Fiat Panda 1.2 Eleganza Car Review

Facts At A Glance
Car: Fiat Panda 1.2-litre Eleganza
Prices: £8,621 - on the road
Insurance Group: 3
Emissions: 133g/km
Performance: 0-60mph 14.1s / Max Speed 96mph
Fuel Consumption: (combined) 50mpg
Safety: Driver and passenger airbags, ABS with EBD and brake assist
Dimensions: Length/Width/Height 3538/1790/1540mm

Little Elegant Monster

Our Rating: No Rating Available

Usually when people think about little, supermini city cars they instantly think stripped down and basic without much in the way of creature comforts, most of the time that assessment would be correct. Car makers usually make the tiniest citycars with nothing in them because they are often aimed at people in the lower income brackets or for people looking for a cheap third car used only for daily commutes.

Fiat on the other hand has released a citycar that breaks all the stereotypes citycars have suffered throughout the years. The Fiat Panda 1.2 Eleganza is such a good car that it needed to be named The European Car of the Year. Yup, the little monster snookered the bigger cars and took the prize. Technically the award went to the entire Panda line-up.

Maybe the award committee was just impressed that Fiat had the guts enough to release a citycar with a price tag of £9,000. That is a lot of cheddar for a tiny little machine, but when you start looking at the laundry list of upgrades you will see you can have your little car and enjoy it too.

First on the list of upgrades is the 1.2-litre engine under the hood the drives on 60bhp. Of course in normal cars 60bhp is nothing to brag about, but we are talking about the supermini class here. This engine has plenty of power to make the little Panda move very nicely in all city situations and even holds its own out on the motorway. Gasp, you can't take a 2-cylinder out on a motorway and survive. True, but the 1.2-litre in the Panda Eleganza is a 4-cylinder. Of course when going at higher speeds the engine does get a little loud, but the wind noise is relatively tame. Fiat is proud to pronounce that the interior of the car is the only one in its class that has lining on 99 percent of the cabin.

Moving down the list of upgrades you will find that Fiat has equipped the Panda Eleganza with some other features not found on your typical supermini. Some of these features include a trip computer, anti-lock brakes with electronic brakeforce distribution, twin front airbags, power steering, heated mirrors, allow wheels, body coloured bumpers, CD stereo, remote central locking, climate control, split/folding rear seats and longitudinal roof bars. See?told you it had some great things shoved into its tiny package.

Overall space is what you would expect for this range. The back seat can fit two adults, but there isn't much leg room and might prove to be uncomfortable in long trips. The luggage area is decent and gets better thanks to the Eleganza's split/fold rear seats.

Safety is a huge concern when driving such a little car and Fiat has made the Panda the first in its class that comes with six airbags as an option and two airbags as standard. Fiat has built the Panda with a body structure that will cushion an impact and then direct the energy away from the passenger compartment.

The Fiat 1.2-litre Eleganza is sure to tickle the fancy of someone looking for a citycar that feels like a German touring vehicle. That may be a little bit of a stretch, but considering the fact that there are many cars that cost three times this one that don't have half the features.