[rpiereck]

I'd buy a Jeep Panda or whatever they will call it. It would be a great daily driver. My Subaru Forester does 27 mpg with a 2.5 engine, imagine what a Panda does with a smaller engine? In the UK they sell it with a 1.2 gas engine. The UK 1.3 diesel version does 53 mpg. That's better than a frigging Prius, which feels like a kitchen appliance and is a bore to drive. If the rebadged Jeep Panda is : 1. fun to drive, 2. inexpensive to buy, and 3. frugal to fuel up, the why not? I doubt an engine that small might grace our shores, but a larger 1.6 or 1.8 might be plausible.

http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/News/Search-Results/Industry-News/Fiat-Panda-Cross-comes-to-the-UK/

[molshove]

Originally Posted by RUNIT

not to argue, but this is the "Future Models...Discussion"/ "Fiat Panda" thread.

Yes, and seersucker is a fabric...so what is your point? I simply stated that I could care less to continue to talk about FIAT producing vehicles that share nothing with the longstanding Jeep heritage...I never said that you couldn't waste your time. While you're at it, you should toot the Prius horn, wow what a cool vehicle, or the Chevy Aveo, Pontiac G3, Smart Fortwo, Volvo C30, TaTa Nano, to name a few embarrasements

[molshove]

Originally Posted by rpiereck

I'd buy a Jeep Panda or whatever they will call it. It would be a great daily driver. My Subaru Forester does 27 mpg with a 2.5 engine, imagine what a Panda does with a smaller engine? In the UK they sell it with a 1.2 gas engine. The UK 1.3 diesel version does 53 mpg. That's better than a frigging Prius, which feels like a kitchen appliance and is a bore to drive. If the rebadged Jeep Panda is : 1. fun to drive, 2. inexpensive to buy, and 3. frugal to fuel up, the why not? I doubt an engine that small might grace our shores, but a larger 1.6 or 1.8 might be plausible.

http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/News/Search-Results/Industry-News/Fiat-Panda-Cross-comes-to-the-UK/

The concept is good, but 90% of these sub 2.0L 3- and 4-cylinders are so unbelievably underpowered, with the exception of maybe the Pontiac Vibe and its sister the Toyota Matrix, they do not belong on US highways. You're right, they do very well in the UK and further east into Europe and Asia where the roads are not inundated with vehicles that have a GVWR in excess of 5,000 lbs. They are underpowered death traps here...IMO

And there are already cars here, American Made, that do 10MPG better than your Subaru, the Pontiac G5 and Chevy Cobalt XFE with a 2.4L engine do 37MPG (and this is even under the new, as of 2008, more conservative fuel economy ratings)

[GasAxe]

Originally Posted by molshove

The concept is good, but 90% of these sub 2.0L 3- and 4-cylinders are so unbelievably underpowered, with the exception of maybe the Pontiac Vibe and its sister the Toyota Matrix, they do not belong on US highways. You're right, they do very well in the UK and further east into Europe and Asia where the roads are not inundated with vehicles that have a GVWR in excess of 5,000 lbs. They are underpowered death traps here...IMO

And there are already cars here, American Made, that do 10MPG better than your Subaru, the Pontiac G5 and Chevy Cobalt XFE with a 2.4L engine do 37MPG (and this is even under the new, as of 2008, more conservative fuel economy ratings)

I agree with your assessment of micro cars and how they probably won't catch on in the US like in europe. Your comparison of gas mileage between an all wheel drive crossover SUV to a front wheel drive sedan is a head scratcher though. A Ford Escape is just under the Foresters MPG while the Jeep Patriot is actually better. But let's face it, the Forester is a better vehicle in many ways to the Patriot and gets better MPGs than similar Ford or Chevy CUV's.

[polished_heckle]

[YT]fAg4DdXAp7Y[/YT]

[polished_heckle]

it's all in the driver, not the vehicle.

