Getting a Fiat Panda as a rental car would not usually be considered particularly exciting, but I found it interesting because I drive a Ford Ka (outgoing model), and have often thought that maybe I would have been better with a Panda. (Academic question, because the Panda came out some months after I bought the Ka.) Anyway, here?s my ?Ka driver tries out Panda? thoughts.
Space. Not a lot of difference really, though the front seats on a Panda will slide quite a long way back, so it is good for tall drivers. It also has quite a high ceiling. I checked to see if it had the optional sliding rear seat, but it didn?t, which meant that the back seats had to be folded down for the boot to accommodate our cases.
Comfort. Again, not a lot in it. There was a foot rest beside the clutch, which is a big advantage over the Ka for long journeys (the Ka footwell is really too small), but I thought that if anything, the seat itself was marginally less comfortable. There was a seat height adjustment (for driver but not passenger), but it didn?t raise and lower the whole seat, just the back - i.e. it changed the angle of the base.
Dashboard. Miles better than the Ka. In my opinion, the Ka?s dashboard was a hopeless design - it was trying hard to be stylish and trendy, but was not very functional. The Panda dashboard has flat surfaces on which to put things, a decent glove-box, a rev-counter (something that a basic Ka didn?t have), a digital clock (I never liked the Ka?s analogue clock). Everything is nice and simple and functional.
Driving experience. Not that different from the Ka. Everything just worked nicely, once I got used to the dash-mounted gearstick. Steering and handling almost as good as the Ka, ride and refinement a little better. Engine fine while on the flat and on gentle hills, but struggled on some of the steeper slopes (see below). I don?t know for certain, but I have a feeling that the Ka would have struggled less going up some of the hills. But overall, a very pleasant and easy car to drive.
Other comments. The car could only be locked and unlocked from the driver?s door - central (but not remote) locking - and there was no keyhole in the passenger door, something I don?t recall seeing before.
My wife commented that because one sits higher up, one?s head is closer to the ceiling, so one cannot see the mountain scenery as well as one could with the Ka. Similarly, because it is a 5 door, rather than a 3 door, the B pillars are further forward, obstructing side vision a bit. Overall, visibility was probably about the same as with a Ka.
Driving in Austria.
In my opinion, speed limits tended to change rather frequently, and the changes sometimes seemed arbitrary. Going into villages with a 50 kmph limit, there was often simply a sign to tell you that the 80 kmph limit no longer applied, rather than a sign to tell you that it was now 50.
Interestingly enough, Jörg Haider had just died in a motoring accident before I arrived. He was, apparently, driving at 140 kmph in a 70 zone, and was well over the alcohol limit. He was driving a top of the range VW Phaeton, and I am told that some Austrians were speculating that such a vehicle was so strong and safe that he couldn?t have died unless there was some sort of foul play. Hmmmm.
The mix of cars on the road was not dissimilar to that in the UK, though there were more German cars, and it seemed, fewer Hondas and Toyotas and French cars. (And Rovers!) An unusual sight was two Porsche Cayennes driving past each other in Kitzbuhel.
A friend told me that because of rules about the disposal of used engine oil in Austria, it was virtually impossible for an ordinary bloke to change his own oil - it really has to be done by a professional.
And yes, I drove the Grossglockner road (Großglockner Hochalpenstraße) which was great. I did, however, feel that a Fiat Panda with a 1.2 engine was not the ideal vehicle for doing it - spending rather too much time dropping down into 2nd gear when going up hills. (I see NC had a similar experience! www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?v=e&t=34...7 ) It was surprisingly free of traffic for a sunny Saturday afternoon, which added considerably to the enjoyment of the drive. (Perhaps we have the 28 euro toll to thank for that!) I was later told that, on average, there are only 8 cloudless days a year on the road, so I count myself very fortunate.
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