Technical Panda hybrid AIR BOX

[Sparkus2]

Greet from Slovakia.

In January, I bought a new Panda Sport 1.0 hybrid to commute to work and I bought a Fiat 500 1.0 hybrid to my wife. I have driven more than 3500 km with a panda so far, I am relatively satisfied with her driving performance. Fiat 500 has more than 2000km.

But my wife and I agreed that the engine in the Fiat 500 1.0 Hybrid is significantly more agile, easier to pick up from low revs. Above 4000 rpm, both cars are running the same (but it is true if I say that above 4000 rpm those engines are weak). Both cars have the same size and tire model, they have the same equipment, so the weight differences are minimal.

But I noticed that the airbox in Panda has a slightly different shape than the 500. Can this difference be the subjective difference? The hybrid system recharges the battery under the seat in both cars in the same way. I enclose a photo of the airboxes.

 

[timmycm850]

Hi sparks.

I think I understand that these cars learn your driving styles and hence feed in the hybrid power to suit the drivers use. So I wonder if the 500 has learned to feed in the electric boost at lower revs learned from your wife's driving style.

Tim

 

[timmycm850]

please remember. Most other 1.0 litre cars these days are 1.0l turbo engines and cost £1000s more than the Pandas so you may be expecting turbo boost that thus car doesn't have. But I bet your bank balance is much more healthy

 

[Sparkus2]

Thanks for your answer timmy. The difference in starting from low revs was noticeable from the very first kilometers from dealershop. I even did the first 1000km on both cars.

 

[roverp480]

The shape of the air box is usually determined as much by reducing induction noise as anything else., which is often influenced by the cabin / under bonnet space

 

[Herts Hillhopper]

Hi sparks.

I think I understand that these cars learn your driving styles and hence feed in the hybrid power to suit the drivers use. So I wonder if the 500 has learned to feed in the electric boost at lower revs learned from your wife's driving style.

Tim

Note ( as I've mentioned before in other threads), the Fiat Mild Hybrid is not a hybrid in the 'original' sense. The 'motor' the battery supplies is the starter motor (as a combined starter and generator), which can only be 'on' or 'off'. Once the petrol engine has started, the electric motor reverts to being the generator (alternator) to charge the standard battery, and then the hybrid one once the first if sufficiently full. It is basically a slightly cleverer version of stop/start but which ticks an extra box for car makers on the route to being greener.

This might help https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mild_hybrid

As to the air box shape @Sparkus2 , more than likely owing to the shape of the bonnet over it: that of the 500 being shorter and rounder than the Panda's. The difference in oomph might come down to the fact that the Panda weighs nearly 100kg more than the 500.