Off Topic Very off topic for this section but I found it interesting...

[Panda IIs]

I know, I know, probably not entirely Panda relevant but I have a 4x4 TA and found this interesting. I have also owned a 500 in Texas with the featured engine which is why it especially piqued my interest! Moderators may evict this to the 500 section!!

 

[JayAre]

Very interesting - learned a lot about about ICEs + the MultiAir including:
- fit new sparkies every 18k (+don’t buy cheap ones )
- the Multi/TwinAir system is more resilient to poor maintenance than I’d feared
also confirmed my thoughts that modern Pandas (+others using this engine type) are maybe overly complex for budget-friendly (+DIY) regular maintenance + service item replacement in a non-luxury car

 

[The Panda Nut]

Not just Fiats. All makers seem to be doing same stuff. B' ****DS. EU want all cars repaired at garages and all spares to be manufacturers only. Now, what do we know about BEV maintenance..... Oh what a suprise

 

[JayAre]

Jeepers, you’re up late! Thought I had the forums to myself for some quiet lurking…
And, yes, you’re right (sticks more pins in Eurocrat doll collection…)

 

[The Panda Nut]

The huge number of new car makes and models and fuel types will mean too many parts for independants to stock, so they may succeed by default. Electricity scares me quite a bit sotheywill win on that too at least for a while till we find out whats what.
Im often up late. Sleep evades me these days.

 

[PuntoHowTo]

I watched this yesterday, it is quite funny to see that this is the exact same basic engine as my old 98 Punto Cabrio.

The rocker/cam cover, the multiair block and the follower holder are all specific but everything below that is pretty much the same including the cylinder head the cambelt set up, water pump, even all the mounting points on the block for the engine mounts are the same as the 16v engine in the Punto.

 

[the green vanper]

The huge number of new car makes and models and fuel types will mean too many parts for independants to stock, so they may succeed by default. Electricity scares me quite a bit sotheywill win on that too at least for a while till we find out whats what.
Im often up late. Sleep evades me these days.

Electric motors are definitely less complicated than modern combustion engines. That's why they are so popular in China: they were able to copy / produce similar motors on their own even 20 years ago The most 'complicated' element of an EV is the energy management module. But it is not more complicated than the ECUs found in cars equipped with combustion engines.

The only problem for a non professionnal is higher than usual voltage. That requires extra precautions. And knowledge. Putting a wrench on a running diesel is not going to kill you (unless you have really bad luck). Putting a wrench on some connectors of a 400 V battery, even when the car is not running can be problematic... And spectacular at the same time