The bear facts on the new Panda

It’s not as cute and street-cred-laden as the now-ubiquitous new Fiat 500s that can be seen at pretty much any given London intersection, but the Fiat Panda offers great small car performance at a more affordable price. As such, Fiat will use the Frankfurt Motor Show to unveil the newest model.

Set to go on sale in the UK next spring, the Panda continues its tradition of being functional and easy to drive. It is a few centimetres longer to allow for more passenger and luggage space while still being well and truly part of the A-segment at less than four metres in length.

This is the third generation Panda and it features a flexible interior for more passenger/luggage configurations, better construction quality and an improved exterior with more rounded, softer shapes so it’s not as boxy as past models.

Like the funkier 500, TwinAir technology comes to the Panda with consumers having the choice of the 85bhp TwinAir Turbo or the brand new 65bhp naturally aspirated TwinAir. There is also a 69bhp, 1.2-litre petrol engine and a 75bhp 1.3-litre turbodiesel. All engines are fitted with a stop-start function as standard as well as a Gearshift indicator to help drivers change gear with maximum efficiency.

On the safety side, the new Panda has four airbags, anti-lock braking with a brake-assist system, pre-tensioners on the front seatbelts, Isofix attachments for child safety seats, anti-whiplash front head restraints, rear headrests and daytime running lights all as standard.

The usual multimedia kit is becoming standard on pretty much all cars across all segments now and the new Panda is no exception with a system that is compatible with TomTom LIVE and the ability to allow drivers to use phones and media players hands-free.

At Frankfurt, a front-wheel drive version will be on show but a four-wheel drive Panda is also being planned by Fiat.














By Georgia Lewis

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