Fiat Panda TwinAir

Economy?

I wonder how good the economy will be when it isn’t being thrashed to do 0-60 times and being driven by maniacs. It is quite usual for road test cars to end up in ditches, so manic and irresponsible are the press journalists driving them. So, considering that, 38mpg is pretty good.
It appears to be better than the very dull and underpowered VW Up, obviously, and it is a fun drive, like all Fiats. The journos are trying very hard to contain their enthusiasm for fear, I guess, of what the paymasters at VW might say.

By Alexan14 on 19 December, 2011, 7:21pm

Italian build quality should I be worry?

First, what's with the 'focus' on quality hyperlink linking to some article about the Ford Focus, AE I suggest you focus a bit harder on the editorial.


Second, the current Panda model is built in Poland and considered by many as the most reliable Fiat ever, any one I know who owns a Panda praise the reliability of this little motor and many drives them for over eight years without any issue. They really are well screwed cars for very little money.

Now the moving production to recession hit Italy and I bet you in five years we will be here comparing the relability and say ... oh the old ones were better (see VW Diesel PD, Nissan Almera et-al).

By OyVey on 19 December, 2011, 8:27pm

VW up (without the !) is:

Smaller.

Cheapish inside (metal on the doors, same layout as in the old fox, really simple, piece of shit center iphone style chinese plastics).

Motor that is small and always slow (slower than its rivals in recent tests).

Unkitted, almost at the price of the polo with decent kit.

Looks like a lego, feels like a lego inside (again).

Built in mexico. How is that for "premium" badge?

To even put it in the same sentence as the more stylish, better built, better teched mechanically, cheaper and made in the EU panda is ...

By giorikas81 on 20 December, 2011, 7:40am

Knock the VW up all you want, it'll still sell like hot cake & hold a great residual valve due to that little badge at the front!

By brucem on 20 December, 2011, 7:52am

philpullen@msn.com

the coment above sums it up ....the badge sells...uk buyers will look at a badge...the rest europe will look at the car...and then make a decision...dont that prove how the british public are so naive ..VW dont build the Upi in Germany but the badge says it does

By bluequake on 20 December, 2011, 9:16am

Looks Chubby!

Styling cues including the badge look less sharp than earlier models. Maybe chubbiness was the aim with growth over last edition.

As for 38mpg - petrol cars have been driven by journos for as long as they have been available and not many have ended in ditches! Compare this to petrol cars 10 or even 40 years ago and there is little improvement because cars weigh a lot more now and have larger frontal area hence drag. My 1969 Fulvia will do 35+mpg, the MR2 Mk1 did 38mpg but 11 year old diesel A2 1.2 TDI achieved over 103mpg on 28 mile commute in rush hour traffic! After 100,000 miles petrol cars tend to get worse mpg as petrol is a cutting fluid increasing engine wear.

By ecoangel on 20 December, 2011, 10:18am

@OyVey

Thanks for your comment. The 'focus' link was automatically generated by our Content Management System - we know about the issue and are working on a better solution. In the meantime, we've removed it from this review.

Thanks again,
Auto Express

By Rhian on 20 December, 2011, 11:05am

Fantastic little monster.

Agreeing with the VW pay journos comments here! Well one thing, I am not sure if anyone has noticed on UP! is the way headrests and seat-back are joined in one. That screams cost cutting to me but still that silly VW box manages 5 stars than this fully grown, well-kitted purposeful little monster. Frankly that is beyond my comprehension. As someone has rightly pointed out - should we blame VW for buying our journalists and making them say what they want? Will leave on people to decide.....
Fiat Panda - *****

By ambs123 on 20 December, 2011, 11:07am

TwinAir economy

My wife's got the TwinAir 500. It's a great engine and the car has more power than the 1200 4-cylinder, but she'd get 55+ from the 1200 and is lucky to get more than 44 to the gallon from the TwinAir, even when driving carefully for economy. Even the Fiat dealers will tell you not to buy the TwinAir and hope to get good economy. The difference between the claimed 72mpg and the actual 44 is so great that it has to beg the question how on earth Fiat can support its fuel consumption claim. We all know that the 'official' figures are obtained on a carefully specified test but few are quite so unrepresentative as this, and if the consumption is up then the emissions will be up too. The engine is great, and probably the car is too - my wife loves her new 500 which has a number of subtle improvements over the older 1200 - and although 38-44 mpg isn't bad, the fuel economy is nowhere close to that claimed.

By William_M_Cox on 20 December, 2011, 12:00pm

macsmeagol

I have two points to make:
That really is a silly comment about cars not being as good if they're made by Italian workers. Your average German car is just as likely to be assembled by migrants from Turkey to Africa or Mexico.Nobody complains. My second point is that it really does seem to be true that motoring journalists skew their judgement in favour of VW or any other German make for that matter - stick a VW badge on the Panda and different words would come pouring out of them. I've always driven Italian cars with no issues, (love my Giulietta) so this seems personal!!

