Fiat Panda 4x4 (2005 – 2012) Review

Fiat Panda 4x4 (2005 – 2012) At A Glance

Impressively capable off road and in snow. Chunky looks. As practical as the standard Panda. Good quality and easy to use interior.

A front-wheel drive Panda rides better. Sluggish performance.

Real MPG average for a Fiat Panda 4x4 (2005 – 2012)

Real MPG was created following thousands of readers telling us that their cars could not match the official figures.

Real MPG gives real world data from drivers like you to show how much fuel a vehicle really uses.

Diesel or petrol? If you're unsure whether to go for a petrol or diesel (or even an electric model if it's available), then you need our Petrol or Diesel? calculator. It does the maths on petrols, diesels and electric cars to show which is best suited to you.

Satisfaction Index

Reviews for Fiat Panda 4x4 (2005 – 2012)'s top 3 rivals

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Surprisingly spacious small five-door city car. Makes best sense with 1.0 petrol engine. Much better...

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Small car based on Volkswagen Up. Ideal for town. Economical on fuel. Fun to drive. Lower prices than...

Kia Picanto

Excellent small car for the money. High quality and neatly designed interior. Great to drive and cheap...

On the inside of an Fiat Panda 4x4 (2005 – 2012)

• Boot space is 206–861 litres

The list price of £7,895 includes a radio/CD player, remote central locking, ABS with EBD and brake assist. But not a split, folding, sliding rear seat, which remains a necessary £200 extra because all the standard seat has is a flop-down backrest.

Child seats that fit a Fiat Panda 4x4 (2005 – 2012)

Our unique Car Seat Chooser shows you which child car seats will fit this car and which seat positions that they will fit, so that you don't have to check every car seat manufacturer's website for compatibility.

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Driving Fiat Panda 4x4 (2005 – 2012)

• Engines range from 1.2 4x4 to 1.3 MultiJet 4x4
• Readers report Real MPG to be between 37–56 mpg

The Multijet is the same 1,248cc chain-cam 16 valve Euro 4 70bhp common rail direct injected diesel also found under the bonnets of Puntos, Ideas, Corsas and now even Combo vans. It's a great little engine, slightly longer geared in the Panda at about 27.5mph per 1,000 rpm in top, capable of 65mpg on the combined cycle and emits just 114g/km C02 and doesn't need a particulate trap. It weighs a bit more than the petrol engines, but not enough to make the car feel clumsy, and it's actually the fastest Panda with 0-60mph in 12.7 seconds and a top speed of 99mph.

The 4x4 is a different sort of animal with raised 165cm ride height and chunky 185/65 x 14 or optional 185/70 x 14 M+S tyres. Its suspension is stiffer so on the road its ride quality suffers a bit, but it corners flatter so the extra height does not seriously affect its handling. It's slow, though. Zero to 60 takes nearly 20 seconds.

A driveshaft to the viscous coupled rear diff spins at the same speed as the front driveshafts. When slippage is detected at the front, the coupling couples drive to the rear. There are no limited slip diffs, diff locks or anything else to worry about. All the driver has to do is drive. Unlike the original Panda 4x4, which has a solid back axle, the new one has an alloy-cased diff with independent driveshafts to the rear wheels, though the torsion beam type axle only allows the same movement between them as on two wheel drive versions.

Off road the system is astonishingly effective. Short overhangs, good ground clearance and a short wheelbase enable it to keep going in deep, muddy ruts and cross ridges you would have thought impossible. It even made mincemeat of the course at Thruxton 4x4 centre, romping around in second gear. With its relatively light weight of 980 kilos it should also be as good in snow as the old Panda 4x4 was. While big 4x4s sink into the stuff, a Panda 4x4 crushes only the top layer and then effectively drives over the snow.

So, if you live in a country area frequently snowbound in winter, or your house is up a rough and muddy track, or you go skiing a lot then the Panda 4x4 is ideal. However, as is the case with most 4x4s, we could see rather a lot of them in towns and cities, endowing their ‘toff roader' owners with fake 4x4 cred while never venturing off road.

Fiat Panda 4x4 (2005 – 2012) Models and Specs

Good

What to watch out for

Model History