From £8,896
Welcome to fun like it used to be - simple pleasure that doesn't come from masses of power. And you don't need masses of cash to buy one, either - the 100HP is under £10k.

What is it?

It’s the new Fiat Panda 100hp, and there aren’t enough cars like it in the world. At risk of sounding like a miserable old duffer, mainstream cars are typically nowhere near as much fun as they used to be. That they’re stronger, safer and more refined is beyond question. It’s just that they’ve lost much of their excitement along the way. So the arrival of the Panda 100hp is rather refreshing, because it’s a wee bundle of fun.

What’s it like?

Great to look at, we think. The wheels are where they should be, right bang in the corners; the body skirts and wheelarches are flared just-so; the cheeky wee chrome tailpipe, false diffuser and (real) rear spoiler are jolly without being oversized.

And the same goes for the alloys. Fifteen-inch wheels are small by today’s standards – even Corsas come with nothing diddier – but here they add just the right poise; helped no end by a 25mm suspension drop. It’s not aggressive – this is a Fiat Panda, after all, so it’s more Pirates of the Caribbean than Apocalypse Now. The autofication of swashbuckling nonsense.

With the ride height reduction comes 25 per cent stiffer springs and dampers and a thicker front roll bar (there isn’t a rear one). The bump stops are polymer rather than rubber and come into play sooner. Rear disc brakes are from the Panda 4x4, ventilated front discs come from the new Punto, as does the engine. The 1.4-litre FIRE unit here develops 99bhp (100PS), up by 5bhp over its Punto application.

The interior is rather more standard. Front seats are well bolstered, but although Fiat claims the grey trim looks sportier than usual and the steering wheel’s leather-clad, it’s the gearknob’s six indicated speeds and the discreet Sport button (of which more later) that are the only obvious indications this is anything other than a regular Fiat Panda. Which, actually, makes it reminiscently like a junior hot-hatch of old: fun comes from driving, not from velour headlining.

And, to a point, that’s what this car is about. The Panda 100hp is a genuinely lively car to punt along. All of its major controls are light and the ride’s just the right side of acceptable. True, it’s a little jittery on bad roads and, because of its compact size, speed bumps tend to unsettle both front and rear at the same time, but they’re small prices to pay to get a car that’s so willing to change direction.

The Panda 100hp is enthusiastic and eager; it ducks into turns with less roll than you’d expect and the front tyres, 195/45 GoodYear Eagles, hang on gamely. When it’s wet, as it was for most of our test, even the Panda’s modes 99bhp will make them scrabble out of second gear corners, but grip levels are generally very high. Stay neutral on the throttle and eventually the Panda will understeer and, though there’s limited throttle adjustability, there’s also ESP too and it can’t be switched off, so this is a car you steer with the wheel, rather than using deft footwork to tighten a line.

Which brings us neatly to this car’s biggest downside. The Panda’s electrically assisted power steering is short on feel and the level of assistance is variable, so it lacks proper, linear response. The Sport button I mentioned earlier does what it can to help here. It’s the antithesis of the regular Panda’s City button, so instead of providing lighter, more manageable steering, it lessens assistance by 20 per cent. Which is about 80 per cent too little, in truth, but it’s welcome to the extent that you’d probably just leave it on. It also sharpens throttle response below 3000rpm, but not by a great deal. And given the engine revs to 7000rpm, you’ll hardly notice if you’re driving enthusiastically.

Back to top

Fiat’s figures say the Panda will reach 62mph from rest in 9.5 sec and go on to 115mph, both of which sound ambitious to me. Our test car revved towards the red line with less enthusiasm than I’d expected, but then, it had only covered 1500 miles, so might loosen into the junior hot-hatch the claims suggest it is. The gearbox gets the best from it. The shift is sweet; short of throw and accurate of shift.

Should I buy one?

There are plenty of reasons to. And if it hasn’t already made a decent case for itself, consider that it comes very well equipped (electric windows, air-con, CD player), returns 40-plus mpg, is insurance group five and costs £9995. Sounds like a winner to us.

Matt Prior

Matt Prior
Title: Editor-at-large

Matt is Autocar’s lead features writer and presenter, is the main face of Autocar’s YouTube channel, presents the My Week In Cars podcast and has written his weekly column, Tester’s Notes, since 2013.

Matt is an automotive engineer who has been writing and talking about cars since 1997. He joined Autocar in 2005 as deputy road test editor, prior to which he was road test editor and world rally editor for Channel 4’s automotive website, 4Car. 

Into all things engineering and automotive from any era, Matt is as comfortable regularly contributing to sibling titles Move Electric and Classic & Sports Car as he is writing for Autocar. He has a racing licence, and some malfunctioning classic cars and motorbikes. 

Join the debate

Comments
9
Add a comment…
MafoireMarc 24 May 2021

It's so funny when you take the time to look back in the past to get some good memories about ur old cars. This one was my first one and even if its not a great car, she dit a great job mooving around with me ! I will never forget you little Panda !

tannedbaldhead 27 September 2011

Re: Fiat Panda 100HP

Fidji wrote:
I do hope that the upcoming Panda sticks to these principles

FIAT are boasting the new Panda will be a more "grown up" experience. If anyone wants a "grown up" small FIAT they can buy a Punto.

I regularly drive Pandas and like them a lot and as you said greatly appreciate its

Fidji wrote:
rock bottom prices, pure simplicity and rugged reliability

tannedbaldhead 27 September 2011

Re: Fiat Panda 100HP

Fidji wrote:

The new Panda is set to have the TwinAir unit slotted under the hood. Should be interesting...

The new Panda will be much improved no doubt. As far as drivers who enjoy driving are concerned though it will be a pale shadow of the current Panda in the same way the current BMW 330i is a pale shadow of the E36 328i I drove back in 1997.