One Goes – Another Comes: Fiat Panda 1.2 Active

[drifter]

After some driver with a Golf Mk6 has successfully sealed the end of my Fiat Seicento, which has served over 2.4lakhs km I had to find a replacement.

I opted for a Fiat Panda 1.2 Active.

At the moment it is no match in terms of performance for my Seicento, but given time it will be there.

Right now I have to sort some issues on the Panda. Having driven for just over 140kms from new it has shown some hesitation when driving off.

 

[type-r]

Re: One goes - another one comes

ah James May has a very similar version! love the looks of this! Congrats bro!

 

[jayadev]

Wow...

At the moment it is no match in terms of performance for my Seicento, but given time it will be there.

Right now I have to sort some issues on the Panda. Having driven for just over 140kms from new it has shown some hesitation when driving off.

Such statements are like shock treatments to small time petrol heads like me.
will be glued to this thread.

 

[vamsuduk]

Will there be any chance that you'll post pics of interiors etc?

 

[drifter]

Re: One Goes – Another Comes: Fiat Panda 1.2 Active

Will there be any chance that you'll post pics of interiors etc?

I will do this inthe next couple of days. However, it might look a bit disappointing to you. I opted for the base version, which doesn't have blue and me etc. It doesn't even have aircon because I hate it (even in hot Ahmedabad and humid Mumbai).

Having been used to my very well set up Seicento, which was pretty much the best handling car I ever owned, i was really spoilt on handling. I expected the Panda a lot worse being on 155/80s, taller than the Seicento and heavier.

To my surprise, it was not as bad as I thought. It handles reasonably well.

The other surprise I had is that the revised engine is much nipper than I assumed. It sounds a lot rougher than most Fiat engines in these days, but then I personally would expect it from a Fiat in any case. At least it sounds like a car without me tuning it.

Not everything has turned out as expected. Somewhere something in the electrics is not quite right. The engine cuts ut for a moment when accelerating from standstill at about 20km, which is a bit annoying, but will be sorted next week.

Otherwise the first 200km were a lot of fun to drive. A few people who are looking down on the Panda, thinking that they have so much faster cars had a sour experience. Me being childish (despite my age) just left them behind.

Mre pictures and impressions will follow.

 

[drifter]

After a couple of weeks owning the car I am getting finally used to it.

It is not handling quite as well as the Seicento was. But this will be sorted in the near future. since the cutting out has not been sorted as yet, I have to hold back.

My first trip to the fuel bunk was a bit of a shock. Being used to get with my Seicento16 to 17kpl despite its state of tuning, I was a bit shocked when the fuel return was only 13.2kpl. Of course it would be a bit heavier on fuel when everything has to run in.

However, the claim is that fuel efficiency is between 15 and 25kpl depending on driving.

After filling it up with 97 octane petrol, which is near me virtually as expensive as 95 octane fuel anywhere else, the fuel consumption turned out to be at the next re-fueling to be 14.6kpl. A bit better, but still off the mark.

Knowing the limits of the car now much better I feel more comfortable to drive it harder around bends and it actually is fun. The engine is loosening up.

Well, I have to see how it goes in the next couple of weeks.

 

[nithin_v]

God !! 25kpl for a petrol engine. Is it twin air 900 cc motor

 

[drifter]

Re: One Goes – Another Comes: Fiat Panda 1.2 Active

God !! 25kpl for a petrol engine. Is it twin air 900 cc motor

No, it is the good old 1242 FIRE engine with a compression ratio of 11:1.

The twin air is under normal conditions not even 13kpl as it needs to be driven hard all the time.