General The First Person In Northern Ireland To Test Drive The Fiat Panda Cross!
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General The First Person In Northern Ireland To Test Drive The Fiat Panda Cross!
I agree, the limited edition monster looked stunning. Only 695 made, all in LHD I think.
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Geordie Amanda
New member
I have to say it looks great to me, but more importantly it should be a fine, cheap and very capable mini off-roader and that is the point of this vehicle isn’t it?? If they fitted any more fancy doo-dads to it, the price would go up. I am looking at this sort of vehicle because it is almost unique to the market and well done to Fiat for having the courage to build it in RHD at last. If I wanted one ch4ved up I would get a Rav instead.
I'm certainly thinking about it! I have my own car to sell first to clear the finance deal. The price and what kind of deal Fiat could work for me would be the decision maker. I'm thinking Moa Orange so yea it would be hard to miss!
Why isn't A/C standard? And 54mpg combined isn't great either.
In a different colour combo this might work, but for the £12000 price they'd need to include A/c and the rest.
In a different colour combo this might work, but for the £12000 price they'd need to include A/c and the rest.
Agreeded. Is it available from one of those money saving web sites
The one's which sell the Active for £4500 odd etc.Dunno. I just saw the review in today's online Auto Express and was surprised it only has 70bhp - torque/gearbox strength? And that the price was so high. I'm sure it'll be a good little car, but with a new panda not too far away I wonder why it has come so late? Still, at least they've managed to fit the Diesel, which is more than they managed before. Now, if they could lose the two-tone paint and offer a few more colours...and include A/C of course...
Yea i agree the price is a bit steep at £12000 as ive said on another thread im in contact with fiat supasaver so they said they'd probably have discounted prices for me towards the end of this week. 54mpg isnt bad i think given that its a four wheel drive car and it isnt much lower in comparision to the multijet even though it has a raised road height, all season tyres etc. The 54mpg is also a mixed cycle figure so by driving on long runs etc maybe a bit more is achievable. The 70bhp 1.3 multijet they have put in the cross is said to be about the max amount of power Fiat can get away with without putting excess strain on the drivetrain. There isnt alot to achieve by making it have more power anyway as it already has all the torque thats needed for a mini offroader, 145nm of torque at 1500rpm. The panda crosses Fiat entered in the dakar were 100bhp as they were obviously the 70bhp remapped but i think they were running it with a kevlar clutch which wouldnt be standard!
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I called into Mervyn Stewarts (Belfast) yesterday on passing. The Cross was parked just at the gate and was calling me to go in and have a look. Must say that I really liked the green, even though I didn't think that I would. Pity they couldn't find the key so that I could have a proper look inside...
doctorchris
Established member
I've just test driven Fiat Springfield's (in Gateshead) Panda Cross It's Raindance Green as all the showroom models seem to be with a fairly subdued green and sand coloured interior.
The very slightly higher ground clearance, as compared with the 4x4 Climbing, is noticeable on getting into the car but makes no difference to the handling or the ride. The car feels smoother on the go than my 4x4 Climbing but inevitably there is more vibration at tickover. I didn't notice the thumps and bumps from the rear that my car has always produced from new. This is despite the absence of the large block of expanded polystyrene in the boot that used to hold the tools and jack and, I suspect, was also designed to reduce noise.
The main interest for me was whether the Diesel engine provided significantly better performance as it is impossible to justify a change of car, that could cost £6-8000, on economic grounds only when my car still runs so well and reliably and is into the phase of its working life where depreciation has slowed down.
Well, the Diesel engine in the demonstrator had done 11 miles and I didn't want to push it hard, it was the only car the garage had so I didn't go very far. The impression I got was that the additional acceleration was noticeable but not significant enough to persuade me to change.
Maybe a jackpot win in Saturday's double rollover lottery would persuade me. If so, I would go for Goa Orange in keeping with my policy of buying brightly coloured cars to cheer me up.
By the way, to clarify previous posts on this thread, aircon is standard on the Cross but climate control is extra.
The very slightly higher ground clearance, as compared with the 4x4 Climbing, is noticeable on getting into the car but makes no difference to the handling or the ride. The car feels smoother on the go than my 4x4 Climbing but inevitably there is more vibration at tickover. I didn't notice the thumps and bumps from the rear that my car has always produced from new. This is despite the absence of the large block of expanded polystyrene in the boot that used to hold the tools and jack and, I suspect, was also designed to reduce noise.
