room to increase the compression since the older starjet was running at 11:1.

 

[loveshandbags]

The gearbox can take it all right. Rated at 150Nm whilst the engine is churning out 145Nm.

I would like to correct this. It's 130Nm for the 1.4 and it was 145Nm for the TA. For the 1.2 it's a 'lowly' 102Nm but still better than the UP '75' at 95Nm.

 

[jnoiles]

I want a quaife too!

Yes, yes you do. I'm staring at one on the coffee table as I write this.

 

[Melanabb]

I want a quaife too!

I wandered why would you want this, then I read the post more thoroughly...