Remember how you used to play with your toy cars on the living room floor - driving them fearlessly up the north face of thefireplace and across the unforgiving terrain of the sofa? Yes? Well, prepare for a sense of déjà-vu. Fiat has transformed its Panda into the ultimate go-anywhere plaything - complete with Fisher-Price-style bodywork.

The Panda Cross is a further evolution of the current 4×4 model - a machine that has proved a massive hit around Europe and accounts for nearly 20 per cent of all sales in the range.

Aside from the chunky body panels and lurid colours, the biggest difference between the Cross and the standard 4×4 is underneath the car and takes the form of an ingenious differential unit.

A new viscous coupling device sits between the two axles and is supplemented by a clever electronic control system linked to each wheel. This allows the Panda to drive off even if only one wheel has grip. With a conventional 4×4 system, power can be swapped from front to rear axles, but rarely across the car. By applying the brake to a spinning wheel, the Panda system forces drive to the wheel with grip - hauling the Fiat out of trouble. It’s smart, and works amazingly well.

As with the standard Panda 4×4, the Cross is a real hoot on the open road. But thanks to its higher ride height (11cm taller than the regular 4×4 model) and chunkier tyres, it’s not a car for those seeking precise handling.

It does, however, possess character and charm - qualities in short supply in Fiat’s new Sedici. Yes, it rolls through corners and pitches forward when you hit the brakes hard, but things never get out of hand and the driving experience always raises a smile.

The engine and gearbox are also great to use. The additional hardware underneath has done nothing to affect the lovely gearchange and enthusiasm of the excellent 1.3-litre Multijet turbodiesel. With plenty of torque on tap and intelligently chosen ratios, the Panda is at home over any terrain.

Downsides? Well, the biggest one is that this brilliant little package may never come to the UK. Fiat bosses over here are agonising over its future and possible sales potential. If it was up to us, we’d sign the deal today because this is a car that promises to make budget motoring a real joy.

(this article was written by Paul Bailey and taken from autoexpress.co.uk)

This entry was posted on Friday, December 2nd, 2005 at 4:54 pm and is filed under Miscellaneous. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.