Hi everyone,
I just bought a grey Panda 100HP MY2010 with 35k miles.
Now it's time for some upgrade, so I would like to ask you guys some advice:

1 - STRUT BAR
The are two strut bars available from Sparco (036RG110) and OMP (MA/1878), which one is better? I mean the OMP one uses as mounting holes the exiting ones which have the purpose of centering the damper during installation, the Sparco bar needs to drill new holes, but it seems to work a little bit better. It's hard find any picture of the Sparco bar installed, but there are lots of OMPs On the forum. The OMP is a lot cheaper, but in this case I want the better one.

2 - AIR FILTERS
easy question: BMC panel VS BMC CDA.
I like how the CDA fits in the engine bay, but it's really worth 4x the panel cost?
Performance and esthetic are the keys here.

3 - NEW TYRES
The car still has day0 Goodyear F1 tyres, so in march a new set needs to come. Reading here and there Rainsport 3, Sportrac 5 and S.Drive are the options. Do someone test one of them? Mileage is also very important for me.

4 - BRAKES
I need to replace the front brakes, my target are Brembo rotors with ferodo pads, I always found this combo really good. About the Pads any advice: DS PERFORMACE vs DS 2500 vs OEM vs WHAT? Direct experiences will be really appreciated.

Thank you guys

Some thoughts:


1 - STRUT BAR
Someone once fitted one. Looked nice but was of no obvious benefit

2 - AIR FILTERS
Performance - none has any effect. I have a K&N renewable. Aesthetics........well, choice is yours.

3 - NEW TYRES
I chose Rainsports. On the Emerald Isle that may well be your most practical option.



4 - BRAKES
I bought Brembo disks and Ferodo pads. They were on offer at Eurocarparts. No complaints.

Thank YOU AB100

AB100 said:

Some thoughts:

1 - STRUT BAR
Someone once fitted one. Looked nice but was of no obvious benefit

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First of all I wanna see some picture of the Sparco brace, but I was not able to find anyone :bang:

AB100 said:

2 - AIR FILTERS
Performance - none has any effect. I have a K&N renewable. Aesthetics........well, choice is yours.

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I read the thread 246142 (I am not able to post the URL right now cause I only have 1 message) and the benefit of a better filter is +3/4 bhp.
CDA is an EZ winner when it comes down to aesthetic!

AB100 said:

3 - NEW TYRES
I chose Rainsports. On the Emerald Isle that may well be your most practical option.

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When you write Emerald Isle you means Ireland, right? Here in Italy we have a better weather I think... And arguably better streets, so dry grip and mileage is what I want to look at.

AB100 said:

4 - BRAKES
I bought Brembo disks and Ferodo pads. They were on offer at Eurocarparts. No complaints.

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I didn't find them eurocarparts.

I can't recall who fitted the brace in the past. It didn't appear to offer them any advantages as I remember.


None of the air filters gives you anything like 3-4BHP or anything much at all, though they sound like they give it! It's your car though so go for it.


I should have hovered the flag. At 8mm in size it looked like the Irish tricolor! Less rain in Italy, though I have no complaints with the Rainsports on both days when we've has dry roads in the UK. Many of us do swap to 195/50-15 tyres though as the alloy wheels damage easily.


Alas Eurocarparts is a UK provider. I paid around £100 for my 4 disks/pads. Easy to change.

I have the OMP strutbrace, was on the car when I bought it, can't say whether it has any effect or not, however it does kind of look like it belongs!

From the research I've done I can't really see any advantage in the CDA over a panel filter, mine did have a generic cone filter but I've gone back to standard airbox and OEM panel filter...seems to breathe easier but the cone filter was filthy and oil breather pipe was perished. From an aesthetic point of view I would much prefer to bin the airbox and actually SEE the engine though so I think in the future I may make up an induction kit using RAMAIR components...:slayer:

I've used DS2500 and Brembo discs on Renaultsport Clio's and they're great, especially on track...not sure the 100hp warrants DS Performance..to be honest the little Panda is so light I'd be tempted to get whatever OE equivalent pads are reasonably priced teamed with the Brembo's.

I have the Rainsports, 2's I think, they are superb wet or dry and really are great value for money...

I've got the OMP strut brace £58 ebay it just looks the part when fitted, not fitted mine yet waiting for some decent weather and will have to move the shocker slightly forward as the one of the holes on each side is slightly blocked off .
Just bought some Abarth wheel centers, they look better than the Fiat ones

reef67 said:

I have the OMP strutbrace, was on the car when I bought it, can't say whether it has any effect or not, however it does kind of look like it belongs!

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Bad Panda said:

I've got the OMP strut brace £58 ebay it just looks the part when fitted, not fitted mine yet waiting for some decent weather and will have to move the shocker slightly forward as the one of the holes on each side is slightly blocked off.

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Ok guys I did some research on the strut brace so if I decide to mount it the Sparco will be the one. The OMP using the standard holes works on a thinner part of the metal sheet where the damper is fitted, so it is likely not doing its job correctly. I think from a mechanical point of view the Sparco one will work just better.

reef67 said:

I've used DS2500 and Brembo discs on Renaultsport Clio's and they're great, especially on track...not sure the 100hp warrants DS Performance..to be honest the little Panda is so light I'd be tempted to get whatever OE equivalent pads are reasonably priced teamed with the Brembo's.

