Fiat Panda: Now with fluffy-bunny Euro 5 engines

Fiat Panda - now with cleaner Euro 5 engines

The Fiat Panda has now gone on sale in the UK with a new range of Euro 5 compliant engines. Which it has to; Fiat can no longer sell cars that don’t comply with the new Euro 5 regulations.

And although we have issues with legislating CO2 emissions, we positively support the ever-increasing restrictions on NOx and Particulate Matter. This is the stuff that actually matters, and Euro 5 toughens-up the limits.

The aim is for diesel cars to catch-up with the emissions petrol cars manage, although we’d prefer to see this done more quickly. That said, Euro 5 cuts the permitted levels of PM in diesels by 80% – which is great – and NOx by 28% – not so great, but a step in the right direction.

Quick background outline over, what of the new Euro 5 engines in the Fiat Panda?

The entry-level 1.1 litre petrol engine gets replaced by a new 1.2 litre Euro 5 lump. This engine has 69bhp and manages to punt the Panda to 60mph in a not too scintillating 13.4 seconds. But it does manage 57.6 mpg, even if its CO2 levels (113g/km) don’t manage to eliminate VED.

On the oil-burning front the 1.3 MultiJet gets cleaner and delivers the same sort of performance as the 1.2 litre petrol (0-62mph in 13.1 seconds), but it does use less fuel – 67.3 mph average – and its CO2 figure is a tiny bit better at 109g/km.

Bottom-end Pandas get electric front windows, painted bumpers, power steering and a couple of air bags. Move up a notch to MyLife and you can add alloys and remote locking and hit Dynamic and you can bask in painted mirrors, AirCon, pearlescent paint, fogs and an MP3 player.

Prices currently kick off for the Fiat Panda at an incredibly reasonable £6,645, although that’s a limited offer with the regular price a still reasonable £8,445.

And the Panda’s a much better City Car than any electric car you can think of.

By Cars UK