Lifan LF479 / LF481

Lifan's petrol fours — the 1.5 LF479, 1.6 LF481 and 1.8 LFB479 — in the 620, X60 and the models around them.

They are derived from Toyota's 8A and Mitsubishi's 4G designs rather than drawn from scratch, which is the useful route in: when Lifan material runs out — and it runs out quickly — the parent engine's material often still describes the mechanicals.

Derived is not identical, and the difference is in the ancillaries, the management and the emissions equipment rather than in the block.

Their complaints are the ordinary small-engine set: a carboned throttle body, ignition coils failing one at a time, and a coolant temperature sensor that skews fuelling without setting anything anybody notices.

Documentation in English is essentially nonexistent and parts supply outside China and the export markets is the practical limit on keeping one running.