Click to expand...

Brembo rotors with UV coating + Ferodo DS Performance @ front + Ferodo Premier @ rear are on the way!

reef67 said:

I have the Rainsports, 2's I think, they are superb wet or dry and really are great value for money...

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Now the 3's are out, I will decide next month waiting for other advice.

Bad Panda said:

Just bought some Abarth wheel centers, they look better than the Fiat ones

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Sounds really cool. Can you please gimme links and some picture of the job?
Thank you m8s

I've got the Yokohama S Drives on my 100hp and they are far better than the Goodyears. Especially in the wet

The100hpGuy said:

I've got the Yokohama S Drives on my 100hp and they are far better than the Goodyears. Especially in the wet

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Can I ask you a profile picture where I can see how much the tyre comes out from the wheel? I love S.Drive tread

Hope these are helpful!

The100hpGuy said:

Hope these are helpful!

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Thank you mate, really appreciated.
How is the mileage of these tyres in your opinion?

TL100HP said:

Thank you mate, really appreciated.
How is the mileage of these tyres in your opinion?

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No problem at all! Their brilliant, very hard wearing as they have a harder sidewall than the original Goodyears. This means they can also stand up much better to the negative camber that 100hp's all have. Suites the cars handling characteristics far better too

The Panda front strut top mounts are close to the scuttle so an additional brace is unlikely to have any benefit you'll detect with road tyres. Get one that looks nice or spend the money having engine covers powder coated.

The air intake wont make any difference other than noise.You would be better off fitting a sports exhaust manifold with catalyst under the floor. Please make sure the emissions are within acceptable limits. The fraction more power you'll get by running a little rich (a typical remap bodge) is a gain not worth having and will really P everybody off running along behind.

This is worth a look
https://www.fiatforum.com/panda/314232-throttle-bodies-100hp.html

And this
http://www.guy-croft.com/viewtopic.php?t=1662

If you want to know some useful information about engine tuning this is worth a couple of hours of anyone's time. It's not about Fiats (so scatter cams are just a novelty) but the fundamentals don't change.



plus a few more.

Thank you Dave :worship:

DaveMcT said:

The Panda front strut top mounts are close to the scuttle so an additional brace is unlikely to have any benefit you'll detect with road tyres. Get one that looks nice or spend the money having engine covers powder coated.

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As soon as I will find the Sparco strut brace I will buy it and then we will see the possible benefit :slayer:

DaveMcT said:

The air intake wont make any difference other than noise.You would be better off fitting a sports exhaust manifold with catalyst under the floor.

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Maybe you are right here, but CDA costs about 200 pounds (taking away the savings that gives you every year on filter change) and an upgrade with manifold, metal catalyst and additional module over 1000 pounds. I do not want more noise at the exhaust, so I don't think this is worth at all.

You can make an intake with aluminium tubes and silicone hose bends. It will look great but will take years to recoup any savings on air filters. No need to spend £200.

Certainly a proper exhaust manifold and system will be more costly but the standard mani-cats really do put a crimp on power and economy. No exhaust needs to be noisy. That's down to the owners fitting boom boxes which actually do nothing more than make noise.

If you really want more power then a decent exhaust is a must have. The next stage will be head tuning for part open valve flow (peak flow is only available for a short part of the cycle).

Anything else is window dressing. Nice to have but does next to nothing for performance.

Reminds me of an episode of top gear. Lower suspension bigger tyres brakes and so on made very little difference.


Also seen some rolling road tests of some boy racer cars. Most with bolt on bits made less than standard.

DaveMcT said:

You can make an intake with aluminium tubes and silicone hose bends. It will look great but will take years to recoup any savings on air filters. No need to spend £200.

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I found a used CDA with around 5000 miles, so it is in a very good condition. This is not the specific one for the 100HP, I think about buying it and then make new connections with black silicone hoses as you suggested. This will save some money and probably is better having black hoses instead of the red ones. I will paint also the strut brace in black

Personally I like the look of coloured hoses though if going for the full monty dressed look the whole engine bay would need to match.

Again though, don't expect any performance gains from an intake kit. The OEM will be more than good enough for the stock engine. For looks and noise - yes. For power - don't bother.

My bike (BMW boxer 1200) makes 85bhp at the back wheel. The engine is strangulated by the stock ECU map and exhaust. A free flow (not necessarily noisy) exhaust and a remap will take it to 100bhp at the back wheel with considerable mid range gains.

However a free flow air filter or even removing the seemingly restrictive intake stub makes all of no difference to the performance.

On a Classic Mini, twin SU carbs and full sports exhaust (manifold and system) give the best gains. But almost the same gains are available with a singe SU and a well designed inlet manifold.

The Fiat FIRE already has a good inlet manifold and throttle body so just needs a properly flowing exhaust to benefit from the engineer's original design.

Bad Panda said:

Just bought some Abarth wheel centers, they look better than the Fiat ones

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Guys I need your help. :worship:
Do your know where I can find Abarth wheel centers?
And about the front and rear bagdes these will fit right ( http://www.ebay.it/itm/162039212555?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT ) or I need to buy original ones from a Punto Abarth with the frames? I read I have to modify the front one in case.