Newest High Torque form Parkside Performance - PASSP C4 Teardown – Cheaper, Smoother… Weaker?

Added: 2026-05-30

[00:00:00]Hello and welcome to this video, for which I had to buy yet another Parkside Performance high torque impact wrench.

[00:00:06]Fortunately though, Lidl coupons exist, which soften the financial damage significantly. In total, this entire kit cost me around 86 euros delivered. And for that money, you get the high torque impact wrench itself, a 4 amp hour battery, a 4 amp charger, three chrome moly sockets, and even a half inch to 3/4 inch adapter. Honestly, for the money, that's difficult to complain about. Now, the reason I bought this thing is because Lidl recently posted one of those Parkside challenge videos on Instagram, where they assemble the impact wrench and drive in a wheel bolt as fast as possible. And naturally, I saw that and immediately thought, yes, this is proper scientific testing, and I want a piece of it. So naturally, I decided to recreate it properly. And I didn't cheat either. I decided there would be no practice attempts, and no carefully edited totally first try nonsense.

[00:01:00]So, I have the same kind of setup. I have a socket and an extension, and a battery is not installed. And well, something didn't go quite according to plan.

[00:01:10]I'll let you decide whether I beat the Parkside challenge or not, because honestly, the result was a bit questionable.

[00:01:28]But more importantly, during testing, I noticed something strange with the tool itself. And the interesting part is that I've actually seen people mention similar issues in the comments before.

[00:01:37]So, instead of just complaining vaguely on the internet, which well, let's be fair, is a bit of a tradition, I figured we'd actually open this thing up and see what's going on. Now, before we get too negative, let me say this clearly. For the money, this is still an absurd amount of tool. You're getting a high torque impact wrench, battery, charger, sockets, and well, it's basically the whole package for less than 800 euros.

[00:02:01]But, I still don't really like the direction Parkside tools have gone in recently.

[00:02:06]The older Parkside tools felt over built in a weirdly calming way. The newer stuff, however, feels a bit more optimized for manufacturing costs.

[00:02:15]Which, to be fair, is what literally every company does eventually.

[00:02:19]Still, let's figure out whether this is actually a serious problem or just internet comment section drama. So, first I tried recreating the issue. I put the impact wrench into mode one and immediately noticed something off. It wasn't impacting properly.

[00:02:36]The hammer mechanism wasn't fully rotating around the anvil like it should, which explains why it occasionally felt inconsistent. So, naturally, the comparison tool for this test is my old Parkside Performance high torque impact wrench.

[00:02:50]The older A3 has been absolutely rock solid for years. It's never missed a beat, never struggled, never complained.

[00:02:56]It's one of those rare tools that just quietly sits there and gets the job done. So, obviously, we're opening both of them up. And for that, I'll be using this new cordless screwdriver from Obi, which, honestly, surprised me quite a bit. I expected something cheap and terrible because, well, usually when a tool costs 13 euros, you prepare yourself emotionally beforehand.

[00:03:17]But, this thing is actually really good.

[00:03:20]I made a separate video on it already, which I'll link below, but genuinely, for the price, it is more than excellent. Anyway, back to the impact wrenches. The first thing I wanted to compare was the rotor design because I had a suspicion that's where some of the differences might start showing up.

[00:03:57]>> And immediately, there's a pretty noticeable difference between the two.

[00:04:01]The older A3 uses straight-cut gears, and the newer C4 uses helical gears.

[00:04:06]Now, straight-cut gears are simpler and probably strong enough, but they engage very abruptly. They're noisy and honestly sound like the tool is actively angry at the bolt. Helical gears, on the other hand, engage more gradually because the teeth mesh at an angle. That makes them smoother, quieter, and generally nicer to use. Which all sounds great in theory.

[00:04:29]But well, here's the thing. This is a budget-friendly impact wrench. It's not a luxury car. I'm not particularly concerned about refinement while the tool is attempting to remove a wheel bolt. And the bigger issue is this. The rotor itself on the older A3 is, well, noticeably larger. And with impact tools, bigger rotor mass generally means more stored rotational energy. More momentum, more violence. Which in this context is exactly what you want. So, while the newer helical gear setup is definitely smoother and quieter, I'm not a fan of the rotor downsize. Now, continuing with the teardown.

[00:05:27]The stators between the two tools are actually fairly similar in size.

[00:05:32]At first glance, the newer C4 may even have slightly more winding density. But then again, I'm not convinced that makes up for this smaller rotor. Because physics is unfortunately still involved.

[00:05:43]And then, we get to the hammer and anvil assemblies.

[00:05:46]Interestingly, they're almost identical.

[00:05:49]The newer C4 hammer is slightly longer and a few grams heavier, but we're talking about very small differences here. And again, I don't think that compensates for the reduced rotor size.

[00:06:00]But the really interesting part is the fitment between the hammer and the anvil, because this is where I think the newer C4 starts losing some efficiency.

[00:06:09]The interface design has changed slightly, and the older A3 setup simply seems to engage more positively.

[00:06:17]Not massively, not catastrophically either, but enough that I think some energy is being lost during impact transfer.

[00:06:24]And when you combine the smaller rotor on the new tool and the revised hammer and anvil fitment, the newer impact wrench starts feeling a little softer compared to the older one.

[00:06:35]Now, ironically, despite me criticizing it, I actually think that the helical gears are probably the better long-term engineering solution. They're smoother, slightly reduce wear, and probably make the tool more durable over time.

[00:06:49]But in terms of raw, brutal impact performance, I think the older A3 had the edge. And honestly, the A3 always felt slightly ridiculous in the best possible way.

[00:07:00]It hits so hard that I genuinely think it should have come with a 3/4 in anvil instead of a 1/2 in one, because occasionally, the sockets felt more stress than the bolts themselves. Now, one thing I do appreciate on the new C4 is that they removed the Bluetooth functionality. And yes, somehow that downgrade is actually an upgrade. After all, I do not need my impact wrench communicating wirelessly with my phone.

[00:07:25]I especially do not need firmware updates for the thing that removes wheel nuts. So, anyway, where does this all leave us in terms of the new C4 power stack performance impact wrench? I still think the A3 was the best of the bunch.

[00:07:37]I think the larger rotor and older hammer and anvil fitment gave it slightly more output than well, the newer ones. But at the same time, this newest C4 kit cost me €86 delivered with a battery, charger, and sockets included. That's honestly absurdly good value. So, while I do have criticisms of the new design, I also have to be realistic about what you're getting for the money. Because despite its flaws, this thing still delivers a huge amount of performance at a price that's very difficult to beat. Anyway, thank you for watching and I hope you'll learn something new. As always, please leave a comment down below, consider liking the video, and subscribing to the channel.