Technical cinquecento 899 + big miles

Currently reading:
Technical cinquecento 899 + big miles

Gavin-T

New member
Joined
Nov 24, 2007
Messages
7
Points
1
Location
Ripley derbyshire
Hi early next year me and some friends are driving 5000 miles round europe in 7 days in 899cc cinquecentos for charity (their idea, bloody good'un too :) ). My mum has had a few of these before so i know a bit about them but i want to know a bit more.Tried searching the forum for things but failed to find what i want.

Fingers crossed i have sourced a car (off this forum, 'r' reg 899 sx with 52k) will it have a temp gauge on it? What sort of speed will the car happily cruise and what revs will the engine be pulling? Im hoping to be able to maintain 75-80mph so would upping from 145/70 tyres to 165/65 help by lowering the overall revs or would it struggle because of the increase?

Also with us having to drive 16+ hours a day at speed keeping the engine cool seems like a issue to me.Im thinking about opening the front bumper up for maximum airflow to the radiator and possibly a small oil cooler too?

As many ideas and telling us about possible problems would be great.

Cheers.

Gav.
 
Fingers crossed i have sourced a car (off this forum, 'r' reg 899 sx with 52k) will it have a temp gauge on it?

yes, its just the 's' models that don't. the SX does and i beleive the 1.1 sporting does too.

What sort of speed will the car happily cruise and what revs will the engine be pulling? Im hoping to be able to maintain 75-80mph so would upping from 145/70 tyres to 165/65 help by lowering the overall revs or would it struggle because of the increase?

thats only a 5% increase in tyre size so i wouldnt expect too much difference. In an 899, ive got 80 to 85, but the car soon hits the redline on the temp gauge after 10 to 15 mins - this was with only me in the car too. by increasing the tyre size slightly, the car would be slightly faster at the same revs, but require more power to hold it there. at 70ish, the car cruises steadily and will stay under the redline (depending on the load in the car.)

Also with us having to drive 16+ hours a day at speed keeping the engine cool seems like a issue to me.Im thinking about opening the front bumper up for maximum airflow to the radiator and possibly a small oil cooler too?

yeh cooling will probably be your biggest issue. oil cooler would help, but its a case of trying to find somewhere to mount it. If you could find somewhere, i'd be tempted to stick a second radiator in there instead. opening the bumper would certainly help, as theres quite a lot of restriction from it. Also the radiator is only small in a cinq, so i'd look into shuffling things about a bit and fitting a larger one in place and replacing all hoses with stronger ones to prevent splits fom the heat and pressure (chances are most of the rubber hoses will be original and so coming up to 10 yrs old - fitting newer, stronger hoses would put my mid at ease. Venting the bonnet is another possiblility - fitting a impreza style scoop would probably look rediculous but it should certainly help... heat rises to the top of the engine bay and struggles to get out - fitting a scoop and doing 75mph is constantly going to be flushing all that hot air down and out of the bay.

id also look into getting a cold air feed though a decent filter to the engine - no only will it improve performance and free up a lot of space in the bay which the airfilter box currently use, but cooler air will also help the engine run cooler.

theres also a thermostat you can use which opens earlier, current one often seems like it waits too long, till there is a problem.
 
Last edited:
Only 899cc engines can be used :D

The idea with fitting larger tyres is so that i can reduce the revs a little at speed. What is the largest i can get away with, and im thinking that it would have to be on 13" punto rims too?

Gavin.
 
Yes but no, Increasing the tyre size will reduce the revs required, but will require greater loading, and thats what will lead to overheating.

The water pumps on 899 can be poor, not flowing enough water. Make sure you fit a new one, and a new alloy rad.

Properly bled, they should provide all your cooling requirements.

I'd be more concerned about getting the heat out of the underbonnet area rather than more air in the front.

Fit a vent behind the rad facing backwards to create low pressure under the bonnet and draw the heat out.

Cheers

D
 
The 899 S DOES have a temp gauge, same as the SX. However, AFAIK the base models after a certain age (it was the later Cinqs, but I don't know exactly when) had a redesigned instrument cluster which omitted a temp gauge.

An 899 will sit at 70 without cooling problems if the cooling system is in good nick IME. I certainly never had any problems.

