General My New Panda Climbing is here

[pandissimo]

Picked up the car on Wednesday. Petrol 1.2 4x4 Climbing in Salsa Red. With Skydome, climate control, slidey rear seat. I ordered the car with the audio subwoofer pack, but the factory told my dealer they were waiting for those to arrive and it would put another month or two on the delivery time. So, it's got the standard Blaupunkt CD/Radio. I did save nearly five hundred pounds on the missing audio kit though, and so bought an FM cigar lighter transmitter thing off Ebay for a tenner. That leaves £490.00 for petrol! Also bought the locking fuel cap. £14.99. I was tempted to add a cd changer but my MP3 player stores eight hours of music, so I'll stick with that. Haven't figured out the Panda radio's RDS functions yet, has it got any?

I've not had chance to drive the car much as I@ve got flu, but took it for a spin on Day 1. (The car, not the flu). Very quiet engine, a little droney road noise from the Pirelli Winter tyres it came with, but cabin noise is largely subdued - especially round town. First gear is a little 'short' - probably that way for offroad use - I think the 4x4 has different gearing to the others, and fifth gear is a little long - useful mainly on motorways. Car is a delight to drive, more fun than my hot-hatch, but a little, er slower. Perfect town car, with 4x4 thrown in for the snow. I'm looking forward to the snow

I like the slidey rear seat, which seems mainly to give more boot space, at the expense of rear headroom as it's a bit taller than the standard seat, I heard. Car tootles along at 80mph on motorways, but is no sprinter! The cabin is a nice place to be, light and airy with the twin sunroofs, reasonable quality from the stock CD player , which also plays CD/R's but not MP3 CDs, aircon/heating is good, but haven't tried it in anger yet. Seats very comfortable, drivers seat has height adjust, and rake adjust, passenger has just rake. Adjustable steering wheel height is a nice touch. There's no underseat storage compartment on the passenger seat like there is on some other models. Jack and tools come in a large bag which almost fits under the drivers seat, boot has a space-saver spare wheel under the floor. Car had a boot light fitted, free mats. Have trained the computer to lock the doors when we set off, to prevent car-jackers stealing my beautful Panda. No alarm fitted, but immobiliser as standard.

Headlights pretty good at night, didn't expect them to be adjustable from the dashboard, but they are, front fog lights add an extra pool of light when you need it.

4x4 also seems to have some sort of brake/Engine torque management trickery in addition to ABS, to stop wheel slip on gear-down changes. Anyone know more of this?

Notice that the heater microwaves your left foot when wearing sandals. Solution? Don't wear sandals....

It's a lovely car, and I'm very impressed with the build quality. Feels better scewed together than my last Merc!

Delivery was nearly three months from ordering it and so far I'm delighted.

 

[lanchester01]

Hi Pandissimo,
The electronic wizerdry you are refering to is MSR (Motor Schleppmoment Regelung). It cuts in when a gear is shifted down abruptly under conditions of low grip. The system restores torque to the engine to prevent skidding as a result of wheel lock-up.
I'm not sure I have felt it even in the snow, but maybe you're not supposed to. I'll think on that.
The radio does have RDS. I have an FM trasmitter for mine and needed to spend some time with the manual trying to turn everything automatic setting off so I could tune the trasmitter in. All works fine now but I can't remember how I did it.
I hope you get over your flu fast and get a chance to drive your new toy. They really are a lot of fun. The gearing is different to the 2X4 and there have been times that I've really appecieted that low first. It just takes some getting used to.
Your spec. sounds just like the one I planned on getting before I got impatient and bought my ex-demo.
Enjoy, and if it snows, or you get it muddy, let us know what you think.

 

[pandissimo]

Thanks very much. Bring on the snow! I'm trying to get the inbuilt radio/cd player to recognise mp3 cds. Manual says they have to be below 650Mb. So I burnt a handful in an effort to get the radio to recognise them. Anyone else got the inbuilt MP3 player to work?

 

[Jazzist]

I think the stereo on the Panda is only mp3 capable when you pay an extra £100 (actually £550..). When you spend the £100 on the Radio/CD/MP3 player (as opposed to the stock Radio/CD), you are also forced to pay £100 for the CD Changer, £250 for the steering wheel controls, and £100 for the subwoofer.

Of course, I could be completely wrong...

 

[Mix_]

Gratz, Pandissimo!

I'm glad to hear, that You are happy with Your new Panda. Plz. keep us informed about your first snow/off-road impressions .


still waiting for mine, Mix_

 

[pandissimo]

I think the stereo on the Panda is only mp3 capable when you pay an extra £100 (actually £550..). When you spend the £100 on the Radio/CD/MP3 player (as opposed to the stock Radio/CD), you are also forced to pay £100 for the CD Changer, £250 for the steering wheel controls, and £100 for the subwoofer.

Of course, I could be completely wrong...

No, I think you're right. The manual for the CD player reads as though the basic unit will play MP3's, but it won't. The clue is on Button NO 6 for the radio, on the MP3 models, there's an extra label there that says 'MP3'.

Doh. Never mind, the ten quid cigar-lighter type transmitter off Ebay works very well with my MP3 portable cd player. That holds eight hours of MP3's per CD, so a couple of those is better than my old Kenwood 6 CD changer.

I just want some snow to play in, now!