PandaLeonarda said:

Hi omgwoody,
We are doing the PandaRaid this year, on a 4x2 panda, which should be fun...

Tyre wise, we ended up going for Malatesta Polaris 155/80 R13. There are very few options for offload R13 tires and they have to be R13, as required by the organization. These fit, and just miss the fuel filler pipe by about 3mm. Be careful with this, some people in the Spanish forums have ripped this off.

We also had to get steel wheels, as our panda came with the seicento sporting alloys. We managed to get our hands on a set spare wheels from the current panda, which fit perfectly and are only 1/2 inch wider that ours (4.5J instead of 4J). I'm just mentioning this as you need to take 2 spare wheels to the rally. We have also figured out that the steel wheels from the old punto will also fit, again just 1/2 inch wider, and these are available brand new from oponeo.

As for driving with the off-road tires through Spain, it should be fine, depending on how aggressive you go.

We have not up-rated our battery, we've just fitted a volt gauge to keep an eye on it, and we'll disconnect random stuff if the alternator cannot cope.

I don't know which bucket seats will fit, but I can tell you MR2 ones will not XD

For the snorkel, it can be easily diy'd, with some 55mm Internal diameter flexible tube, and feeding it through the drivers air vent.

As for the sumpguard, you have it easy, weld/bolt some steel to the sub frame you are lucky to have in the 4x4

We have upgraded our cooling by installing an additional fan on the radiator, with a switch on the dashboard. Some people also drill additional holes on the bumper to improve air flow. Bear in mind that it is in early march, and even though part of it is in the desert there is also bits in the mountains. Last year they started some stages at -4 degrees.

I hope this helps, maybe when we are back we can summarize our experience and give you more info.

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