Phils panda said:

Panda TA shift change light..​

Hi Panda fans I have a Panda 85 TA petrol.IS it me or does this light want you to change gear always to early?? I went this this for two months after purchase trying to run it on a tenner a week.I found it would judder and not be a happy panda.So now it back to old school driving by using the rev counter and.....I have a happy panda once again not seen much diffence in fuel use ... just my thoughts so whats yours!!!​

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What mileage is on the car?

Hi my miles are 27800

Phils panda said:

Hi my miles are 27800

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Oh ok so it's run-in so, I found on my ta 500 the shift indicators were a bit premature too when the car was newish but once run they're fine, it should pull fine if you obey them as there's plenty of torque, presumably the panda is the same

Yes excellent torque eg 70 mph in 4th gear no probs.but when i change using the indecator its chugging like a diesel maybe i am not use to tbe twin air engine yet

Phils panda said:

Yes excellent torque eg 70 mph in 4th gear no probs.but when i change using the indecator its chugging like a diesel maybe i am not use to tbe twin air engine yet

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Yes I suspect that's it, being a 2 cylinder they're naturally a bit chuggy but you'll soon get used to it and enjoy the character

Yes i love it ...even better when over taking and thinking no road tax for me..lol

The TA is quite happy chugging along in higher gears and the Gear Shift Indicator seems turned for this, but it can play havoc with your normal "driving senses".

Your ears, hands, feet and bum hear and sense the vibrations and your instinct is to change down, but if you resist it and just carry on it'll spool up the turbo and you're back on it quite quickly.

With my TA being 4x4, the gearing of first gear is very low, so I now tend to shuffle about in one gear higher than I would in either of our 1.2 Pandas.
So for turns and junctions I would normal drop into second, I take in third without the GSI complaining.

Sometimes you can almost count the piston strokes or it can feel you're about to stop the engine completely, but the pick up is amazing if you hang in there a second or two for the boost to come.

You have to make a bit of effort to adjust and get used to the feeling of it when it's not fully on boost, I quite easily slip back to normal, but I soon get fed up with all the gear changes this tends to lead to trying to keep it on full boost all the time.
I now just sit back and wait, it'll come soon enough.

It's pretty much a blanket 20mph zone around here and by hanging on to the higher gears it seems to return slightly better mpg.

Hi thanks for the response.I live rural and near A63 in east yorks.For school run i just leave it in 3rd it qite happy at 35 /40 mph.Then on A roads and m_ways out of eco wow 70 is easily in 4th gear and sits at well above that in 5th.

As I get my TA tomorrow I shall heed your advice.

Phils panda said:

Hi thanks for the response.I live rural and near A63 in east yorks.For school run i just leave it in 3rd it qite happy at 35 /40 mph.Then on A roads and m_ways out of eco wow 70 is easily in 4th gear and sits at well above that in 5th.

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Yours must be making a right racket in 3rd at 40mph?

I can drive mine around at 25mph in 5th, it seems quite happy.
You get a bit of judder if I try and accelerate from this, but it does pick up.

I'd say try shifting up to higher gears and let it chug about, you'll find a sweet spot around 1900-2000 rpm where it'll still pull well even though the motor sounds a little laboured and breathless.

petercresswell said:

As I get my TA tomorrow I shall heed your advice.

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Do keep an eye on oil consumption.
Properly run in they are fine..
But the HIGH consumtion on some BABIED ones in outrageous.
10 quid a litre.
1 litre per 1000 miles

Soon adds up..still cheaper than running LOW though..
Charlie

varesecrazy said:

Properly run in they are fine..
But the HIGH consumtion on some BABIED ones in outrageous.

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All engines need to be run in properly when new, preferably using a straight mineral oil - modern synthetics are too good at preventing wear to be optimal for this task.. You need to drive in such a way as to maximise cylinder pressures whilst avoiding excessive cylinder temperatures (particularly important with aircooled engines), or overstressing the bearings.

Anyone who says modern engines don't need running in is talking b******s.

If engines aren't properly run in, they'll never develop their rated power and will likely burn oil for the rest of their lives.

If the rings don't bed in before the bores have glazed over, you can't fix this by driving more enthusiastically later on; the only solution is to strip the engine, rehone the bores, fit new piston rings and do the running in again.

Good luck with putting pure mineral oil in to a TA! Mind you I recall that chap who drove the panda to capetown and back broke his in first on mineral so maybe it's ok

My experience of running in a 1.2 with zero miles, 20 miles of dual carriageway home at 70mph. Very tight until 60 miles. Discovered 10 miles before that off trip computer engine had already been run for 35 miles before went in the car. Built revs up gradually upto 1100 miles then gave it some welly. If I had the new TA Easy I'd planned to start with, could have been fun. Sure I saw other day the ex sales demo TA 4x4 me and my Dad both tried. By the time I realised it had only done 98 miles, it was a bit late. The 4x4 I have now gets nursed in cold weather with eco button on. Very quiet, doesn't use oil. Though been very well looked after

Mercky said:

Good luck with putting pure mineral oil in to a TA! Mind you I recall that chap who drove the panda to capetown and back broke his in first on mineral so maybe it's ok

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Having a turbocharger complicates things because the oil requirements of the turbo are very different to the oil requirements for breaking in the rest of the engine.

Al D said:

My experience of running in a 1.2 with zero miles, 20 miles of dual carriageway home at 70mph. Very tight until 60 miles. Discovered 10 miles before that off trip computer engine had already been run for 35 miles before went in the car. Built revs up gradually upto 1100 miles then gave it some welly. If I had the new TA Easy I'd planned to start with, could have been fun. Sure I saw other day the ex sales demo TA 4x4 me and my Dad both tried. By the time I realised it had only done 98 miles, it was a bit late. The 4x4 I have now gets nursed in cold weather with eco button on. Very quiet, doesn't use oil. Though been very well looked after

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my local FIAT specialist had some "as New" engine casings..where a 15 mile old Punto 1.4 seized solid in the fast lane of M4

engine was replaced under warranty

I cant get use to it so i will stick to my way of changing gear.

varesecrazy said:

Do keep an eye on oil consumption.
Properly run in they are fine..
But the HIGH consumtion on some BABIED ones in outrageous.
10 quid a litre.
1 litre per 1000 miles

Soon adds up..still cheaper than running LOW though..
Charlie

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Interesting... So how best to drive these things when they're new? I've just got mine and I've noticed it feels quite tight - the same issue as others have reported the gear selector indicator moans about me being in 3rd before 30mph and when turning into my drive I have to be in 1st to stop it chugging. The gear selector indicator seems to be more forgiving when the engine is warm and will even 'let me' go into 4th at 30mph without suggesting I change down. Doesn't like me going near 5th though until the engine is really warm!

JCarp16 said:

Interesting... So how best to drive these things when they're new? I've just got mine and I've noticed it feels quite tight - the same issue as others have reported the gear selector indicator moans about me being in 3rd before 30mph and when turning into my drive I have to be in 1st to stop it chugging. The gear selector indicator seems to be more forgiving when the engine is warm and will even 'let me' go into 4th at 30mph without suggesting I change down. Doesn't like me going near 5th though until the engine is really warm!

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mine wouldn't pull 6th gear on the level until it'd done a few thousand miles,
they take @15K to fuly loosen-up.
I used a "hard-breakin" regime on mine,
to ensure the oil control rings did their job,

at 26K now, never had an issue,it's oil tight
it's on it's 4th set of oil