Technical More power from the 1.4 100hp

[jeffreyli86]

Hello all,

I have a 2009 Fiat 500 1.4 100hp. It's a great little car however, I feel that it is quite underpowered.

I am now looking to modify the car for more power. I've looked into the Colombi Bariani camshafts for it but I don't know about the power gains to be expected. Does anyone know?

Also, I have contacted JCR Racing about their supercharger kit for the 500. However they have not come back with a reply yet.

Does anyone know how I can turbo/supercharge the little thing?

Getting an Abarth is just not viable with the missus in the way.

Cheers
Jeff

 

[pearce_jj]

IMHO just getting the abarth will be much cheaper and you'll get a much better car too.

 

[Joseph500]

Getting an Abarth is just not viable with the missus in the way.

Cheers
Jeff

I see an answer - however don't think it will down well on the home front

 

[jeffreyli86]

I see an answer - however don't think it will down well on the home front

LOL :bang::bang:

 

[jeffreyli86]

IMHO just getting the abarth will be much cheaper and you'll get a much better car too.

The Abarth is VERY expensive where I'm from (Hong Kong).. Not to mention the fact that since the official Fiat dealer has gone out of business it is quite impossible to find a brand new 500 let alone the A500

 

[Joseph500]

So you are in Honkers - interesting

When I was in London last year in July I popped in the Fiat Flagship store to just to have a look at an Abarth. When I expressed my frustration to the staff about the Abarth's then unavailability in Australia (now fixed ) they suggested a personal import saying that they had recently had done a few to Hong Kong

Is this a possibility ?? Remember you do not pay the VAT or any other OTR costs IIRC the raw price was about 12,500 GBP - tempting ??

 

[jeffreyli86]

So you are in Honkers - interesting

When I was in London last year in July I popped in the Fiat Flagship store to just to have a look at an Abarth. When I expressed my frustration to the staff about the Abarth's then unavailability in Australia (now fixed ) they suggested a personal import saying that they had recently had done a few to Hong Kong

Is this a possibility ?? Remember you do not pay the VAT or any other OTR costs IIRC the raw price was about 12,500 GBP - tempting ??

Sure is. Thing is though HK tax would have to be levied and having had the 500 for quite a while now I wouldn't be buying yet another 500 !! :bang:

My 500 actually has most goodies available on the market already.. I have the KW coilovers, Lester kit, Abarth seats with steering, EBC disks and pads, Goodridge braided brake lines, OMP bars and whatnot.. Just that the engine isn't pulling good enough.. Perhaps I'm just spoilt by V8s.. :bang:

 

[306maxi]

Lester kit will slow the car down

 

[loveshandbags]

Hello all,

I have a 2009 Fiat 500 1.4 100hp. It's a great little car however, I feel that it is quite underpowered.

I am now looking to modify the car for more power. I've looked into the Colombi Bariani camshafts for it but I don't know about the power gains to be expected. Does anyone know?

Also, I have contacted JCR Racing about their supercharger kit for the 500. However they have not come back with a reply yet.

Does anyone know how I can turbo/supercharge the little thing?

Getting an Abarth is just not viable with the missus in the way.

Cheers
Jeff

I would agree with the advice given before me that a A500 is a better bet. But if you cannot and don't want to get one there are several threads on here about improving the performance on a 1.4 Some of the improvements have sparked a lot of responses. In my humble opinion and from the inputs that Jnoiles, RobW and TrackdayQueen have given - here is a very quick summary...

Cold Air induction (CAI) kit from Pipercross. Custom made. You can do a hard reset on the ECU. Costs about £115. Induction noise. Possibly 3bhp but some loss at the low end. More torque. I've had it & I liked it.
ITG Panel filter. £60. Foam filter. Better performing than the paper one. Some prefer the BMC one since it is used on the A500SS. Maybe 1-2bhp.
Denso irdium plugs. Maybe 1bhp or possibly nothing. Personally I found the car was a little sharper. Performs better for longer. Becoming the US recommended plug for emission regs. £38
Performance manifold from Janspeed or Supersprint £190-£280 plus a sports 200cell cat from £300+ You will also need to factor in a re-map at around £200. If you do the manifold upgrade without the remap (a CAT light stays on but it still passes the emissions because of the 2nd CAT) but it is not recommended.
Full exhaust system in e.g. Janspeed (cheaper) or Supersprint (£1,800 ?) or Raga.... (££££). Some have got the Supersprint at trade prices - this one appears to be the one to go for. I've heard that you may still need a remap but a CAT light can come on.
Porting & Polishing. Head is skimmed and P&P. Increased compression and better flow. £950. Very specialist job. Was the 'cornerstone' of the LAD Motorsport conversion.
Cams. Don't know much about this but I understand you either do the P&P or the Cam but not both. Cam from memory was pricey £500 ? and given that the power in the 1.4 only really 'comes on' after 4K - I got the impression that it wasn't that successful.
Supercharger. Personally I couldn't live with the bulge on the bonnet and it would be an insurance nightmare.
Turbo. More fuel efficient than the Supercharge. Still an insurance nightmare and with the lack of TTC on the 1.4 wouldn't recommend it.

