I've expressed my opinion of the new model Panda before in this section so I was a bit surprised today when I decided to trade in my 100HP for an ex-demo 4x4. See Panda section for a little more detail on the deal. A deciding factor in getting the ex-demo car was delivery time - the shortest time - and a bit optimistic given the August shut-down in Italy - was 10-12 weeks, and I really wanted to have the car before our autumn trip to Italy at the start of September.

Demo car is three months old but only 350 miles on the clock, insurance is about 15 pound a year less than the 100HP, tax will be less. Will be very interested to check fuel consumption.

I got the impression from an earlier test drive in the 4x4 that the TA engine is nothing like as diesel-like as some would suggest, and today's extended test run confirms that for me; there are elements of diesel-ness about the mid-range but the top end - and I assume that the management system is limiting this part of the rev range for some miles to come - is not diesel-ly. The pickup from 60-80 is really quite respectable; the six speeds are good - mph/1000 revs exactly the same as the 100HP but that twin-cylinder burble - really like that as it reminds of my much-loved real 500s from years back - is more relaxed. Brake response is much sharper, obviously very different pad specs, which will take some getting used to.

Rear leg room is less than the 100HP - deeper seat backs - can't see where any extra boot space would come from, having compared the two with a piece of string.

Finally, bloody hell it does look high.

What a turncoat....

Only kidding, many congratulations on your purchase!

Funnily enough I remember thinking at the time you wrote your review of the TA 4x4 that it seemed to have made a good impression, and that it wouldn't surprise me if you bought one eventually!

Smart move buying the demo car, now you have a good few months to get used to it before taking it to Italy.

Re the back seats - does your car have the passenger table feature or anything else special? Also, am assuming you got yours from Vospers, or did you go elsewhere?

Super Uwe said:

What a turncoat....

Only kidding, many congratulations on your purchase!

Funnily enough I remember thinking at the time you wrote your review of the TA 4x4 that it seemed to have made a good impression, and that it wouldn't surprise me if you bought one eventually!

Smart move buying the demo car, now you have a good few months to get used to it before taking it to Italy.

Re the back seats - does your car have the passenger table feature or anything else special? Also, am assuming you got yours from Vospers, or did you go elsewhere?

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After Mrs b_u wrote her late lamented Panda MJ off on the snow-covered ice on the road down from Dartmoor into Okehampton two winters ago a 4x4 has been hovering.

I was pretty determined to have the new car before the autumn trip, not least because the white road to our house in Italy has deteriorated to the point where the 100HP was becoming marginal on it. Also opens up a whole new range of roads that we can explore.

Seats are bog standard - two seats in the rear with single-piece back. Only options are metallic paint and space saver spare. I intended to stick out for climate control but there are very very few around with that option. I noticed that it does have strings to lift rear parcel shelf.

Yes, from Vospers. The haggling was pretty fierce - the "final" offer was the 100HP and 10090 pounds - Mrs b_u suggested, "It would look tidier if you knocked off the 90." Got her well trained, you see. I spoke to another dealer but they were about 600 quid off - inevitably they rang back to say there was still room for negotiation when I told them that I'd done a deal but I'd shaken hands so that was not on.

I'm fascinated to find out how it compares with the 100HP.

Oh - and the first mod will be a bit of tape over that bloody gear "shift" indicator.

babbo_umbro said:

Oh - and the first mod will be a bit of tape over that bloody gear "shift" indicator.

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Pity it's not turn-offable in the menu

Re. the TA being diesel-like, those comments are mainly from me-
my last four cars were diesels, and I've been striving for similar fuel
economy by driving according to the gear-shift indicators

Do this and it sounds and feels surprisingly diesel-like

However, I agree that it's much more fun to keep the revs higher-
unfortunately the loss of economy is more than I'd normally want to
tolerate. If it's a decent B-road, I'll make an exception

I've now covered about 1200 miles and my Trekking TA's averaged 55MPG.

I hope your 4x4 will prove as good as you'd anticipated



Chris

Glad to here there's another 4x4 panda on the road ,the brakes will take some time to get use to as will everything else on the car but after a few months you will know the limits of your car and try different technecs driving

He he - another convert! it's difficult not to love the 4x4 once you've taken one out for a drive

4x4Panda said:

He he - another convert! it's difficult not to love the 4x4 once you've taken one out for a drive

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Exactly - as I said to the (rather bruised-looking) salesperson just before shaking hands on the deal, "I wasn't looking for a green car, I think the new Panda is really ugly, the dashboard has a dated 60s retro look, and the whole thing is just blobby and Tonka-toy-like. But I like driving it."

In fact I think the darker colours suit the car better as they reduce the blobby look, largely by minimising effect of all those damned pieces of plastic, and I would have settled for black.

I do the swap next Wednesday so will start to get to know the car after that.