reet, next week I'm driving down to Reading from Bradford, although I've done about 140000 miles since I got my Panda I've never driven further than about 150 miles in one day and Reading is 400 miles away.
Thing is i'm going down with 4 people and lots of camping gear so the car will weigh an absolute ton.

What would you recommend I do to the car before I go (if anything) as it will never have been under such strain before.
I'm a tad worried as when I'm cornering slowly my wheels groan, i think the bearings need seeing too, would this be a huge problem on a motorway :/

cheers

Check tyre pressures
Don't drive too quickly (!)
Avoid heavy use of the brakes - try to anticipate what's ahead
Stop for fuel part way otherwise you'll never make it!
B)

Just as an aside my friend...where on earth are you camping in Bradford ?
As for your query. Tyre pressures including spare, Gallon of water, insulation tape, radweld, exhaust bandage, mobile phone, fuses, blankets....don't worry [8D]enjoy.

HHmmmmmmm

:I:I:Iooops, I got it wrong, didn't I?
You're LEAVING Bradford !....what a good idea !

HHmmmmmmm

I carry most of that stuff round in the boot with me anyways with the amount of problems i've been having recently, but... they've all been fixed now (touch wood)

ta kindly

Lee

How about a list of Panda owners, then if anything happens en-route they can help you out.
Happy Pandering.

Russ

Rocketman.........NOW THAT is a good idea !

HHmmmmmmm

WOW!
That'd be great! haha, I'd sleep safley in my tent knowing that a fleet of pandas are on standby!

Didn't I mention about having a map of the Uk with panada owners a few weeks back? Or was it MZ owners on the bike forum...

These last few weekends I've had to do Cardiff to London and return in a day, 400 miles r/t w/ a load of tools..no problems so far. Car drives better too, more inertia...

Had my first unfixable breakdown last night...clutch cable broke. Now, I supose if it was armageddon, I'd just have smashed it into gear and kept going, but since it wasn't, I finally used my AA card. Guy arrived in 20 minutes and made and installed a clutch cable on the spot. Not bad for £29 a year.

Justin

Justin

Last summer I did a four day roadtrip to Sweden in the Panda... (not exactly one of the brightest ideas I ever had) covered about 4000km in 4 1/2 days.. didn't even check oil or tyre pressure before I left. Had no problems at all with the car, other than the wiper only wanting to work in dry conditions..

That was with 2 people and a bunch of camping gear in a '92.. we did about 600 miles a day for 4 days. Got good milage too!

I guess you shouldn't be too worried, the car will handle the trip just fine.. it's the poor people having to travel in the back of the car I'd be worried about

|| GONE IN 60 MINUTES ||

Originally posted by bumcheeks
Thing is i'm going down with 4 people and lots of camping gear so the car will weigh an absolute ton.


I'm a tad worried as when I'm cornering slowly my wheels groan, i think the bearings need seeing too, would this be a huge problem on a motorway :/

Click to expand...

You might find the groaning noise is the rubber bushing on the suspension arm joints (especially inboard lower, at the front).
My CLX does this when loaded up - try spraying some water around there to see if it stops.

In terms of pace - around an indicated 60 seems to work well in lane 1:
matches with the governed HGVs at 56 real.

Follow PandamanPauls advice and give yourself plenty of stopping distance.

A Long time ago, I often drove long way at night.
It was difficult to find out filling station.(It may be a rare case in Japan....)
So I prepared gasoline by reserved tank.

Have a nice trip!

I drove to slovakia in 3 days and i'm doing it again in just under two months, you'll be fine! It will be great fun can't count amount of times i've been camping with my panda bottomed out.

But on a big road trip like this I check the gearbox gaiters for leaks. change the oil and take a whole lot of panda spares incase something fails like when i had a water leak in france and had to fix it with a household radiator isolation valve and super glue from a local hardware store.. erm.. like i said, you'll be fine!





It looks much nicer than that now... honest!!



Because every fox needs one!

Ah, c'mon....what could possibly go wrong.........?

HHmmmmmmm

i passed my driving testfour weeks ago but couldnt drive because i was at boarding school, but i finished my a-levels and left for good last sunday (4th) and drove from reading to southsea on the monday and back on the tuesday and then straight on to cardiff to the girlfriends and came back today, not bad seen as though i'd never driven without my instructor, but the panda was fantastic, unfortunately i had to use my brothers 1000cc becuase my 1000cc 4x4 failed its MOT on the monday and it took a few days to sort out, but now im the prowd owner of a 4x4 fiat panda with front bull bars and spotlights!!!!!

Hey, this sounds like my kind of thread. I'm off to Latvia in 2 weeks time (1,300 miles one way) in my Sisley 4x4 front and back bull bars and spotlights I can't find a switch for! Bringing back a raunchy blonde with me so even if we break down.... But anyway, my experience of my 2 Panda's so far suggest they are very reliable vehicles. Hoping to get a teenswy weensy bit of welding work done on my rear bullbars whilst I'm there.

Wow! a really long tour! Make sure you show us some pictures of that one



Because every fox needs one!

Hi Latman....Best of luck,
Your Sisely spotlights should be wired into your mainbeam stalk on the steering column; so you shouldn't have a seperate switch for it.
Turn your ignition on, turn on your headlights, flick them to mainbeam and check if your spots come on. If they don't, then clean all of the spade connectors on their relay and check the earth connections.
Hope this helps..

HHmmmmmmm

I noticed that there are a handful of Pandas entering/entered the Paris-Dakar rally this year (can't remember when it is), I don't know if they have any web-sites? That's the sort of thing I would do if I could afford it!

Thanks Pandafan. It was exactly as you say, except only one light came on. Suspect the other bulb needs replacing.
Twamgle, are you you sure it isn't the Plymouth-Dakar rally you are thinking of, where 2 Sisleys participated last year, I believe (1 team of which was the Desert Prats).