2004 1.2, 2 wheel drive.
Well, I've finally had the chance to drive the Panda in icy and snowy conditions and given the amount of interest in another thread, I thought I'd write this mini review.
On the whole it's a good car in winter conditions, but I must admit to being somewhat dissapointed. In short, once again, the overall good design of the Panda chassis is spoiled by the electronics.
Traction is good, a small car with narrow tyres and good ground clearence is always going to perform well in the snow. Low power is an advantage, as you're less likely to break the wheels loose and you can use more of the throttle pedal's travel. All perfectly normal, a small, low powered car is one of the best vehicles to drive when conditions become bad.
However, this is where I ran into a problem...
The (fly by wire?) throttle has too much of an "on/off" effect at the bottom of it's range. Essentially, it feels as if, when lifting off the throttle, you jump directly from 5% throttle to 0%, injectors off, maximum engine braking. To put it quite simply, this is a right pain in the posterior. Twice when coming off the throttle to slow the car this abrupt braking effect caused the front wheels to lose traction sending the car into a slide. The soloution to this problem is to run one gear lower, keeping the engine higher in the rev range and avoiding the lowermost throttle positions. It works, but is more tiring for the driver.
Other than that, the brakes are good, I experienced no ABS issues.
The steering lacks feedback, making it harder to judge how the front wheels are gripping, but anyone who has read my previous posts will know that I'm not a fan of the ePAS on the Panda.
So all in all, the Panda is a good car in the snow, provided you keep one gear lower than expected, keep the revs up and avoid abruptly coming off the throttle.
I'm guessing nothing can be done about the throttle issue, as it's an ECU mapping thing (for economy), but it would be interesting to hear other's opinions.
Well, I've finally had the chance to drive the Panda in icy and snowy conditions and given the amount of interest in another thread, I thought I'd write this mini review.
On the whole it's a good car in winter conditions, but I must admit to being somewhat dissapointed. In short, once again, the overall good design of the Panda chassis is spoiled by the electronics.
Traction is good, a small car with narrow tyres and good ground clearence is always going to perform well in the snow. Low power is an advantage, as you're less likely to break the wheels loose and you can use more of the throttle pedal's travel. All perfectly normal, a small, low powered car is one of the best vehicles to drive when conditions become bad.
However, this is where I ran into a problem...
The (fly by wire?) throttle has too much of an "on/off" effect at the bottom of it's range. Essentially, it feels as if, when lifting off the throttle, you jump directly from 5% throttle to 0%, injectors off, maximum engine braking. To put it quite simply, this is a right pain in the posterior. Twice when coming off the throttle to slow the car this abrupt braking effect caused the front wheels to lose traction sending the car into a slide. The soloution to this problem is to run one gear lower, keeping the engine higher in the rev range and avoiding the lowermost throttle positions. It works, but is more tiring for the driver.
Other than that, the brakes are good, I experienced no ABS issues.
The steering lacks feedback, making it harder to judge how the front wheels are gripping, but anyone who has read my previous posts will know that I'm not a fan of the ePAS on the Panda.
So all in all, the Panda is a good car in the snow, provided you keep one gear lower than expected, keep the revs up and avoid abruptly coming off the throttle.
I'm guessing nothing can be done about the throttle issue, as it's an ECU mapping thing (for economy), but it would be interesting to hear other's opinions.