Anyone have one of these? Thinking it would make a good car around town but also excellent for the trips to Wales etc with the bikes / off road fun.

Sounds excellent on paper and I love something a bit different.

Do you need 4 wheel drive around town and on the A5?

I thought long and hard about a 4X4 when I bought my new Vauxhall Mokka. I had the choice of 2 wheel drive or a 4X4 one.

As much as I would have liked the 4X4 I struggled to think of an instance in the past where I really needed my car to be 4X4. We have snow once in a blue moon but when we do i park down the hill.

Generally the tax is more on them too.

We’ve got an old Panda 2 wheel drive, not that much snow in the Midlands but we’ve never got it stuck.

On reflection, very little of that helps…!

I owned a Subaru Forester and Legacy, both had AWD. Should I have smacked myself for being silly and bought a 2WD Golf? 😉

Plus the 4X4 Panda looks gorgeous and that wee bit different.

I think the tax on the 4×4 is the same as on the other Pandas. Depending on engine size either £30 or nil.

The 2wd is excellent on snow with winter tyres.

I owned a Subaru Forester and Legacy

Going against what I’ve posted I do like the new Subaru XV

I understand what you are saying, but the sake of £1000 the 4×4 seems worth it.

However there is the ‘Trekking’ model which has supposedly excellent performance in the gloop too.

Just wanted general opinions on the car if anyone had one.

From driving a few AWD’s (not big 4×4’s but sports/small ones) they just seem more surefooted/better.

“4WD only gets you as far as the next stuck 2WD”

The 2wd is excellent on snow with winter tyres.

Totally agree. Even on summer tyres the C1/Aygo is good. With winters mine was great. Lift the ride height slightly and AWD and it would have been even better!

In general- The only thing that scares me about bad weather/snow- is other drivers. The weather doesn’t.

Had a 2006 mk2 petrol 4×4. Great little car. Only got stuck once the snow was so deep it beached the car. 100% reliable and well finished.. New shape better, esp the little tiwn air petrol which was a 6sp box. I’ve just ordered a Fiat Qubo with electronic locking front diff and winter tyres. Be interested to see how that performs in the snow/mud…

I’ll let you know next week ( I hope) as that is when the one I bought us due to arrive….

nedrapier – Member

“4WD only gets you as far as the next stuck 2WD”

My 2wd has got me as far as the next stuck 4wd, then pulled it out of a ditch, then got me home 😉

What colour?????????????? Love the racing’ green one

I’d love one.

Sis in law is in local mountain rescue – she has a 2wd which was fine last year with snow tyres, but she’s looking for a 4wd to possibly replace it.

Ace little cars.

I don’t know the specific car but I would want to take a good look at how much space there is with rear seats folded down as I hate carrying the bikes outside the car. I suppose the direct comparison would be a Yeti.

complete overkill for the UK IMO!!

Had one for four years and have no horror stories to report.
The diesel is much better than the petrol (which I had), has a little more grunt and much better fuel economy.

It’s not permanent 4×4, but uses some viscous drive thingy (technical term that) which engages the rear wheels when the front start to slip. Worked great on the farm and was surprisingly capable in the snow.

I can only speak for the petrol, but I found the gearing was very different to the standard Panda. 70mph and the engine sounded like it was crying out for another gear. But for bumbling about the country lanes and into town, it was perfect.

Unless you really need the 4×4 ability, the Panda 100 I once got as a courtesy car would be a much better overall car. More refined, better ride and much more sensible gearing.

“. I suppose the direct comparison would be a Yeti. “

No, the Yeti is much bigger,

My Little black beast!

Had it two months and covered 1000 miles so far and love it! I went for the Twinair version. It makes a fantastic noise although the fuel consumption is pretty poor (no doubt due to it making a fantastic noise!). Road Tax is free for the first year then £30 there after.

After loads of hot hatches I fancied something a bit left field and the Panda fitted the bill. Characterful engine, rides wonderfully and extremely practical.

Order heated seats as they are ace!

Honest John reckons the 2wd trekking model which comes with all season tyres is as much as most people would need year-round.

You still get the look and the ground clearance, but not the extra weight, economy penalty and reduced boot space of the 4wd system.

although the fuel consumption is pretty poor

I’ve read in numerous places about that. Similarly I hired a Fiesta 1.0 Ecoboost. I thought ‘its quite nippy for a 1.0’….the av. was 32mpg on mainly motorway driving. 🙁

Although not as cute – it competes on price.

Don’t forget that 4wd only helps you accelerate (or climb a steep hill, get moving in mud etc), you still only have the same 4 wheels doing the steering and braking as everyone else.

No experience of the 4wd but we can get two bikes in the back of our old shape panda . I can actually get one wheels off across the back seat so no need to but the seats down when I am on my own .

I personally really fancy one of those. Fiat make great small cars and the Panda 4x4s have a good reputation. The new Fiat Pandas apparently come with all season tyres on both the trekking and 4×4, which in my opinion makes sense on a car like this.

Although I am a big fan of diesel cars, the petrol twin air has a 6 speed gear box, but multi jet diesel only has 5 speed. Given the amount of distance driving I do, I would go for the twin air engine (which is supposed to be very good) and save the additional outlay.

4×4 is also much, much better in wet weather, so doesn’t just benefit you in snow and ice.

MrsCat has had a 4×4 for about 3 years, it’s a great little car but unless you need 4×4 (she did for her old job) it can be a bit tiresome on long drives as the engine does rev out.

If you want the 4×4 version, buy it.

I assume you have to take the wheels off to get a largish MTB or Road bike in the Panda ?.. i.e. a frame suitable for >6ft person ?

Ah this pic answers that question…

We run an older shape 06 panda and we managed to get two orange fives in and ourselves when the van broke.
Missus stumpy loves it. If I could still find the panda 100hp I would buy it as second car straight away. She has already decided next year she is getting a 4wd version. She had a Suzuki jimny before this and it was sturdy, crashy and slow on any road over 50. Off road though it was amazing. We lost count the amount of huge electronic 4×4 we got past when it snowed 2-3 yrs ago.

my best mate has a 4×4 diesel. he loves it. handles well, good on fuel (its his day to day city runaround) and we live in wales so it does get to play occasionally too. they are really good offroad, especially the way it descends really really steep in mud and we had a right laugh in the snow

Hired the older shape 2WD (better shape IMO) one in Spain a few years ago. Brilliant little chassis.

Cannot comment on the newer one but a local gamekeeper has one of the very old ones and on numerous occasions over the years seen him pull out various 4 x 4, Rangies/Shoguns/ Jeeps and so on from the fell. 😀

Will be looking at getting a Panda (hopefully 4×4) later in the year. I could not find one in any local showrooms and wanted to ask about the Blue &Me. Does this work with ipods (via USB), or only other MP3 non ipad formats?

Also, does anyone find the is affected by roof mounted bike racks when loaded – does this make the car feel unstable?

Fun off-road? What exactly would you be planning to do with this car?!

gribble, I had blue and me on a mito and yes it would work with Ipods through usb. however newer ipods may need a little converter box:

http://www.fiat-accessories.com/blue-and-me-adaptor-for-iphone-and-ipod