I have just got back from my 24 hour test drive in a new Panda Cross, courtesy of TJ vickers in Telford, Shropshire. I covered a staggering 340 miles during the test which included alot of fast driving on duel carrageways, a bit of town driving and a fair bit of off road driving. When i get time i will write a proper review if anybody is interested? watch this space...

Bloody hell, 340 miles!! Well done, saves putting to mileage on your own car.

I can't wait to hear what you thought, come on hurry up!!!

Panda Cross 24 hour test/review as promised!

Fiat Panda Cross 24 hour test drive/review as promised!

My first impressions were good. The car has more presence on ( and off! ) the road due to it’s chunky and funky looks and slightly larger ride height. It was rain dance green metallic with mat finished beige bumpers, not the colour I would pick personally from the choice of the 4 colour combos, and yet as the test went on, the colour started to make more and more sense. Inside, it’s not a lot different from your standard panda, it has two tone seats that match the exterior, leather steering wheel/gear knob and metallic effect dash and vent surrounds (for all you cross fans out there, I’m sure you already knew all of the above!) It also has air con, height adjustable drivers seat, Bluetooth, city steering, electronic locking differential and fiat’s unique city steering function which proves more useful round town than in the standard Panda as it has a lot of extra weight to carry. The sliding/folding rear seats are also a good idea, it gives at least 2 inches extra legroom for lanky rear passengers as they slide further back into the boot or forward for more luggage/shopping etc. they are also more supportive for off road use.
I was expecting the car to drive very similar to my panda. After all it has the same 1.3 turbo diesel engine with 70 BHP. The first thing I noticed was that it takes a lot more revs just to get the thing moving, but it would, it has two extra wheels to power and as already mentioned, a lot of extra weight. It’s something you get used to when pulling away but it means revving the nuts out of the engine and making a whole lot of noise, but not really going anywhere fast. It feels like your towing something and in a sense, you are, the back of the car! Once you’re on the move, the engine pulls well but it’s noticeably slower than the standard multijet and you find your self having to rev the engine quite hard in order to keep up with other traffic sometimes which doesn‘t help if you‘re the fuel saving type. In comparison to the standard multijet, it’s sluggish and building up speed can become a bit of a chore at times, as can maintaining speed, all that extra weight doesn’t help when it comes to ascending a hill or when overtaking and regular down changes are required. This also means the pick up from low revs like you get in the multijet, is just not possible in the Cross and when the revs drop low, the car starts to vibrate and shudder, again forcing you to down change and work your way back up.

The ride was firm due to the tougher, raised suspension but it handled bumps and potholes well and gave an overall very comfortable smooth ride. Another benefit of this suspension is that there is not as much body roll when cornering as the standard Panda and handling is excellent. The benefit of the larger wheels also means there’s an improvement of grip, and with 4 wheel drive, the Panda cross feels very sure footed and glued to the road. The steering also feels slightly heavier which is actually better because it feels more responsive and gives more feedback at speed. A disappointing aspect of the car were the brakes. Despite having all round discs, the brakes were shockingly wooden at times and required an awful lot of pressure to slow down, never mind stop! Again, all that extra drive and weight is taking it’s toll on a small car. I must not be too critical here, after all, I am comparing two very similar cars with two different purposes, one is for on road, the other off road.

When the going got tough, the Panda scored top points. Where I live, there are lots of forest tracks and trials as well as sand dunes etc so I put the Panda through it’s paces and got my money’s worth from the free test drive (hmm…). I went through deep mud, dirt tracks, rocky inclines, steep banks, puddles, bumps, potholes, ditches, lakes, sand dunes and lakes with 4 inches of sludgy sand at the bottom and not once did the Panda get stuck or even slip! It took everything I threw at it, I even crossed a foot wide ditch which resulted in one wheel lifting 2 feet off the floor. Not once did it get grounded either. I always had faith in the little 4x4 but I never knew it was this good! It was a real test for the Panda to prove itself to me and it did the job very well, and despite everything I threw at it, I still feel it could have gone a whole lot further and I could have pushed it that bit harder. On saying this, it wasn’t my car and I wasn’t prepared to take it back to the garage totally trashed. The colour was actually very practical, as my friend said “it looks like a little army truck” he was right, and when the sun came out, the colour glistened in an earthy metallic green. Even I liked it and I usually hate green! It blends in with the surroundings when you’re off road and the contrasting mat finish body guards are easy to clean and hide the dirt well.