By macsmeagol on 20 December, 2011, 5:20pm

Leggi scemo

Italians can & do make thinks better than anyone else on this stupid planet. Italian cars have been copied by Japs, Frogs, Kartofen & poms throughout. I feel sorry for FIAT/ALFA ROMEO
it's like making smart suits for Zombies. I've had a long experience in cars & I'll buy ONLY Italian cars.
Ciao Belli!

By mariemuse on 20 December, 2011, 5:46pm

Diesel miles better

44mpg is pretty poor for such a small car. Quite a significant reason for buying one of these has to be the fuel consumption, so I can't see that the TwinAir makes any real sense when there's a great diesel model to buy. And one of the reasons that diesel engines last longer than petrol ones is that you don't have to rev them to the same extent to get them going, so there is less wear on the moving parts. Most diesels you can keep within a band of 1,000 to 2,500 revs pretty much all the time which is bound to result in less wear and hence longer life!

By ncollingridge on 22 December, 2011, 9:58am

no match for the up!

The Up! 5 door will have a bigger boot, is more economical, safer at the NCAP and more comfortable and better finished. It is also roomier with the back seats down, has better brakes and performance is more or less the same. The Seat might even be cheaper with the same equipment

By Ritsaart on 24 December, 2011, 9:58pm

FIAT PANDA *****

everyone who truly understands cars on this planet completely agree that the new fiat panda is the best car in its class. infact, not only is it the best car in its class, its the best by a country mile! with its fun torquey little engines, 5 doors, great practicality all round, price and has FUN built in for free! anyone who buys the VW UP over the panda clearly only cares about what people think about the badge on the front of their car. im so dissappointed that the new fiat panda has not got the 5 star rating it deserves. AE grow a set of you know what and tell the world what you really think and not what VW want you to say

By gio123 on 24 December, 2011, 10:01pm

why being so stubborn?

Why are people always trying to keep things as they once were? It is so obvious that the new Up! is the better car. Just read the NCAP test and see the difference in safety. That only shows the difference in quality already quite clearly. The twinair engine of the Fiat is very uneconomical; it is a pity but in reality it appeared to be very thirsty in all tests I have red. The Up! is so obvious the new benchmark!

By Ritsaart on 25 December, 2011, 3:16pm

Fuel economy

Everyone here in Italy knows small Fiat petrol engines are anything but economical. My wife's 1.2 60hp Panda returns about 42 mpg around town, which is much less than my Golf 1.9 tdi. The 2-pot twin air is notoriously expensive to run. But most people here still opt for the newer 69hp 1.2 petrol as the 1.3 diesel purchase price is just too high.

By Roger1709 on 26 December, 2011, 1:38pm

Again, people are commenting about machinery they have not seen, yet alone driven!

By aeolus on 26 December, 2011, 4:56pm

@Roger1709 & @ Ritsaart

I had a Golf and it was much less economical than my current Punto which is twenty times better in every way! Speak for yourself idiot, I bet you don't even live in Italy. If you look above 'at a glance' this car has an mpg of 72!!
The Fiat Panda is the benchmark for the city car segment always has been since 1980! The VW just doesn't have the flair or charisma, fiqures aren't enough! Fiat are masters for small cars. In the Brazil Market Fiat outsells VW. Btw, you say 'thirsty in all test Ive read' well, that's because the motoring hacks thrash them in tests! This doesn't reflect reality. The new Panda has the bonus of four doors, the Up only has two. Fiat wins!

By Kevin1982 on 27 December, 2011, 10:20pm

@Kevin 1982

The Up! comes with 4 doors soon and it not only according to the figures but also according to the test drivers the better car. Times change Kevin!

By Ritsaart on 28 December, 2011, 2:10pm

@Ritsaart

Yeah true, but fact is the Up! Will always be a VW, and for a lot of us that's a huge reason to buy something else, give me this Fiat, or a Suzuki Swift anyday.

By JFalck on 31 December, 2011, 9:02am

@JFalck

It is always difficult to discuss with people who do not give grounds for their opinions if they have any. Why should one be against VW products. VW is an example of a succesfull company that creates wealth for millions of people. Their own workers total 500.000. You should be happy with such a company in Europe in these difficult times.

By Ritsaart on 31 December, 2011, 1:53pm

Oh VW's are such great cars,...NOT

Yes Macsmeagol, Gio and Mariemuse.
You were spot on.
The FIAT bashing will probably never stop in certain quarters.

But why bother, those critics or rather FIAT bashers are still living in the dark ages of motoring.

By takata on 1 January, 2012, 1:26pm

takata

I am not a Fiat basher. Fiat made very good cars like the 127,128,124,125, but during the last decade they have lost a clear view on automobiles as they should be. I hope Chrysler can help them to find their way back to succes.

By Ritsaart on 1 January, 2012, 5:16pm

Real world MPG

are always lower than government test numbers. Still, 38 is about what owners of 1.4L 500's are reporting here in the States. That is with no stop start. The twin air must have to work a lot harder.

By ducatinova on 3 January, 2012, 8:41am