Your best bet is to go into the Classic Panda section and look for the Panda to Istanbul threads. I don't think they did anything special to their cooling systems (except making sure they were in good condition) and I don't remember them having problems. Might be useful for you :)

HTH
 
I could possibly get some blocks made up to go between the hinges and the bonnet, like on rs turbos and such like.

Staying with the 145/70/13 tyres is the best option then?
 
I have done these long european trips before and 16 hours a day is a very hard slog, even HGV drivers by law drive less hours per day.

Advice of regular breaks for both driver and car, maybe lift bonnet every now and again.

If there are 2 of you it might not be as bad
 
Last edited:
My 899 would touch 100 and easy cruise at 80.
All good ideas
new hose`s
water pump
ally rad
new water bottle cap
raise the rear of the bonnet for heat loss
open the front of the bumper up
New rad fan and thermistat an rad switches
even fit an over ride switch so you can switch th fan on yourself
 
you cinq 899 can touch a 100 ?? What have u done to it ?? ( i think it was 'suppose' to max out at 85 or 90 when it came out of factory)

And is that downhill ???

The wee 899 cinq is solid !!! I will alway stand by that even tho my one is have major problems :(.

Guess, might as well get the clutch cable b4 u leave and also thermostat.

Check radi is not ****ed and the fan turn on when ti suppose to (turns on at 90i think) else i think the car is good to go :)

Good luck and have fun !!!
 
Bring this up again :)

Got my car now, 1995 899 sx with 105k!

It needs a new cv joint, how hard are these to do?

Also in looking at 155/70/13 tyres or even 155/80/13's, would these scrub on the arches on full lock (tyres in this size are dirt cheap for winter versions). Handling doesnt bother me because its only going to sit on the motorway.

Also have a look at cinquecento-challenge.com for the route and other cars :)

Gav.
 
you cinq 899 can touch a 100 ?? What have u done to it ?? ( i think it was 'suppose' to max out at 85 or 90 when it came out of factory)

And is that downhill ???

Since I gave it a service my 899 Soleil will do about 85mph on the flat and somewhere just over 95mph downhill. With a long enough hill it ought to break the 100mph barrier! I do worry about the wind pressure at the speed blowing the Soleil's fabric roof off though!

Guess, might as well get the clutch cable b4 u leave and also thermostat.

Check radi is not ****ed and the fan turn on when ti suppose to (turns on at 90i think) else i think the car is good to go :)

Good luck and have fun !!!

:yeahthat:

I agree with the above. Change the clutch cable and take a spare regardless as they're a known weak spot. Take a spare alternator belt as well. Most importantly make sure the cooling system is working as the others have mentioned. Thermostats stick and fail, and radiators lose their efficiency. They need to be in tip top condition for the driving you will be doing in it. And if it hasn't had one already do a service. I thought 899 Cinqs were really sluggish when I first got it, then I changed plugs, oil, oil and airfilters and it was like a different car.

Still don't trust the gearbox though after mine wrecked itself last summer :rolleyes:
 
Last edited:
It having a full service, new thermostat and and im gonna check the water pump too.

Is engine flush a good idea on a car with 105k or am i asking for trouble? The tappets sound spot on, even when it hasnt been started for a few days.

I will get some photos up once i have finished off the back of it ( stripped out and carpeted rear)

Gav.
 
I wouldn't expect any problems personally. I did about 450 miles in a day with my 899cc Sei. It's obviously not as much as you will be doing, but the driver should be stopping AT LEAST every 2hrs, but preferably every 60-90 mins. After a few hours your observation won't be as good, frequent breaks will help with your fatigue, concentration, and give you an oppourtunity to stretch your legs. I must confess to doing a bit over 2hrs in one go, it was during the summer, but didn't see any signs of overheating. It was with two people in the car, mostly doing 70mph.

I'd recommend taking a spare clutch cable, and and some split pins (for the clutch cable). On the motorway you probably won't use the clutch much, but you never know when it's gonna break.

On the motorway I usually have to change down, to 4th, for hills. I wouldn't be supprised if 4th is better at times because the engine is doing less work. In 4th the car will still do over 55mpg! When things get quite steep you may not be able to maintain 70mph.
 
Back
Top