[YT]qeZ_zLraxQU[/YT]

[polished_heckle]

[YT]Q__alE2HIEs[/YT]

[slow2run]

I thank the list price for this panda is $10,500.00

[molshove]

Originally Posted by GasAxe

I agree with your assessment of micro cars and how they probably won't catch on in the US like in europe. Your comparison of gas mileage between an all wheel drive crossover SUV to a front wheel drive sedan is a head scratcher though. A Ford Escape is just under the Foresters MPG while the Jeep Patriot is actually better. But let's face it, the Forester is a better vehicle in many ways to the Patriot and gets better MPGs than similar Ford or Chevy CUV's.

Yeah now that I read back on that, you make a good point, didn't make much sense

[winkosmosis]

Top Gear likes the Panda
http://www.topgear.com/uk/fiat/panda

[rpiereck]

Originally Posted by molshove

And there are already cars here, American
Made, that do 10MPG better than your Subaru, the Pontiac G5 and Chevy Cobalt XFE with a 2.4L engine do 37MPG (and this is even under the new, as of 2008, more conservative fuel economy ratings)

Apples to oranges. Those are front wheel drive sedans, I would never consider any of those as a substitute for a Forester. I'd be hard pressed to see any of these cars carry 800 lbs of stuff while doing 60 mph on the ALCAN, eating potholes for dinner like I did with the Forester. For a place like Alaska the Forester is perfect, there's plenty of carrying capacity, tons of traction and ground clearance (almost 9 inches). The cars you mentioned are unacceptable for me, they wouldn't make it up my street for half of the year. One American car that comes close is a Ford Taurus X with all wheel drive, but it is too big, too heavy, too expensive, the gas mileage compares with a Forester XT without being as fast. And I liked it better when it was called Ford Freestyle.

[molshove]

Originally Posted by rpiereck

Apples to oranges. Those are front wheel drive sedans, I would never consider any of those as a substitute for a Forester. I'd be hard pressed to see any of these cars carry 800 lbs of stuff while doing 60 mph on the ALCAN, eating potholes for dinner like I did with the Forester. For a place like Alaska the Forester is perfect, there's plenty of carrying capacity, tons of traction and ground clearance (almost 9 inches). The cars you mentioned are unacceptable for me, they wouldn't make it up my street for half of the year. One American car that comes close is a Ford Taurus X with all wheel drive, but it is too big, too heavy, too expensive, the gas mileage compares with a Forester XT without being as fast. And I liked it better when it was called Ford Freestyle.

Thanks, look up a few posts and you'll see I have already had my a** chewed on for that one....for good reason haha. I am happy enough with my Jeep and my G8 (who needs 60 mph with 800 lbs of stuff when you can have 150mph with just me?? although try and take my RWD G8 anywhere other than the paved road and I'm done...which is where my yj comes in!!)

[rpiereck]

Originally Posted by molshove

Thanks, look up a few posts and you'll see I have already had my a** chewed on for that one....for good reason haha. I am happy enough with my Jeep and my G8 (who needs 60 mph with 800 lbs of stuff when you can have 150mph with just me?? although try and take my RWD G8 anywhere other than the paved road and I'm done...which is where my yj comes in!!)

Yep, well, people buy a car that fits their needs, or to just look cool (Hummer owners ). I live on the top of a 1/4 mile long steep unpaved hill. From October to April it's snow and ice, and doesn't get plowed too often. I have a neighbor who drives a Kia Sephia and there was one week that we had almost 2 feet of snow that I had to tow him home with the Subaru, his Kia wouldn't make it up the hill, even with winter tires. I think the G8 is a great high performance sedan, one of the best that Pontiac came up with recently. Since they're killing Pontiac they should re-badge that as Impala SS or some other Chevy legacy sports sedan name. But that's another story and this thread is about Jeeps...

[Deacon]

Originally Posted by molshove

Yes, and seersucker is a fabric...so what is your point? I simply stated that I could care less to continue to talk about FIAT producing vehicles that share nothing with the longstanding Jeep heritage...I never said that you couldn't waste your time.

The point is that that's what this thread is about, so if you don't want to participate, no problem, just go away.

[jerryjeeper]

If you read the original article all the way, including the comments, you will see that the Jeep/Panda is one man's fantasy and imagination gone wild. I would hope that a Jeep will once again be a Jeep and not just a nameplate on some other product. That seems like Automotive prostitution to me.