Panda 2012+ New Panda Cross

gar074 said:

Sounds a bit like my neck of the woods, in the wilds of NE Suffolk (although I'm struggling to think of an A road around here with passing places... sheesh!!)

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I was thinking of the A382 across the east side of Dartmoor. It's stunning scenery but turn up on a big motorbike and get stopped by a tour bus coming though a narrow section and ... Bikes don't do reverse gear and big one can't be heaved uphill without help. And don't forget the steep camber for putting your foot down.

The Panda 169 is perfect for tucking out of the way.

DaveMcT said:

I was thinking of the A382 across the east side of Dartmoor. It's stunning scenery but turn up on a big motorbike and get stopped by a tour bus coming though a narrow section and ... Bikes don't do reverse gear and big one can't be heaved uphill without help. And don't forget the steep camber for putting your foot down.

The Panda 169 is perfect for tucking out of the way.

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Well Dave McT you have made me think a bit more about bikers and the problems you mention never crossed my mind. My motorcycling was limited to 15000 miles on a Honda 90..... Thanks for a good post.

gar074 said:

You're as young as the car you drive! I'm an old(ish) fart, but I love confounding expectations by blatting around in my yellow Cross. I gave a barrister a lift to Norwich station today, and the look on his face when I showed him to my car was priceless! (I explained that I take my football allegiance very seriously, but it seemed lost on him, as he just said 'Watford?'. Then again, he may have been extracting the urine.)

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Urine or Primrose yellow Panda extract. Watford...... HUH!

The Panda Nut said:

Well Dave McT you have made me think a bit more about bikers and the problems you mention never crossed my mind. My motorcycling was limited to 15000 miles on a Honda 90..... Thanks for a good post.

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Big bikes are great and I love my BMW 1200 boxer twin, but they are heavy kit and riders need to think a (very) long way ahead.

I had a problem with a bus on the A382. I stopped on a down-hill to give space then realised I was still in the way. The only option was to go closer to the bus (forcing him to stop) so I could safely get off and reverse the bike out of the way. The bike weighs 1/4 ton and needs level ground to put the stand down before I could safely climb off. Steep camber to the left and downhill are both a total no-no. Bikes don't have a handbrake and the stand is left side only. They need extendable stands on both sides then you can safely park anywhere but no bike has them.

Another time on a single track lane downhill, I had a car reversing into me to make space for oncoming cars. Horn on full blast had no effect. He woke up when he hit my front wheel. Brakes were on hard so no harm done. The driver had stopped dead leaving me with adequate stopping space but no chance to get off and move the bike.

To be honest, a Panda 4x4 can probably get to many more places than that hulk of a bike can get to. But with plonkers like the van driver you still need a mega horn or be buying new bumpers every few months.

Third birthday

Mark Hurst said:

Third birthday

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Have you baked it a cake?

You've gotta be nice to it, as it's out of warranty now!

To Dave McT
A couple of points Dave 1) the new 1800 Honda Gold Wing does have a reverse, albeit not intended for reversing uphill!
2) I always carry a parking brake on all my big bikes. It is simply a rubber band cut from an old innertube. Loop it round your front brake, round the twistgrip and back round the front brake lever. Works a treat, and can be carried, for example, round your brake master cylinder or other appropriate, easily accessible place on the handlebars

Again Dave there is one bike with extendable prop stands on both sides, namely the fabulous VINCENT. Not only that but with the release of a bolt the two stands can be twisted forward to form a centre stand.
Have a look and a chat with the owner of the next Vin you see, they were and still are truly fabulous bikes, and I speak as an owner of several Vins and several BMW,s as well

I really should think of everything for one post but senile decay takes hold.

Anyway..... If you want a mega horn for your Big Boxer or even the Panda may I recommend A DENALI SOUND BOMB. I fitted one toi my R100R (BMW) on the Beemer a simple plug and play and it is LOUD

Mark Hurst said:

Had a Panda Cross for a week now, after waiting two months for it to come.

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Four years old today, and I opted to buy it for £3,976!

Love it had one for nearly 3years fantastic little car same color

Yellows, Yellows!

Took mine in for first service today, delighted with both my previous 4x4 TA and now this one.

I thought that - tempting fate - I'd get some touch up paint.

The car is Tango Red.

The official line from the dealer is that it isn't available because it is a new colour and Fiat "take months" to release this product.:bang:

I got the paint code and will try a car paint supplier locally.

They didn't have a 1L can of oil for topping up either.

gar074 said:

Oooh, yellow! Great choice! I've only seen one other yellow one 'in the wild'.

I took mine over the Wrynose/Hardknott earlier this summer. It performed admirably - nimble as a mountain goat - and its narrowness was a great advantage on those narrow approach roads, especially when you don't know what's around the next corner. The drivers of bigger 4x4s looked terrified, tbh, as they just couldn't get close enough into the side to let other cars pass by. With its wing-mirrors folded in, the Panda is an incredibly narrow little beast.

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Living in mid West Wales I regularly describe my cancan red Cross as my “mountain goat”! It gets quite a bit of interest from locals.....and have seen a yellow one quite a bit and a white one in Aberystwyth a couple of years ago. I guess folk around here know its me as I am the only one with a Cross, and the red with privacy rears (and discreet winter pack) still looks funky. Have done 90,000 mile since new in January 2016. Perfect for these roads and hills....and fun.

Ciao a tutti!

Just ordered my second Fiat, a 4x4 Cross in the color below (not my car, it won't be here for another couple of weeks). Looking forward to the heated seats… Winter is coming!

What crossbar options do you's suggest? Saw a reference to the Thule WingBar Edge, which looks snazzy, but the €336 list price is hard to swallow after breaking the piggy bank already…

Thanks for any thoughts, wishing you all a great weekend.

I understand the FIAT roofbars are in fact, made by Thule

MaxHeadroom said:

I understand the FIAT roofbars are in fact, made by Thule

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Ha, interesting!…
Downloaded the brochure for the Panda. The reference they give for the crossbars is 50926337, with a list price of €169, far less than what the Thule-branded bars cost here.

€173 delivered — that's £157 for you lot across the ditch. Worth it, or can do better?

Depends on whether you want to leave them on the car 24/7, or just fit them when you need to carry something. I bought a second-hand pair of Thule square bars on eBay for just £10, and re-used the Thule footpack from our old Volvo (also available cheaply second-hand). It doesn't look very pretty, but it does the job when I need to carry lengths of timber etc.

gar074 said:

Depends on whether you want to leave them on the car 24/7, or just fit them when you need to carry something. I bought a second-hand pair of Thule square bars on eBay for just £10, and re-used the Thule footpack from our old Volvo (also available cheaply second-hand). It doesn't look very pretty, but it does the job when I need to carry lengths of timber etc.

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Might leave the bars on for a few months in case there's enough snow for cross-country skiing, but I like the idea of doing it cheap.

Can you get any Thule model and just saw off the edges if they're too wide, or are the mounts specific to the rails of certain cars?

MaxHeadroom said:

I understand the FIAT roofbars are in fact, made by Thule

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Might be able to get the FIAT roofbars secondhand for 50€…

Since Thule makes them, does that mean that all Thule accessories are compatible?

I'm eyeing the attachment to carry cross-country skis, 20€ used.