On the test I covered 340 miles and according to the computer, it averaged 46 MPG, not bad for such a capable little car. This was a combination of on/off road, a bit of urban driving and a lot of high speed driving and little use of air-con, so overall it did well in terms of fuel consumption. On saying this however, the computer read 38 MPG when I picked it up from whoever had it last, presumably this was only used locally, I’m guessing a lot of short urban trips which is bound to affect fuel consumption. I can’t really see the Panda getting anything over 50 MPG to be quite honest. I was trying quite hard to get the best from the fuel. The extra weight has a lot to do with this as does the un-aerodynamic chunky looks and raised suspension but it’s still affordable, especially as it is a 4x4.

So my decision? Well the Cross is predictably better off road than it is on, we all knew that, but I was rather hoping it was better on road too. So I’m going to stick with standard Panda multijet for now, and although the Panda Cross is a very tempting offer and would prove very useful and fun where I live, the Panda multijet is still almost half the price of the Cross new and is comparatively faster and better on fuel. Sure I won’t be going up any more mountains or through any more lakes, but for most people, the Cross would only go off road a few times a year if at all which is a great shame because it is a serious off roader. The standard Panda is therefore easier to drive and live with every day and another thing to consider is the road tax, it’s the same engine and yet 1 years tax on the Cross would buy you almost 4 years tax on the standard multijet. On saying this however, it is still one of the cheapest diesel 4x4 available and it’s funky modern looks might still win you over. The Panda is one of my favourite cars and has a lot of character for a modern car, Fiat have managed to build a 4x4 version of one of it’s best selling cars and yet with it’s tough military looks, it still forces a cheeky little grin on your face, and that grin grows wider from ear to ear as the Panda Cross tackles any object you throw at it!

Hope you enjoyed reading my review, if I’ve missed anything or you have any questions, just say and I’ll do my best to get back to you.

see my new thread for full test drive/review and a pic!

Re: Panda Cross 24 hour test/review as promised!

Diolch yn fawr, y ddraig goch!
Although my test drive of the Panda Cross was much shorter and took place in urban Gateshead I had the advantage of knowing well how a 1.2 petrol 4x4 performed. Your on road experience matches my impression of the Cross, off road performance sounds a bit better than the petrol version.
I'm thinking of replacing mine with a Cross but I'm a bit put off by the fact that I will still have to rev it a lot to get any reasonable performance so may not find it any better in the real world.
Overtaking is where the petrol 4x4 makes life difficult, did you have much experience of that (other than tractors and bicycles)?

Re: Panda Cross 24 hour test/review as promised!

Enjoyed the review

Re: Panda Cross 24 hour test/review as promised!

Re brakes, I find they are superb on my petrol 4x4 but that weighs over 100kg less and the brakes are well bedded-in.

Re: Panda Cross 24 hour test/review as promised!

doctorchris said:

Diolch yn fawr, y ddraig goch!
Although my test drive of the Panda Cross was much shorter and took place in urban Gateshead I had the advantage of knowing well how a 1.2 petrol 4x4 performed. Your on road experience matches my impression of the Cross, off road performance sounds a bit better than the petrol version.
I'm thinking of replacing mine with a Cross but I'm a bit put off by the fact that I will still have to rev it a lot to get any reasonable performance so may not find it any better in the real world.
Overtaking is where the petrol 4x4 makes life difficult, did you have much experience of that (other than tractors and bicycles)?

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yes actually, i overtook several times on normal roads and on the duel carrage ways which is cheating a bit. It still pulls well but again, compared to the standard multijet, it feels like it lacks power a bit and takes more time to pass a vehicle. Feels a bit out of it's depth on big roads but it's not unbearable. I'm sure it would be better on road than the petrol 4x4 in terms of overtaking etc but you'll have to try it yourself as i've never driven a petrol 4x4, only a 1.2 petrol 2WD ( and my multijet of course )

Great review, I was hoping for pure raving, but never mind.:shrug:

I'm test driving the Cross and a 500 on Saturday morning, most probs around the block though, not 340 miles.

Thanks for the review. I pushed the thanks button to say so.

