General Highest mileage

[Panda convertee]

I was wondering what distance the highest mileage Twinair on the forum had achieved and whether there were any niggles being experienced with higher mileage engines - or do they simply improve with age..?

 

[Goudrons]

I seem to remember a few 30k or so ones being written about a while ago.

There haven't been many issues reported, a recent one regarding some unexplained cutting out was posted, but other than that it's just the usual niggles.

I guess the main niggle is the stop start system.
I like the idea, but in practise it doesn't work too well.
It needs to detect the battery is in a good state of charge before it'll allow the engine to stall, so in heavy traffic it'll work a few times then decide it's not playing any more to save you getting stranded at the lights.

Mine spends all week floating around London, but does get a trip out on the weekends, so my S/S works Mondays, then packs up until next Monday!
It's switched off now as you can't run the AC properly and as the weather declines, it'll slow the heating down too.

Most owners will report the engines break in around 5 or 6k.
I'm not totally convinced it's true, more like by then you've learnt to get the best out of it.

My TA now has 10k and will quite happliy putput around it what seems to the ear, like too higher gear due to the torque being produced so low in the rpm range (1900 rpm).
It's quite entertaining changing up so soon and scooting around corners in tall gears and feeling the chug chug of the twin cylinders as it picks up.

 

[irish boy]

There was a couple of 60k milers 4x4's on auto trader for just under 6k recently, sold pretty quick.

 

[Ealdwine]

Mines coming up to 35K on a 62plate - still enjoying the twinair quirkiness.
Only issues are S/S doesn't work anymore and aircon needs looking at. Boot switch fixed under warranty.
Oh and only just changed the original first set of front tyres, rears are still factory fitted since new and look fine.

 

[Herts Hillhopper]

My 4x4 is December 2013 and at 22k (and a MJ)... so a way to go yet!
But, to the S/S issues - my 2011 Volvo V50 is also a stop/start motor (1.6 diesel), and it's instruction book makes it clear that battery charging only happens during engine 'overrun' , or in other words under engine braking. It seems the alternator is 'freewheeling' at other times. Having read this (after realising the stop/start had stopped stopping/starting, the car now four years old), I've got used to slowing through the gears. Low and behold, the S/S system is all fine again. Not sure if the Panda works the same way? (Mine is fine still but not a TwinAir, if that makes any difference). A useful side effect of this is also the displayed mpg on the Volvo has improved - into the high 50s (still nowhere near its claimed 72mpg though - sound familiar?)

 

[babbo_umbro]

Mines coming up to 35K on a 62plate - still enjoying the twinair quirkiness.
Only issues are S/S doesn't work anymore and aircon needs looking at. Boot switch fixed under warranty.
Oh and only just changed the original first set of front tyres, rears are still factory fitted since new and look fine.

Here we go again - new tyres should be put on the back.

 

[biminibob]

Here we go again - new tyres should be put on the back.

Why?

 

[R1NGA]

My 4x4 is December 2013 and at 22k (and a MJ)... so a way to go yet!
But, to the S/S issues - my 2011 Volvo V50 is also a stop/start motor (1.6 diesel), and it's instruction book makes it clear that battery charging only happens during engine 'overrun' , or in other words under engine braking. It seems the alternator is 'freewheeling' at other times. Having read this (after realising the stop/start had stopped stopping/starting, the car now four years old), I've got used to slowing through the gears. Low and behold, the S/S system is all fine again. Not sure if the Panda works the same way? (Mine is fine still but not a TwinAir, if that makes any difference). A useful side effect of this is also the displayed mpg on the Volvo has improved - into the high 50s (still nowhere near its claimed 72mpg though - sound familiar?)

'Regenerative Braking' is common across modern cars now but it doesn't mean that it only works during the braking phase. All alternators work normally during normal driving and are of course typically load-dependent in as much as they will supply as much current as the draw demands, within the constraints of its capacity to charge.

But what the Panda will do, as will many other cars, is control the voltage to the alternator and increase that voltage during lift-off, coasting and braking, ie: situations where the driver broadly wants to slow down. This increased voltage ups the current produced by the alternator which will put more load on the engine. This therefore charges the battery more efficiently by effectively using the 'free' kinetic energy of the moving car to do the job for it. Clever stuff and in the case of small cars like ours, probably quite effective!

 

[babbo_umbro]

Why?

Because that's what the tyre industry recommends - and in Switzerland, for instance, it's been a legal requirement for ages - your tyre fitter should just do it automatically. Prevents rear tyres lasting forever and going past their best by date, reduces the risk of rear wheel lockups. There's a mass of previous discussion on the forum.

 

[PaulD]

Because the tyre industry recommends it is not really an answer. They recommend it for the good reason that it is far easier to control understeer than oversteer. If a car loses grip at the front then understeer is likely to occur and 'lifting off' will correct this. If a car loses grip at the back then this will lead to oversteer which is much more difficult to control. Lifting off may exacerbate this.

Thus it is important to put put the part worn tyres from the rear on the front and new tyres on the rear to minimise the risk of losing the rear.

 

[Ealdwine]

'Regenerative Braking' ..... This therefore charges the battery more efficiently by effectively using the 'free' kinetic energy of the moving car to do the job for it. Clever stuff and in the case of small cars like ours, probably quite effective!

Am I right in thinking that the battery needs to be in top condition for s/s to work?

 

[R1NGA]

Am I right in thinking that the battery needs to be in top condition for s/s to work?

Absolutely. Thats why you'll find S/S far less likely to kick-in during a cold winter drive when you have heated seats, windscreen, rear window and mirrors on. Battery may be in good condition but the draw is simply too much for the S/S electronics to take the risk of shutting the engine down. You'll notice that some functions turn themselves down during S/S, such as fan speed etc, but there's only so much it can do to minimise the load.