Fiat Panda 100hp - Dream Car?

Fiat Panda 100hp - Dream Car?

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Paraicj

Original Poster:

502 posts

140 months

Saturday 5th March 2016
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Last Summer, I came to the realisation that my Audi A3 was a bit dull. Not slow, not bad, not dangerous, but not interesting. So I bought a Mazda MX-5 ( HERE) and enjoyed it immensely. I would definitely recommend to anyone thinking about it to give it a go. Great fun, no problems with it, ended up keeping it a lot longer than I had planned. Come winter, I should have sold it on, but I had difficulties letting it go.

Then I bashed the front bumper, front wing and (worse) damaged the front driver's side suspension and wheel in a low-speed incident. Fixing it was uneconomical. Bye-bye Mazda! Dang.

So I needed a car. I knew it had to have a roof, for roof-bars, as I had been scabbing lifts from friends to go biking, kayaking and climbing for too long. There was literally only one car I wanted. A Panda 100hp!

I had never driven one. I had never even sat in one. But I wanted one. Back when PH ran their Dream Car competition, I sent in an entry (only slightly tongue-in-cheek) extolling the virtues of the Panda, and begging them to finance my acquisition of one. No such look. A Delta and a Capri?! Come on...

At the time they were about £5k, but prices have finally fallen. The range of prices for very similar cars is wide (anything from £2k-3.5k for 07/08 with 50-80k miles and FSH). So I started the hunt. I'm in Birmingham and carless, so I had to wait for a local-ish option. I tried a normal 1.3 to make sure I fitted, I'm 6'3". It was fine, more than fine. Comfortable, and even the little 1.2 was fun, leaving me more sure of what I wanted. This was early January.

Nothing. Nothing in the West Midlands. For a month. A nice one in Reading, £2400. Could I come have a look at the weekend? Sure. Oh no, it's sold. None of them were hanging around, still a popular little car!

And then finally, 2 within 40 miles of me. An Electroclash Grey in Derby, and a Crossover Black in Telford. Rang both, set up a visit. Black first, then grey. Went and saw the black one the same day. 60k miles, full S/H, mostly Fiat. No bangs or bumps. To be put through the MOT 2 days later. Excellent owner, thorough test-drive. Loved it. A below-the-market price.

"If it passes the MOT, I'll buy it."

It did. I did.





It shines up really well. I removed a couple of Decals. There are some paint-chips, and slightly kerbed alloys, with Abarth scorpion centre badges. It has Abarth badges front and back too, which right now I think I will return to normal Fiat ones, but will leave them a week or so before I decide. Painted (slightly roughly) red calipers, which I suppose I'll have to touch up because I can't be bothered removing the paint.

Oh, and it drives like a Go-Kart. Nimble, good response, high-revving. Not as engaging as the MX-5, but still a lot of fun to punt around in.

Overall, I am delighted.

itcaptainslow

3,695 posts

135 months

Saturday 5th March 2016
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Looks good. I was looking seriously at these a couple of weeks ago before purchasing a Micra 160SR-the one I was going to look at sold, otherwise I probably would have ended up in one!

Yadizzle1

684 posts

124 months

Saturday 5th March 2016
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Awesome car!

Tickle

4,882 posts

203 months

Saturday 5th March 2016
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Love theses little things, good choice OP

-crookedtail-

1,559 posts

189 months

Saturday 5th March 2016
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So much cooler than a 500!

Good work biggrin

Paraicj

Original Poster:

502 posts

140 months

Monday 7th March 2016
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It has received a good shine and its first weekend run-out, up through Cannock. It is a tight-turning little thing, very lively. Different from the MX-5 in so many ways, but I found myself enjoying it a lot.

I'll miss the ability to take down the roof and wiggle a bit coming out of a roundabout, but being able to jam all my stuff in the back or on the roof and escape from Birmingham will more than make up for that.

No plans beyond driving it and maybe returning to Fiat Badges, but so far so good!

Yadizzle1

684 posts

124 months

Monday 7th March 2016
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Paraicj said:
It has received a good shine and its first weekend run-out, up through Cannock. It is a tight-turning little thing, very lively. Different from the MX-5 in so many ways, but I found myself enjoying it a lot.

I'll miss the ability to take down the roof and wiggle a bit coming out of a roundabout, but being able to jam all my stuff in the back or on the roof and escape from Birmingham will more than make up for that.

No plans beyond driving it and maybe returning to Fiat Badges, but so far so good!
Trust me when I say you can get it to wiggle if you want to smile

S10GTA

12,645 posts

166 months

Monday 7th March 2016
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I really like these, but hear the ride is poor. Is it?

anomaly

459 posts

172 months

Monday 7th March 2016
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Love these, I really want one too! I've been keeping an eye on the classifieds and looking for an excuse to add one to the fleet...

