Discussion
Morning all.
Having seen the recent lovely weather - I was thinking of an alternative snow mobile, and although I am very tempted by a very a nice old 2CV with snow tyres, I think it's classic charms maybe a bridge too far!!!
So instead thoughts turned to a Panda 4x4, and once this winter is over I will be looking for one - any opinions reviews thoughts or experiences of the lovely Panda 4x4 Cross?
(And why can't I find an Orange one?!!)
Having seen the recent lovely weather - I was thinking of an alternative snow mobile, and although I am very tempted by a very a nice old 2CV with snow tyres, I think it's classic charms maybe a bridge too far!!!
So instead thoughts turned to a Panda 4x4, and once this winter is over I will be looking for one - any opinions reviews thoughts or experiences of the lovely Panda 4x4 Cross?
(And why can't I find an Orange one?!!)
Edited by felixgogo on Sunday 16th January 14:21
I have also had the exact same urge and have looked into this before and viewed a few. All were polar white and rotten as a pear. Also the panels are so thin, especially in the back where they glue some fabric straight onto the rear quarter panel, that I decided against it and bought something else. All of the cars I saw had rust coming through the rear quarter panels and on the two that I managed to look underneath, the sub-frames were also not looking very clever.
I would imagine that you would need to find a minter which has been cherished, then you are going to be in the £2 to 3k classic market, as they are quite thin on the ground now and all the others will have rotten to infinity and beyond
I was going to do an engine transplant with either the 1.6 or 2.0 twincam, but couldn't bring myself to either chop up a good car for the conversion, or take on a basket case which commanded too much time, money and effort. If you manage to find one do post a picture as they are cracking cars if you can find the right one
I would imagine that you would need to find a minter which has been cherished, then you are going to be in the £2 to 3k classic market, as they are quite thin on the ground now and all the others will have rotten to infinity and beyond
I was going to do an engine transplant with either the 1.6 or 2.0 twincam, but couldn't bring myself to either chop up a good car for the conversion, or take on a basket case which commanded too much time, money and effort. If you manage to find one do post a picture as they are cracking cars if you can find the right one
Lord Flathead said:
I have also had the exact same urge and have looked into this before and viewed a few. All were polar white and rotten as a pear. Also the panels are so thin, especially in the back where they glue some fabric straight onto the rear quarter panel, that I decided against it and bought something else. All of the cars I saw had rust coming through the rear quarter panels and on the two that I managed to look underneath, the sub-frames were also not looking very clever.
I would imagine that you would need to find a minter which has been cherished, then you are going to be in the £2 to 3k classic market, as they are quite thin on the ground now and all the others will have rotten to infinity and beyond
I was going to do an engine transplant with either the 1.6 or 2.0 twincam, but couldn't bring myself to either chop up a good car for the conversion, or take on a basket case which commanded too much time, money and effort. If you manage to find one do post a picture as they are cracking cars if you can find the right one
I think maybe the OP was thinking of the modern one. OP?I would imagine that you would need to find a minter which has been cherished, then you are going to be in the £2 to 3k classic market, as they are quite thin on the ground now and all the others will have rotten to infinity and beyond
I was going to do an engine transplant with either the 1.6 or 2.0 twincam, but couldn't bring myself to either chop up a good car for the conversion, or take on a basket case which commanded too much time, money and effort. If you manage to find one do post a picture as they are cracking cars if you can find the right one
Sorry, My mind is a little 'gazelle' like sometimes, leaping around from thought to thought!
Yes, I was looking at a 2CV orginally, and it's fanastic snow and off road capabilities, but then I thought of the Classic Panda 4x4, but of course most of these will now be cutlery, so I drifted towards the New Panda, and in particular the Cross.
Looks grand, but only seems to be available on the Fiat website in black, green or white. On google images, many seem to be orange which looks great.
Yes, I was looking at a 2CV orginally, and it's fanastic snow and off road capabilities, but then I thought of the Classic Panda 4x4, but of course most of these will now be cutlery, so I drifted towards the New Panda, and in particular the Cross.
