Last weekend Rich and I decided it was time to put our little Rally car through a proper 4x4 shakedown. We went with Ross and Scott to a farm they know in Wales. Basically the farmer has discovered it's much more profitable to charge boy racers £20 a vehicle to tear it round his farm, than to raise sheep.
Ross and Scott where in a Ford Ranger pick-up so they were very well suited to the terrain. We were a bit more nervous particularly as we nearly gave up on the first track we went on. However, we soon got used to the Panda's 4x4 setup and what we could and couldn't get away. What followed was a day of throwing our little car up and down hills, over ruts, through puddles, across fields, through streams and into ditches. It's amazing what this little carcana do, we even managed to upstage my brother by getting through some bits he got stuck on. The whole day was amazing fun and I'd really recommend it to anyone, I think it may even be more fun in a car like ours because there is a bit more doubt over what you can and can't achieve. Between us we took hundreds of photos and a few videos which I've stuck in a gallery, which you can see by clicking here.
The car now looks amazing, it's covered in mud and looks very professional. It does rattle a bit more, but I guess that just in the spirit of the rally.