11 Oct 04
Remember the old Panda 4x4? It was a crude, albeit charming, device whose rear wheels joined in with the fronts only if you engaged the four-wheel drive transmission manually. And then it was a solid connection with no centre differential, so you couldn't use it on a grippy surface without causing major transmission wind-up. This was an off-road traction aid only.
This time it's different. The new Panda 4x4 uses a viscous coupling to divert torque to the rear wheels as the front wheels start to lose grip, a common enough arrangement but one which breaks new ground in a car at this end of the market. So the driver needs to do nothing - the transmission controls itself.
Compared with the standard Panda, the 4x4 gains thicker rubbing strakes flowing into plastic wheelarch extensions, a stout plastic sun shield integrated into the front valance, and a raised ride height. Two engines are offered, the usual Panda fare of a 1.2-litre petrol (60 bhp) and a 1.3-litre Multijet turbodiesel (70 bhp). Neither will be quick, however: the 1.2 takes 20 seconds to accelerate from 0-60mph and the diesel 16 seconds.