The main interest for me was whether the Diesel engine provided significantly better performance as it is impossible to justify a change of car, that could cost £6-8000, on economic grounds only when my car still runs so well and reliably and is into the phase of its working life where depreciation has slowed down.
Well, the Diesel engine in the demonstrator had done 11 miles and I didn't want to push it hard, it was the only car the garage had so I didn't go very far. The impression I got was that the additional acceleration was noticeable but not significant enough to persuade me to change.
Maybe a jackpot win in Saturday's double rollover lottery would persuade me. If so, I would go for Goa Orange in keeping with my policy of buying brightly coloured cars to cheer me up.
By the way, to clarify previous posts on this thread, aircon is standard on the Cross but climate control is extra.
I second that, as I was sitting in one today. The dealer gave me a mini brochure too which lists this as main standard equipment.
Hi
Try Mark at wilsons of Rathkenny just outside ballymena, he was quoting me 10-12% discount. Not going for it as I bought a white 100hp off him in June! Had an 05 4x4 climbing prior to this and fuel bills were surprisingly high...averaged about 33mpg on town commute, so be prepared for probably mid 40s for the multijet one.
Try Mark at wilsons of Rathkenny just outside ballymena, he was quoting me 10-12% discount. Not going for it as I bought a white 100hp off him in June! Had an 05 4x4 climbing prior to this and fuel bills were surprisingly high...averaged about 33mpg on town commute, so be prepared for probably mid 40s for the multijet one.
Geordie Amanda
New member
I had a look at the Springfield (Gateshead) Cross and I have to say it looked resplendent in its green paint. It actually looked classy with its tinted windows complimenting the Green. A friend of mine with a Disco 3 was moved enough to say it looked terrific and he thought that with the right tyres it might be a better vehicle in snow and mud than his LR Disco.
I had a peek underneath (well it seemed rude not to) and it looked very neat under there. I do wonder where I could fit a towbar though, as there is a very big silencer at the back of the car and it seems to fill up all the space under the rear bumper.
I had a peek underneath (well it seemed rude not to) and it looked very neat under there. I do wonder where I could fit a towbar though, as there is a very big silencer at the back of the car and it seems to fill up all the space under the rear bumper.
doctorchris
Established member
Geordie Amanda, the 4x4 Pandas can take a towbar, though it's a different design from that fitted to the standard Panda. I've never seen one in the flesh but I think it tucks up behind the bumper and away from the silencer.
Why not have a test drive at Springfield. The salesmen are very laid back about it and there's no hard sell. My salesman chatted about off-road biking when he took me out in the Panda.
I don't think the Panda 4x4 would match the Disco, even on proper off road tyres, in mud as it doesn't have enough ground clearance. From personal experience, performance on snow and ice is probably better than the Disco simply because, if the Panda lets go, its lesser size and weight makes it so much easier to retrieve the situation before you come to grief.
Why not have a test drive at Springfield. The salesmen are very laid back about it and there's no hard sell. My salesman chatted about off-road biking when he took me out in the Panda.
I don't think the Panda 4x4 would match the Disco, even on proper off road tyres, in mud as it doesn't have enough ground clearance. From personal experience, performance on snow and ice is probably better than the Disco simply because, if the Panda lets go, its lesser size and weight makes it so much easier to retrieve the situation before you come to grief.
Geordie Amanda
New member
Mmm a towbar would be nice for my bikes
I guess it might look a little like the one on my currant car (it does look more than a little phallic though with it bending around the bumper)I think my off-road friend wasn’t thinking of driving were there where ruts than could scupper the Panda but if you really need extra ground clearance I guess you can always put a bigger wheel/tyre on (within reason of course) he did it with his old Lada Niva and it could cover muddy fields easily as well as his then Range Rover (admittedly not quite as comfortably). But the Pandas light weight should help it skip across mud where his Disco tends to look like a cross between a submarine and a hippo when shown a very swampy field (it is nearly 3 times heavier than the Panda
). He found even on decent tyres that the Disco struggled on snowy inclines this year, when his fathers light Rav 4 managed much better (both vehicles had proper off road tyres too!) and he put this down to the road being steep and having an iced surface under the snow. The Disco sank straight onto the ice whereas the Rav got to drive mostly on the snow covered surface. The race up the muddy quarry between a Panda and a Rangie on 5th Gear was very revealing I thought. I do fancy a test drive, but I am not ready to buy and the Saleman was already pushing the Demo model. I would rather wait till later in the year and see what discount I can haggle. I really would want £2-2.5K off
