Hello from Edinburgh

[Tom90]

Hey all,

Had my wee 1.2 500s for 3 years now and done some tinkering over that time. Some things I’ll get laughed at for no doubt

1. Abarth brake / rear beam switch. (Cooked the brakes the second day i had the thing ) Imo this has been a great change, I know some people complained that the rear calipers seize etc but with a decent routine I’ve kept mines free moving and in good order since I switched. Also renewed the flexi lines with some HEL braided lines (about the same cost as a new set of OEM ones at the time) and some coupe bump stops which again were not needed but inexpensive so thought why not.

2. Very daft but I had it mapped, not for any big power improvement really just to get rid of the unbearable hesitation when pulling away / low revs etc.

3. Fitted one of those Aliexpress android units which was easy enough and is now coming back out as it died tonight , will try and get a OEM 7” CarPlay unit.

4. Tried to install cruise control but it appears my BCM may not be compatible, will give it another go when I proxy the new head unit and if that fails I’ll grab the Canm8 unit.

5. Got a set of H&R springs and B8 shocks to go on when I get the time (still on original springs and shocks and they’re all looking rather buggered so again why not)

6. Roof rack and roof basket for its first trip to Italy this year! So far it’s been very useful helping a few people move house / pick up furniture from market place

7. Managed to grab a set of 16” alloys for it so I can switch depending on seasons etc.


Tbh I won’t be doing anymore to it as I’ve set my eyes on a project for the summer, appears to have been done plenty before now but I’m hoping to do the T-jet swap on a Panda 4x4 although I’ll hopefully be rebuilding the engine first so I can try and get to the 250 mark (any suggestions welcome)

Anyway thanks and look forward to bugging you all.

 

[Slotman]

Welcome tom! Sounds like you've been bitten by the "fiat bug" for sure! Would love to see more pictures of your work!

 

[The Panda Nut]

What was the remap, and did it improve things? Have you kept the VVT solenoid clean. They stick readily and this also makes the car tardy. I now make sure to rev the car to 5000 each week at least a few times to ensure this thing is made to work over its full range of movement. It definitely makes quite a difference.

 

[Tom90]

What was the remap, and did it improve things? Have you kept the VVT solenoid clean. They stick readily and this also makes the car tardy. I now make sure to rev the car to 5000 each week at least a few times to ensure this thing is made to work over its full range of movement. It definitely makes

Think it took it to “72hp” but was mostly to give the bottom end a little more as it always felt like it was about to stall down low in the revs. Definitely noticed a smoother throttle in that area since and fuel economy was improved by a couple of mpg but it was nothing drastic and the intention was just to tidy it up.

In general I keep the revs high most of the time which is more of a habit from bikes I think, rarely am I out of 2nd in the city and often try to get out on the b roads again keeping the revs quite high.

 

[newtonn51]

Hello from France tom

 

[The Panda Nut]

I have finally got our 2014 Panda Lounge running exactly right. Wow it really is fab. I think it may be the best running Panda 1.2 in existence right now. The euro 5 flat spot is gone, and its one of the sweetest engines I have ever had. The VVT system works as it should and it revs freely. At 4000 rpm you actually get a push in the back and it spins easily to 6500rpm with no complaints. The upside is bottom end performance is transformed as well. Keeping the vvt variator working seems to be an art. When these things hit the sweet spot they are almost magical. So I now have the best running 1.2 possible and now almost certainly the cleanest shiniest 2019 TA 4x4 in the world as well. Its nearly killed me. One more day polishing and that job will be done.