Rating
Quick Summary
Average. The Panda doesn't move the city car game forward like the VW Up does, but it's a spacious, quite cute way of knocking about the streets.
Road Test
This is only the third new Panda since the car was first introduced in 1980; there have been six Vauxhall Astras in the same period.
The second Panda may not have been broken - they're still selling ok - but the time has come for Fiat to fix it. For one thing, the city car game has been moved well and truly forward recently by a trio of cars from the VW Group: the Volkswagen Up, SEAT Mii and Skoda Citigo. Same car, different faces, all awesome.
Look at the pictures above and you'll notice that this Panda doesn't appear too different to the last one. It's a little fatter and rounder, but in real life it's a better looking, more grown-up city car than before, taking a tip or two from the Fiat 500.
The extra voluptuousness transfers into the cabin, and the new Panda is noticeably bigger than its predecessor. Again, the 500 has a part to play, especially in middle- and upper-spec versions (named Easy and Lounge respectively), which get dash-enhancing gloss black trim, as well as a swathe of brightly coloured plastic where in basic cars (Pop spec) it would be grey.
Extra space comes in two basic ways: the car is actually slightly longer, and the front seat backs are thinner. Add that to the Panda's tallness and this is a city car whose back half is relatively adult-friendly.
But up front it's a little less so, especially for the driver. The seat isn't height adjustable and is set too high, and the steering wheel doesn't move fore and aft for reach, leaving anyone of reasonable tallness with a stereotypically Italian 'long arm, short leg' driving position. And the pedals are too close together.
General comfort could be better, too. The ride quality, although improved over the last car, is still characteristic of a tall, narrow car. On any road surface less than glassy the Panda struggles to settle down, and its general sense of turbulence is exacerbated at speed.
Take it on a motorway and the wind, tyre and engine noise act like the irritating child constantly butting into the conversation.
That said, these things probably aren't going to be an issue for the average driver pootling around suburbia at low speed.
Three engines come at launch, including Fiat's quite wacky 84bhp TwinAir turbo two-cylinder engine, which buzzes like a hot rod food blender and feels strong from about 3,400rpm, but, strangely, feels on the edge of stalling at 2,000rpm. Much gear changing required.
The other petrol engine, a 68bhp 1.2-litre, feels asthmatic but is much quieter and a few hundred quid cheaper to buy, and so the one we'd buy. The 72.4mpg diesel's the one if bigger mileages are on the cards. It too is noisy yet strong, but minus the TwinAir's idiosyncratic character.
Fiat's dedication to making the Panda practical as possible is self-evident. It seems to have 967 cubbyholes, and the boot looks bigger than it should do for a car this small. It's only irritating that it costs more for a sliding rear bench (used to liberate boot space at the expense of rear legroom) and split folding seats.
There is something charming about the Panda, and it's certainly a step forward from its forebear. Sadly, the best city cars are a good two steps further afield. The VW Up is better value and the Kia Picanto better looking, making a German car easier on the wallet and a Korean more pleasing to look at - whoever thought we'd be saying that of a small Italian car?
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