Looks grand, but only seems to be available on the Fiat website in black, green or white. On google images, many seem to be orange which looks great.
The cross was originally only brought into the UK in green or black (very few black) thats why you wont see an orange one, the best colour. It has a 1.3 diesel which is a bit slow but if your looking at it from the point of view of a winter car and when the weather gets bad then speed doesn't really come into it. Great MPG from them and they have a locking diff which is good. And very reliable to.
The 1.2 Petrol 4x4's are good so don't rule them out. They came out in 05 (I had the first one in Northern Ireland)and can be bought now around £4k. They are every bit as good as the Cross but a little less spec'd. I loved mine and it really did feel as though it would go anywere. Only downside if you would call it that was 34mpg average for a 1.2. Oh and if you are looking at any try to see if you can get one with the moveable rear seat. It comes in very handy if you want to carry any loads. I'll have another someday.
Here's the link to the one I had, it might be of some use to you.
http://www.maranellohouse.net/pandaclimbing.html
Oh and as for the original Pnada 4x4. I've had 4 of them now. Fantastic cars that litterally will go anywere. Doors bottoms do rust and eventually the rear arches and sills but they are actually very robust little things with almost bomb proof engines. The one I finished last year has recently gone to a museum in America.
The 1.2 Petrol 4x4's are good so don't rule them out. They came out in 05 (I had the first one in Northern Ireland)and can be bought now around £4k. They are every bit as good as the Cross but a little less spec'd. I loved mine and it really did feel as though it would go anywere. Only downside if you would call it that was 34mpg average for a 1.2. Oh and if you are looking at any try to see if you can get one with the moveable rear seat. It comes in very handy if you want to carry any loads. I'll have another someday.
Here's the link to the one I had, it might be of some use to you.
http://www.maranellohouse.net/pandaclimbing.html
Oh and as for the original Pnada 4x4. I've had 4 of them now. Fantastic cars that litterally will go anywere. Doors bottoms do rust and eventually the rear arches and sills but they are actually very robust little things with almost bomb proof engines. The one I finished last year has recently gone to a museum in America.
James Dean said:
34 MPG in the 1.2 petrol? The highest I've managed is +60 MPG, and average is 45-50 MPG and that's with a heavy right foot and revving the nuts off it. As the 4x4 isn't permanent I can't see how it would influence MPG that much.
I'd be interested to hear what these are like to live with, can you keep up with traffic etc does the 4x4 kick in automatically when needed or do you switch it in? Maranellohouse said:
The cross was originally only brought into the UK in green or black (very few black) thats why you wont see an orange one, the best colour. It has a 1.3 diesel which is a bit slow but if your looking at it from the point of view of a winter car and when the weather gets bad then speed doesn't really come into it. Great MPG from them and they have a locking diff which is good. And very reliable to.
The 1.2 Petrol 4x4's are good so don't rule them out. They came out in 05 (I had the first one in Northern Ireland)and can be bought now around £4k. They are every bit as good as the Cross but a little less spec'd. I loved mine and it really did feel as though it would go anywere. Only downside if you would call it that was 34mpg average for a 1.2. Oh and if you are looking at any try to see if you can get one with the moveable rear seat. It comes in very handy if you want to carry any loads. I'll have another someday.
Here's the link to the one I had, it might be of some use to you.
http://www.maranellohouse.net/pandaclimbing.html
Oh and as for the original Pnada 4x4. I've had 4 of them now. Fantastic cars that litterally will go anywere. Doors bottoms do rust and eventually the rear arches and sills but they are actually very robust little things with almost bomb proof engines. The one I finished last year has recently gone to a museum in America.
My girlfriend and I are the ones that bought Stu's Panda of him a couple of years ago, and I am happy to report that things are still going fine! It had a leaking NSF damper replaced at the service last year, but other than that no problems. Driving around with the roof rack on looses a couple of MPG, we frequently have 40mpg out of it though.The 1.2 Petrol 4x4's are good so don't rule them out. They came out in 05 (I had the first one in Northern Ireland)and can be bought now around £4k. They are every bit as good as the Cross but a little less spec'd. I loved mine and it really did feel as though it would go anywere. Only downside if you would call it that was 34mpg average for a 1.2. Oh and if you are looking at any try to see if you can get one with the moveable rear seat. It comes in very handy if you want to carry any loads. I'll have another someday.