D.

Thanks for taking the time to compose the report

I'd bet the mpg will improve with miles, it certainly does on the 100hp.

Wonder if it'd feel more complete with a milder remap, say to 90bhp? Apparently you can get better mpg after remapping as well.

deeyup said:

Great review, I was hoping for pure raving, but never mind.:shrug:

I'm test driving the Cross and a 500 on Saturday morning, most probs around the block though, not 340 miles.

Thanks for the review. I pushed the thanks button to say so.

D.

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I tried to be honest in my report, i was so excited about the Cross but we have to be honest and realistic and not let our fun side take over completely! The Cross or the 500 eh? hard choice to make. I love them both and would have one of each if i had the money! Thanks for thanking me!

HP. said:

Thanks for taking the time to compose the report

I'd bet the mpg will improve with miles, it certainly does on the 100hp.

Wonder if it'd feel more complete with a milder remap, say to 90bhp? Apparently you can get better mpg after remapping as well.

Click to expand...

Hopefully the MPG would improve with miles like you say but i really can't see it getting 67 MPG like Fiat say it will do (on a run) maybe 54 MPG combined is possible, only time will tell. I had great MPG from the day i bought my Multijet.

HP. said:

Wonder if it'd feel more complete with a milder remap, say to 90bhp? Apparently you can get better mpg after remapping as well.

Click to expand...

I've certainly seen this in cars that have been chipped/remapped but it ultimately comes down to whether you use the extra power that's been unleashed in which case economy is likely to be down. If you remap and travel at the same speeds as before, however, the argument goes that with the additional torque provided by the remap you can potentially drive in a higher gear than before so fuel usage is lower.

I think I must be the exception to the rule as I had my cars remapped for performance so never saw an increase in mpg at the pumps ... although I didn't see a decrease either!

Chris

Great review thanks! got my petrol 4x4 in March this year, was disappointed when I heard the cross was coming out, but reading the review there doesnt seem to be a great deal to choose between them! Only really bought it for the chunkier looks and extra height! I use mine for about town and some country lane driving and Im getting about 42 mpg stated on trip comp. I do try to be gentle with it and have recntly noticed in the manual it says to set off in 2nd where possible so Ive been trying this, dont know if its affected the mpg or not! Not too bad considering my mrs gets about 45 in our diesel Peugeot 307 SW and the panda is fun to chuck about!

Thanks for reading! the cross is probably better overall off road and would probably feel faster to some one who's been driving the 1.2 for a while, like yourself. It is also a bit funkier looking in my opinion, i like the new grill/twin light combo and mat finish bumpers etc. It's your choice, i think you would want a cross after driving one.

Yeah u probly right, I liked the funkier styling of the cross when I saw it on the web before it came out here... tho I think it was when i saw the Panda Monster on an italian site, which has the same extra moulding on the front. not going to test drive one because I would want one! Wondering about changing it for a 500 now actually... dont know how well this comment will go down! hehe

I know how you feel, I'm torn between a cross and a 500, love them both, but also like the Panda 100HP and i even like the Punto. I'm gonna wait till early next year when the 500 Abarth comes out and check availability etc. If they are just too rare ( more than likely ) i also like the Punto Abarth......damn Fiat got too much choice! I'll probably get a 500 but then there's too much choice with them too! half a million combinations, 3 engines, i hate being so indecisive! My Panda multijet will have to keep me smiling for now

Hi Draig,

I drove both the cross and a 500 sport last week.
I didn't love either of them enough to swap my Citroen C1 for though.

It's not that The cars weren't good enough, they just didn't justify the spend.

Out of the 2, I'd rather the cross, but still can't justify it.

I've been looking around for the petrol climbing. They seem good value. there's and 18 month old one on autotrader for £5200 or so, most prob get it for less, so I may go that route.

D

Yea you're right, it's a lot of money to part with for such a small car. You have to consider the depreciation too. I got my Multijet brand new for £6355 and I've seen 2005 models selling for between 4700 and 5500 so I'm not gonna loose much ( i hope! ) So you got a C1? I used to love those too, is it the 1.0 L petrol? i had a charade with the same engine, right little buzz box! sounded like a Porche! lots of fun ( i fear we may be in trouble for mentioning Citroen/Daihatsu on a Fiat forum! )