Funky Panda still ahead of the game
WHEN IT comes to small cars, Fiat has been ahead of the game for many years.
Its funky and stylish Panda has good looks and a practical shape that’s ideal for many families.
The latest model was introduced in 2012 and it has loads of personality together with easy driving and it’s just about the easiest car to park of any on the market.
There are just three, easy to understand trim levels – of which more later – and a choice of two petrol and one diesel engines.
Least powerful is the 1.2 petrol with 68bhp and, while it’s not the quickest out of the starting gate, it will reach well over 40mpg with careful driving.
The other petrol unit is the two-cylinder 850cc TwinAir turbo as used in the allconquering 500.
Here, it comes with 85bhp and that’s enough for a sprightly 0-62mph sprint of 11.2 seconds. It’s also capable of 50-55mpg on a run, which is a match for some diesels.
The Panda diesel has a quiet and refined 1.3 unit with 74bhp. Economy should be about 60mpg and the sprint takes about 12.7 seconds.
As I said above, all are beautifully easy to drive and thread through crowded streets, but they also have a supple ride at slow speeds, so that they take the potholes and speed bumps of town life delightfully in their stride. Road-holding and handling are also very good.
Tyre, wind and road noise are impressively suppressed too, which is unusual in any smaller car.
The Panda is very practical, with excellent headroom, good legroom in the front and a reasonable amount in the back, and a one-piece folding rear seat. Equipment is decent to generous across the range.
The three trim levels are Pop, Easy and Lounge, and all three are available with 1.2-litre petrol and 1.3-litre diesel engines.
But only Easy and Lounge are offered with the TwinAir engine.
Equipment in all models includes extra power city steering assist, central locking, electric front windows and CD stereo with MP3.
Pay about £3,300 for a ’14 14-reg 1.2 Pop, or £6,300 for a ’16 16-reg Twinair Lounge.