AyBee

10,522 posts

201 months

Monday 7th March 2016
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I wish people would keep quiet about these, when my Lotus has to go in order to fund a flat purchase I'll be getting something cheap and practical (the Lotus has never been any good for carrying my bikes...tongue out) and this is top of my list!

57Ford

3,937 posts

133 months

Monday 7th March 2016
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S10GTA said:
I really like these, but hear the ride is poor. Is it?
The ride is indeed atrocious and the back end is as bouncy as a fat bird jogging until you throw away the oem shocks and buy a pair of Koni adjustables. The ride is still bad but at least it now grips so there's an upside! Up to 50 it's definitely chuckable and massive fun but above that a fast undulating A-road can be a bit scary at times compared to a grownup sized car.
Mine has the the 'pano' roof so there's a bit of wind-in-the-hair too. Great fun little things, paid £2k for mine 6 months ago with quite a few dings and scuffs (quite refreshing not to worry in car parks) so looks like you got a bargain OP, enjoy.
beer

BricktopST205

887 posts

133 months

Monday 7th March 2016
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They are quite hansom little things but the Suzuki Swift Sport is almost the same price with the Ignis Sport even cheaper. Both are a better drive although being 5 door the panda is more practical. Having 6 gears makes it a much better prospect on the motorway as well.

Paraicj

Original Poster:

502 posts

140 months

Monday 7th March 2016
quotequote all
S10GTA said:
I really like these, but hear the ride is poor. Is it?
I'll let you know after I get it out and about properly, but it is certainly not the most settled little thing in the world. I'm not sure I'd go as far as 57ford, but mostly because I don;t want to shell out for a set of adjustables!

Not really too bothered about the Ignis Sport, I'm sure it's fun. Swift is a nice little thing, I'd be tempted in future.

57Ford

3,937 posts

133 months

Tuesday 8th March 2016
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Paraicj said:
I'm not sure I'd go as far as 57ford, but mostly because I don;t want to shell out for a set of adjustables!
It's the only mod I've done. They were only £65 each and even I managed to fit the pair in an hour on the drive! Well worth it for me but even without mods the go kart feel, revvy little engine and snappy gearbox just make it fun all round.

ScoobyChris

1,667 posts

201 months

Tuesday 8th March 2016
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S10GTA said:
I really like these, but hear the ride is poor. Is it?
It depends what you mean by poor.

Imho, it's very stiffly sprung which means running on anything that isn't smooth can be quite funny and challenging, but on the whole it's a very fun and chuckable car. I covered around 60k in mine in 3 years on fast A and B roads and was genuinely sad to chop it in and both my then girlfriend and Mum were so impressed that they bought their own 100hp's as well.

Chris

SidewaysSi

10,742 posts

233 months

Wednesday 9th March 2016
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How does it compare to a Clio 182 for fun? Thinking of getting one for the wife.

Paraicj

Original Poster:

502 posts

140 months

Wednesday 9th March 2016
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I've only ever been a passenger in a Clio 182, but the Panda does not have the same feeling of acceleration or pace through the corners. It is definitely a more junior proposition. Also you feel like you're sitting higher. If your wife is a big car fan, I think the 182 is a better car, but it's a more burly piece of kit all round, not as friendly.

ScoobyChris

1,667 posts

201 months

Friday 11th March 2016
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SidewaysSi said:
How does it compare to a Clio 182 for fun? Thinking of getting one for the wife.
It depends how you measure fun. The 182 is a more competent car in pretty much every area (as you'd expect for a car that cost at least twice as much when new) and will cover ground much faster, but you'd not be able to drive it like you stole it everywhere and not lose your licence, as you would in the Panda biggrin

However, if I had a choice between the two, I'd be grabbing the keys for the 182 biggrin

Chris

Paraicj

Original Poster:

502 posts

140 months

Monday 11th April 2016
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So, a month into ownership and what have I learned about the little Panda?

Well, for one, rumours of its iron-bar suspension are a bit exaggerated. It's no sofa, and can certainly bunny-hop or pogo on a bad surface, but it's planted and relatively compliant most of the time. It is a more competent motorway cruiser than I expected, 6th gear is a necessity, it is very short-geared! 80mph means about 3800rpm in 6th, so it's not quiet, but it is very liveable with.

It is amazingly spacious for such a small footprint. I can get my road-bike in the back with the front wheel off, and still have a tall passenger. I did a 120 mile round trip 4-up in it, including my brother who is 6'6", with no complaints from the back seats. Well, no loud ones anyway.

And it is fun! It revs keenly, it turns sharp and flat and is generally exactly the hyperactive puppy of a car I expected it to be.

I haven't done anything with it so far apart from order roof bars and try to figure out what fiat badges I need to buy to replace the Abarth ones currently on it. It needs a good wash and polish too...

Vitorio

4,296 posts

142 months

Monday 11th April 2016
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Good to hear!

They are attractive little cars, certainly on the wish list should i be in need of a small fun runabout