Technical 1.4 Abarth engine into Mk4 Panda?

[PandaRovet]

Fell in love with a Panda hire car we had.

Want to get one as a project, perhaps to install the 1.4 Abarth 500 engine in, along with a six-speed box.

Has anyone done this swap? I did search the forum but can’t find anyone who has. I have solid fabricating skills and mechanical knowledge. My biggest concern is whether the Panda’s body control module (if it has one) will clash with the 500’s ECU?

 

[FiatMatt94]

Hi & welcome to the forum, underneath the body shell Panda's & standard 500's are identical so they might be the exact same part, you're best bet would probably be to get a loom & ECU's etc out of a 500/595 Abarth along with the engine & gearbox, to my knowledge no one has done this conversion yet so it'll be really interesting to see the progress & the final result.

 

[Steve gt]

This was at an abarth track day earlier this year, might be able to search up the instagram name to get some info

 

[PandaRovet]

This was at an abarth track day earlier this year, might be able to search up the instagram name to get some info

That looks like a MK2/3 Panda, which I believe people have managed with. I’m looking for MK4 specific info, thanks though

 

[PandaRovet]

Hi & welcome to the forum, underneath the body shell Panda's & standard 500's are identical so they might be the exact same part, you're best bet would probably be to get a loom & ECU's etc out of a 500/595 Abarth along with the engine & gearbox, to my knowledge no one has done this conversion yet so it'll be really interesting to see the progress & the final result.

I did not know that. Sounds promising. Thank you. If a Panda just had an extra loom branch for the fourth and fifth door then that would be amazing!

 

[chris3234]

I did not know that. Sounds promising. Thank you. If a Panda just had an extra loom branch for the fourth and fifth door then that would be amazing!

The 2012 onwards pandas as massively different to the older ones.
Your unlikely to get this to work without a standalone ECU to run the engine

 

[FiatMatt94]

This was at an abarth track day earlier this year, might be able to search up the instagram name to get some info

I bet that Panda's pretty rapid

 

[jrkitching]

underneath the body shell Panda's & standard 500's are identical

The Mk3 Panda is similar (but not identical) to the standard 500; the Mk4 Panda (which the OP is considering fitting an A500 engine into) is substantially different.

 

[PandaRovet]

The 2012 onwards pandas as massively different to the older ones.
Your unlikely to get this to work without a standalone ECU to run the engine

Would something like a Megasquirt suffice, or are we talking full blown Haltech (or similar) aftermarket ECU?

What's Fiat's alternative to VCDS or Diagbox called? I need to dig much deeper!

 

[PandaRovet]

The Mk3 Panda is similar (but not identical) to the standard 500; the Mk4 Panda (which the OP is considering fitting an A500 engine into) is substantially different.

I wish there was a universal reference source for shared components, this would help hugely across all makes and models when comparing parts.

 

[chris3234]

Would something like a Megasquirt suffice, or are we talking full blown Haltech (or similar) aftermarket ECU?

What's Fiat's alternative to VCDS or Diagbox called? I need to dig much deeper!

Couldn't tell you unfortunately that is far beyond my skill levels


For fiat diagnostics there is multiecu scan all-through not sure how much help it is for that level of use