"glemon" (glemon)
06/01/2019 at 17:06 • Filed to: None
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"glemon" (glemon)
06/01/2019 at 17:06 • Filed to: None | 0
| 6 |
U I I don’t have a lot of pictures today, I have a couple, I do have some observations. What a different car world. Part of the difference is economic, gas is much more expensive, and wages a little less plentiful, but a large part of the difference between cars in Italy and the US is geography.
Here is our little rental Panda, an average sized car here, smaller than my wife’s Fit, a subcompact in the states. But parking is at a premium everywhere, roads date back to Roman times and in hilly areas many have a lane and a half or less for a Panda sized car. Turns are tight and narrow, and gas is 3x as much. So small cars make sense here.
I have been by a couple high end resorts that are filled with BMW, Audi’s, and some mid size looking SUVs and crossovers, but maxi size to trucks and SUVs, Tahoes and F150s, would just not work here. I have seen about three Japanese mid size trucks in the week I have been here. The old VW bus I posted a couple days ago looked huge next to the regular traffic. Not sure where I am going with this, other than it is quite a different car world in Italy.
Sorr y didn’t get a chance to take too many pics, here is a decrepit Renault 5. I haven’t seen one of these in the states for 30 years or so.
RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
> glemon
06/01/2019 at 18:12 |
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Thoughts on the Panda? I would love one here in Canada, it’s the size of car I like but large enough to still be very practical. :)
Svend
> glemon
06/01/2019 at 19:22 |
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It’s a mixture of things you’ve hit on such as fuel prices and narrow roads and scarce parking spaces but also practicality in that we buy as big as we need and as small as we can get away with.
Car culture it quite different this side of the pond, your side maybe size of vehicle, ours is more prestige in that many aspire to more luxurious vehicles.
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glemon
> RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
06/02/2019 at 01:23 |
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I don’t have a lot to compare it to, and most of my driving has been in heavy traffic and narrow streets with lots of pedestrians, so I certainly haven’t had a chance to explore the limits of performance, so here goes.
The comparable cars I have driven are slightly larger, but still in the same ballpark, a Nissan Versa rental, and a daily driven Honda Fit. Anyway the Panda is fun to drive in a slow little car way, light, gearbox feels direct and mechanical, engine does not produce much power and must be wrung out to make things go, frequent downshifts on steep hills.
I am six feet and fit fine in the front, and fit in the back, but no room to stretch back there. Our fit feels more refined, better handling, the Panda you can kind of hear and feel all the mechanical things going on. That is not necessarily bad, just different.
The Versa felt like a little penalty box in comparison to both cars.
duurtlang
> glemon
06/02/2019 at 04:07 |
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For some added perspective; go to the Italian websites of both Fiat and Honda and compare the prices of the Panda and the Fit (Jazz, in Europe). I used the British websites of both manufacturers, and the base Honda is a whopping 50% more expensive than the base Panda.
To be fair though, the Honda is a subcompact while the Panda is segment smaller. It's just very efficiently packaged.
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RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
> glemon
06/02/2019 at 13:05 |
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I like things with a mechanical feel....sounds decent, not amazing, but decent. :)
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glemon
> RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
06/02/2019 at 17:13 |
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I drove it on the highway today, feels very stable, not a lot of passing power, but solid and competent at speed, rental with about 40,000 kilometers on it.