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Fiat Panda hatchback retains ‘simple is best’ formula
What the motoring press is saying about the all new Fiat Panda
Price: £6,940 - £9,820
Pros: Well designed interior, fun to drive, cheap to buy
Cons: Interior feels basic on entry level models, limited rear legroom, engines feel gutless on motorways
Car Buyer, 3.6/5
Larger and more spacious, the latest Panda features more rounded styling than its predecessor and is designed to be the most practical and versatile version yet. Offered with a fantastic choice of petrol and diesel engines in either two, three or four-cylinder layout, the Panda is highly economical and offers great no-frills transport.
The cabin is stylish and reasonably well made and although rear passengers get slightly less legroom than in the Volkswagen up! or Kia Picanto unique features such as the folding front seat do make up for it. The Panda is also great fun to drive around town and if you opt for one of the twin-cylinder TwinAir models, owners are exempt from paying Road Tax.
Auto Express, 4.0/5
On the plus side the new Panda is a good cruiser, and on winding roads it's great fun to drive. In fact, it's more engaging than its key rival, Volkswagen's three-door up!, thanks to accurate steering and a responsive throttle. It also rides bumps smoothly and stiffer anti-roll bars mean it won’t roll and wallow through corners, even when loaded up.
Top Gear
Fiat brings the unique Twinair engine to bear again here. It pulls like a bubbly little locomotive, and in the lower gears out-performs the ability of those little tyres to apply all the surge. In fifth, no other tiny car has this sort of effortless motorway fast-line smarts. If you drive it like that the economy won’t be special, but if you go gently you can stretch fuel. And the notional economy potential is what gets it its low-tax 99g/km CO2 rating.
MSN Cars, 4.0/5
In practice the Panda is indeed comfortable. Even over some genuinely terrible road surfaces it never actually became jarring, and while it certainly woggled around quite a bit it remained controlled and generally engaging. ·
