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[Vinko82]

Soo i have opportunity to change my  pulse 1.3 ff for Sportstyle SB3 with of course little of paying money difference.What to do what is your experience with that engine?What to look what are their weak spots with general the whole car? And to add it has soft touch transmission and the car has around 100 000miles on it.It is all silver

[cecil]

Your answer and how you feel about it depends on your own feelings as much as the cars. You know your own car- its good points and faults. Try to gain the same knowledge about the new one.  Glad you are enjoying for fours

[Vinko82]

I know but I don't have any experience with that engine, is it much expensive to maintain,fuel consumption vs my 1.3 and that soft touch gearbox? I read it has all kinds of faults

[Ocracoke]

mr. singh will be able to comment on the engine as he has a manual SB3 though it is a standard 1.5 with a different camshaft + map applied (although I could be wrong here).

The transmission... well you'll find it has a 6th gear so makes motorway cruising a little more economical and quieter rather than the 5 speed manual box. They do go wrong as you'll find on reading here. I've had 2 instances since I bought the car where it simply forgets it has a gearbox at all and displays a blank space where the gear indicator should be and my clutch actuator (~85k miles at the moment) is a bit poorly but it is 12 year old car after all. The gearbox makes for part of the character of it though. So long as you know what you are getting into (and knowing is half the battle) and don't put it in N all the time when stop/starting in traffic, you'll be OK.

Oh, remember, the clutch and gearbox can only be taught on a STAR machine as well.

As for fuel economy... the different profile of the camshaft does mean it will use a bit more fuel but then again, it all depends on how hard you press that accelerator. The 1.5 has a bit more torque than the 1.3 I believe with that being the tradeoff. I shouldn't think the engine needs special parts like a full fledged Brabus would require otherwise.

[mr singh]

mr. singh will be able to comment on the engine as he has a manual SB3 though it is a standard 1.5 with a different camshaft + map applied (although I could be wrong here).

different cams and map, yes, although in addition to map and cams are the valve springs and exhaust.

i cant really comment on the 1.3 engine as i went from a 1.1 to my SB3. the only reason i changed was the SB3 had more toys and it had the engine, the 1.5 i wanted in the first place, the SB3 kit being a bonus.

the SB3 will use the normal 1.5 parts, i can confirm that the clutch is the same on both and so are the service items, ALTHOUGH the valve clearances will requires checking and adjusting every 30,000 miles or 3 years over the 60,000 miles and 6 years.
the SB3 does shift but id go and drive it and compare it you your 1.3 and see which one you prefer.

[Vinko82]

Ok now we are getting somewhere 👌 and on what things do I have to be on a look out? Are there any signs of before any "critical" malfunction happens or its happening? I m mostly worried about that gearbox.And yes two more things,does panoramic roof opens and I noticed that the glass looks kind of yellowish. Is that common how to deal with that, it also has some scratch marks on second panoramic roof from outside?!?

[CrazyG]

As for the AMT gearbox.....
the gearbox is usually perfectly fine....with the advantage
of having 6 gears to give even better mpg than the 5 speed
manual.
The weak link....if one can call it that is the actuator.
These need to be adjusted every year at the service interval,
initially by hand, and then by the Star machine....nothing
else can or will do it, so you need to have someone who has
a Star machine and knows what they are doing with it.
I would also recommend buying a NEW spare actuator
(I bought mine from Germany off ebay)....as they are
known to have issues...usually the drive shaft of the motor
unit shears...or the mechanism inside the actuator wears out.

Saying that, I have never had any problem with the actuator
of the AMT in my remapped CDi that I drive in manual mode
99% of the time rather than in auto mode over the 8 years
I have had it.

The panoramic roof has a polycarbonate front section and a glass rear.
It does not open.   The front section is known to 'craze' and look
different to the rear section. Info and details on that are already
covered in the Exterior section of the forum. Have a look in the general
part of that section..and then in the Gen.1 Technical Guides, ok.
The same applies for every section on the forum...so have a good
read/look around as you will more than likely find any questions
or issue you have are already covered in detail.
before posting questions.