Price as tested: €12,995
+ Funky, spacious interior, bigger boot, ride and handling
– Economy could be better, styling looks a touch bulbous
= Fiat’s small car now feels big, but in a good way
2012 is very definitely going to be the year of the small. Whatever the Mayans might have in for us, however much The Hunger Games tries to takeover and no matter what you may have heard about some tournament in Poland where overpaid future pub landlords kick an inflated pig’s bladder about, 2012 is the year of the small car.
Two of the most significant cars to be launched this year are both tiny, both cost around the €11,000 mark yet have the style and sophistication of much bigger vehicles and both are critical to the future of their makers.
The other one is the Volkswagen Up!, which we’ll be testing next week but first up is the new Fiat Panda, the replacement for Fiat’s much-loved tiddler which was launched way back in 2003.
Yet for a car that was knocking on for a full decade in production, the outgoing Panda was still feeling and looking rather fresh and rather lovely, a fact that makes the task before its replacement that much harder. Not only will that be to keep happy Panda buyers in the fold, entice new customers to the Fiat and Panda badges and generally be well received, reviewed and retailed, but like its progenitor, it has to shore up Fiat’s delicate finances. True, those finances are vastly more robust than they were when the 2003 Panda was launched, but nonetheless, this is a crucial new model for a car company that needs a big hit right now.
So you can forgive Fiat for playing it slightly safe with the exterior styling. While all the panels and the detailing is new, there is much here that is familiar from the old Panda. The three-window side view, the slightly boxy, unapologetically upright shape. It is less utilitarian than before, less overtly square, but while the front end (with a face that looks very similar to what’s coming on the new 500L MPV) looks nice and cute, around the back it looks a little puffed-up and botoxed.
Inside though, the news is all good. Fiat has attempted to coin a new word, the Squircle, to describe the squared-off circle motif (or is it a rounded square?) that dominates the interior design. From the main dials to the switchgear to the steering wheel centre to pretty much everything on view, all is squircled up to the max. It could have been irritating, but thanks to a rather funky, slightly seventies retro vibe, some solid build quality and some inherently sensible layout ideas, it all works. The seats, which once again are a touch perched up, are nonetheless comfy and there’s more elbow room than before, thanks to the Panda being slightly larger in every dimension than before. There’s useful oddment storage pretty much everywhere your hands fall, and there’s new-found room in the back seats, proper adult room., thanks to a longer 2,300mm wheelbase. Behind that, there’s now a decent boot, sized between 225 and 260-litres, depending on which version you buy.
And that extra space is significant. It moves the Panda ever so slightly above most of the competition, into the realms of the small family car, as opposed to the small urban runabout. I’m not saying it’s now wildly spacious, but a family of two adults and two kids will fit, with a little bit of squishing, and there’s still space in the boot for a decent sized trip to Tesco’s.
That sense of greater space and usability is reflected in the way the Panda drives. Now, that’s not to say that it feels all growed up, at least not in the sense that it’s still fun to chuck around and still revs eagerly like a small, enthusiastic Italian car should, but there is palpably better refinement on long motorway runs. Sidedrafts and the turbulent air around fast-moving lorries now bothers the Panda not a jot, yet it hasn’t lost its feeling of verve and agility around town. It still slices into and through urban gaps that would stymie a larger car and parking in typically restrictive and tight city multi-stories is a joy, not a chore.
Surprisingly, the 1.2-litre petrol engine, well, surprised us. We had been assuming that the motor of choice would be either the 875ccc turbo TwinAir (noisy but gutsy and bursting with character) or the much-admired (but quite expensive) 1.3 MultiJet diesel. The 1.2 FIRE (Fully Integrated Robotised Engine) can trace its roots all the way back to 1985, yet it is feeling better than ever in the new Panda. 69bhp and 102Nm of torque don’t sound like much, and a 14.2sec 0-100kmh time sounds positively tardy, but on the road, the 1.2 pushes the Panda along with decent conviction, good refinement and not-bad economy. We say not-bad, because an average of 7.2-litres per 100km on our test is just that; neither good nor bad, just about acceptable, even if well short of Fiat’s claimed 5.2-litres per 100km. In the Panda’s defence, much of our test mileage was motorway based, and had we kept to main roads and urban driving (even with the surprising absence of stop-start) it’s likely the economy figure would have been much better. The Co2 figure of 120g/km is just fine though, and keeps you in the lowest €160 tax band.
Prices for the Panda are similarly low. €11,995 gets you the basic Pop 1.2, while our mildly specced-up Easy would set you back €12,995. More expensive are the TwinAir and MultiJet models, but given that the 1.2 is so good, you might be able to safely ignore these. That basic price does make it more expensive than the cheapest new VW Up! but then the Up! is just a three-door for the moment.
It is just about impossible not to like the Panda. It carries with it a sense of charm and fun that has been almost eradicated from larger, more expensive cars. It’s enjoyable to drive, reasonably spacious and practical and, given that the touchy-feely quality was right on the money, seems impressively well built too. Make no mistake, in the year of the small, this one’s a biggie.
Facts & Figures
Fiat Panda 1.2 Easy
Price: €12,995
Range price: €11,995 to €15,545
Capacity: 1,242cc
Power: 69bhp
Torque: 102Nm
Top speed: 164kmh
0-100kmh: 14.2sec
Economy: 5.2-100km (54.3mpg)
CO2 emissions: 120g/km
Tax Band: A. €160 road tax
Euro NCAP rating: 4-stars; 82% adult, 63% child, 49% pedestrian, 43% safety assist
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