The similarities of the Panda and the original Mini.

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The similarities of the Panda and the original Mini.

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Dec 4, 2022
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Now , hear me out before you come judging at me. I have a Fiat Panda 169 1.2 Emotion, not a fancy 100hp. I have a friend with a Brera 2.4 JTDm, the car is in excellent condition and pumps out 210-220 bhp. I tried to catch him the straights bu it was hopeless. On he corners though the mighty Panda was able to catch him up and even had the chance to overtake him. Then it struck me. After a tiny chit chat of wondering how in he name of all that's holy did I manage to do that I noticed and rememembered he suspension structure of the first Mini. And they have a thing in common that the wheels are on the corners of the car. Its amazing the pace it had on the corners. I am lucky enough to have drivers a few cars before but this car amazes me. My dad has a Jag X-Type 3.0, its awd and its cornerering is very tidy. No understeer whatsover, he mighty fiat though. Ah, Sensational. It actually is more fun driving slow cars fast.
 
If your friend was traveling against the spin of the earth and you were traveling with it. Even if you brakes were jammed on. You would be traveling faster than his Brera oil burner.. But sounds like he was toe'ing you.

Each to their own I guess
 
I’d be incredibly doubly that even the best drivers in the world could make a panda keep up with a 220bhp (essentially) sports car unless the driver of said sports car was just terrible. The panda is what 1/3rd of the power with 2/3rds of the weight.

Either there is something very wrong with the alfa and it’s not pushing the HP quoted, the tires are bald or the driver was having a nap or not racing
 
Now , hear me out before you come judging at me. I have a Fiat Panda 169 1.2 Emotion, not a fancy 100hp. I have a friend with a Brera 2.4 JTDm, the car is in excellent condition and pumps out 210-220 bhp. I tried to catch him the straights bu it was hopeless. On he corners though the mighty Panda was able to catch him up and even had the chance to overtake him.

Then it struck me..It actually is more fun driving slow cars fast.

More fun .. quite possibly (y)
 
In terms of road racing...

It's the person with the least regard for their own vehicle and personal safety that tends to be fastest. Or the one that is trying..

Driving a flawed car hard is fun, you've gotta work for it compared to something that produces speed effortlessly..but if you drove a fast car similarly hard..it would be much faster.
 
You cannot 'race anyone' in a old panda. It's feet would combust (it could out eat any autos weight in bamboo though). The Fiat Panda, forget it. As they are the second most deadly car in a crash (the pre1999 model with a hammock back seat arrangement) but it is one ahead of a invacar.

As I once drove one of them too, it was terrible. Lucky for me I was drunk at the time.

Maybe that helped, maybe not. I drove it like I stole it. But so did most of the scheme, that I stayed in.
 

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Well don't underestimate a Fiat Uno SX

I cannot comment on the OP's post as his driving skills, roads involved (tight and twist / staight and long etc) or the skils of the other driver.

As many of you may (or may not know) I did motor sport for fun and some more serious sprinting attempts.

All I can say is that (sorry not boasting but I'm sure there are others here with similar skills and built up experince) that my humble little Uno (46BHP at the wheels but with a lower and stiffend suspention) could lap Goodwood at just shy of 80MPH per lap.

The owner and racer of a well know outfit at Goodwood said (in writing)

"I always enjoyed it when you and Krys came to our track days, for several reasons. First of all as I’m sure you can guess I loved seeing that Fiat Abarth; I also loved seeing it being driven neatly, precisely and swiftly around lap after lap after lap. I also got a lot of pleasure from watching you hounding my friends in their Porsches and BMWs in that ridiculously competent (when driven ridiculously competently ) FIAT Uno"

I never underestimated how competant or incompetant, safe or unsafe the drivers of any vehicles out on the track with me were. To do so is folly and likely will end in tears.
 
Most drivers of fast are are incapable of maintaining speed without using the power. They can't mentally cope with fast corners to point and squirt. A well driven 'slow" exposes their lack of driving ability.
 
You cannot 'race anyone' in a old panda. It's feet would combust (it could out eat any autos weight in bamboo though). The Fiat Panda, forget it. As they are the second most deadly car in a crash (the pre1999 model with a hammock back seat arrangement) but it is one ahead of a invacar.

As I once drove one of them too, it was terrible. Lucky for me I was drunk at the time.

Maybe that helped, maybe not. I drove it like I stole it. But so did most of the scheme, that I stayed in.
Remember wehn the old top gear, clarksons first season before it went ‘lads mag’ they ran a panda into an escort and the panda came off better!
 
Well don't underestimate a Fiat Uno SX

I cannot comment on the OP's post as his driving skills, roads involved (tight and twist / staight and long etc) or the skils of the other driver.

As many of you may (or may not know) I did motor sport for fun and some more serious sprinting attempts.

All I can say is that (sorry not boasting but I'm sure there are others here with similar skills and built up experince) that my humble little Uno (46BHP at the wheels but with a lower and stiffend suspention) could lap Goodwood at just shy of 80MPH per lap.

The owner and racer of a well know outfit at Goodwood said (in writing)

"I always enjoyed it when you and Krys came to our track days, for several reasons. First of all as I’m sure you can guess I loved seeing that Fiat Abarth; I also loved seeing it being driven neatly, precisely and swiftly around lap after lap after lap. I also got a lot of pleasure from watching you hounding my friends in their Porsches and BMWs in that ridiculously competent (when driven ridiculously competently ) FIAT Uno"

I never underestimated how competant or incompetant, safe or unsafe the drivers of any vehicles out on the track with me were. To do so is folly and likely will end in tears.
A few years ago I got to have a go in a very standard 128 1300 special, it was bloody great fun, as competent as many a modern car, held the road exceptionally well, was light, precise and makes me miss my old 128s like no other car! Yes it’s small, yes they rusted, yes they don’t feel as solid as a new car but they made you smile…ref my other answer on the punto rally thread, they were also very competitive on twisty stuff and easily kept up with the escorts of the day (the last of the MK2s, they were better than the MK3s! or maybe that was because their owners didn’t want to scratch their paintwork 😏)
 
@s130 credit where credits due, that’s a great reference, I know I wasn’t good compared with others in the club but…
My first ‘drive’ was in the dolomite sprints owners car that I occasionally navigated. He never let me in his car again as I was quicker. My next drive was in a Lancia engined lada (Fiat twincam 1600 beta), I put that in a ditch on the second corner 🙄
 
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