A re-map on its own in conjunction with an ITG Panel filter. £295. Estimated at around 5-7bhp but no one that I'm aware of on the FF has confirmed this.

Personally I like the CAI, would be very tempted with a manifold upgrade, reckon that the Port & Polish with the head skim is the way to go despite the ££££. The re-map with the ITG is tempting with the ECU getting a flash off the car for the price but no 'proof'. Understand that the best re-map is done with the car on the Rolling Road.

One of the benefits of the ECU on the 500 is that it can be 're-programmed' unlike the ECU on the Panda 100hp which is 'locked' but either can be re-set.

https://www.fiatforum.com/500/199654-lad-motorsport-fiat-500-a.html
https://www.fiatforum.com/500/265055-induction-cold-air-feed.html
https://www.fiatforum.com/500/263450-my-new-1-4-500-a-4.html?p=2745324
https://www.fiatforum.com/panda/268372-spark-plugs-100hp.html

Anyway after all the research - I'm done nothing except change the plugs to iridium ones on the current 500 - so that might say it all !

 

[jeffreyli86]

Cheers for the great insight. I've also done some research here and there and it does seem like that not many have modded their 500s performance-wise.

I do have the BMC panel filter and if you suggest it, I might try the K&N CAI too.. Coming from the VW scene I drilled the airbox too :bang:

Just placed an order 30mins ago for the Supersprint manifold with the de-cat, as well as the Ragazzon twin (left and right like an Abarth) exhaust. I already have the Supersprint middle section which deletes the centre muffler.

Regarding a remap, I was wondering if it is OK for me to buy some off-the-shelf remaps on eBay.. Reason being the rolling-road places in HK are rather dodgy and they live in their own little JDM world tuning GTRs and whatnot. This is the reason why I bought decent remaps from eBay for both my Golf 5 GTi and the E55 (as well as my Smart ForTwo lol)

Would the catalytic converter delete through a CEL then? As far as I know it retains the lambda sensor, which is placed before the cat on a stock car. Could anyone please shed some light regarding why it would throw a CEL then if it does?

Cheers
Jeff

 

[loveshandbags]

Cheers for the great insight. I've also done some research here and there and it does seem like that not many have modded their 500s performance-wise.

I do have the BMC panel filter and if you suggest it, I might try the K&N CAI too.. Coming from the VW scene I drilled the airbox too :bang:
The K&N CAI is no good. The best performing CAI has been the GSR (this can be bought again - he's back !) but it has downsides with taking in water since its low to the ground. Pipercross IMHO is the best but if you going for the full exhaust I suggest that you stick with the BMC (and seal that hole on the airbox !) but the ITG has been proven to be a better flow panel filter (foam based).
Just placed an order 30mins ago for the Supersprint manifold with the de-cat, as well as the Ragazzon twin (left and right like an Abarth) exhaust. I already have the Supersprint middle section which deletes the centre muffler.
If I was going for a full exhaust I would for the proven performance gain of the Superspirint all the way through. But I can understand that you want to try and emulate the A500 with the Ragazzon back box (I assume it has an exit pipe on each side of the rear of the car).
Regarding a remap, I was wondering if it is OK for me to buy some off-the-shelf remaps on eBay..
Rolling road is really the only way to go given the full exhaust and the CAT changes.
Reason being the rolling-road places in HK are rather dodgy and they live in their own little JDM world tuning GTRs and whatnot. This is the reason why I bought decent remaps from eBay for both my Golf 5 GTi and the E55 (as well as my Smart ForTwo lol)
I struggled on knowing where the CATs were on the 500. The first one in the manifold 'disappears' with the new manifold. I would also suggest getting the manifold specially ceramic coated so that the exhaust gases stay hot to make the (2nd cat) the 'sport cat' work more efficiently. A remap will need to be done so that you can get the cat light to go off. A lot more detail on the exhaust setup is in the Panda section or hopefully someone else will come on that knows more than me !
Would the catalytic converter delete through a CEL then? As far as I know it retains the lambda sensor, which is placed before the cat on a stock car. Could anyone please shed some light regarding why it would throw a CEL then if it does?

Cheers
Jeff

If & when you get your new setup working - I would be very appreciative if you come back to us on the costs of the mods and if it was worth it. Many thanks in advance. Michael.