Here's the link to the one I had, it might be of some use to you.
http://www.maranellohouse.net/pandaclimbing.html
Oh and as for the original Pnada 4x4. I've had 4 of them now. Fantastic cars that litterally will go anywere. Doors bottoms do rust and eventually the rear arches and sills but they are actually very robust little things with almost bomb proof engines. The one I finished last year has recently gone to a museum in America.
I believe it sends 2% power to the rear standard, going up to 50% when needed. Might be wrong about that though.
Edited by ZAndy on Thursday 3rd February 10:19
Been driving a 1.2 4x4 for three years.
No real problems - boot releases sometimes fail - look at the http://www.fiatforum.com/panda/for more info
mpg = c.35-40 - not great, but am based in hilly country.
Narrowness is good, as is slightly higher seating position.
Cross' are well specced, but hard to find secondhand
4wd kicks in pretty seamlessly, fun in empty snowy car parks! Get decent tyres (all season fine - Hankook Optimo 4S or Vredestein Quatrac 3 will be good ). Shouldn't be too dear - the petrol car runs on 14" wheels and so a set = c.£210 fitted, The Cross I think runs on 15" so may be a bit dearer, but doubt it'll be much more than £250 all in.
Good luck!
No real problems - boot releases sometimes fail - look at the http://www.fiatforum.com/panda/for more info
mpg = c.35-40 - not great, but am based in hilly country.
Narrowness is good, as is slightly higher seating position.
Cross' are well specced, but hard to find secondhand
4wd kicks in pretty seamlessly, fun in empty snowy car parks! Get decent tyres (all season fine - Hankook Optimo 4S or Vredestein Quatrac 3 will be good ). Shouldn't be too dear - the petrol car runs on 14" wheels and so a set = c.£210 fitted, The Cross I think runs on 15" so may be a bit dearer, but doubt it'll be much more than £250 all in.
Good luck!
sawman said:
I'd be interested to hear what these are like to live with, can you keep up with traffic etc does the 4x4 kick in automatically when needed or do you switch it in?
I've never driven the 4x4 so can't possibly comment on it, my comment was about the fuel economy. I don't know how much the performance from the 4x4 differs to the normal one. But the 1.2 60 bhp fwd-only is 14.0 sec from 0-62. But you have to plan ahead and try to preserve momentum.
Driving - first and second gears are lower than normal which is why it has such a crap 0-60 time. This is good when off-road or pulling a trailer - both of which I do regularly-ish so rarely a problem. You just find yourself being a bit busier with the gearlever until you're in third at c.30mph.
But once up into third you're moving along with the rest of the traffic, and as said previously it is just a matter of foot down everywhere! Higher seats & narrow body helping here of course.
The small engine means you can become a bit bogged down on long hills and sometimes on motorways, but the former can be 'stormed' by changing down and I rarely go on the latter! Indeed I am often being held up by other traffic rather than the other way round.
But once up into third you're moving along with the rest of the traffic, and as said previously it is just a matter of foot down everywhere! Higher seats & narrow body helping here of course.
The small engine means you can become a bit bogged down on long hills and sometimes on motorways, but the former can be 'stormed' by changing down and I rarely go on the latter! Indeed I am often being held up by other traffic rather than the other way round.
The series 1 965cc Panda 4x4 (1981-1986) was a bored out 907cc push rod engine with a Webber carb'. Putting out 55bhp instead of the standard 40bhp. The series two (1986-1992) had the 999 Fire engine and an extra two degrees of cam' so the car produced 60bhp. Later there were limited edition models with factory bull bars and roof racks (normally an optional extra). The most desirable of these is arguably the Panda Sisily and at the end of production a very limited few were fitted with the 1108cc variation of the Fire engine as fitted to the Cinquecento/Seicento Sporting models.
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