Fiat 500 Multi air 0.9

The so much hailed ground breaking 900cc twin multi air turbo engine fitted to the Fiat 500 as a replacement of the 1.242cc FIRE engine has not been as well received by testers as anticipated..

Despite the 84bhp the engine runs out of puff at a 140kph and struggles to reach its top speed, unlike the good old 1242cc FIRE. On motorway hills it seems that down shifting is inevitable to stay with the traffic flow even in Britain with 113kph speed limit.

But it gets even worse than that> According to Fiat the fuel consumption figures are better than 24kpl but the testers got not better than a sobering 13kpl.

Interestingly VW mentioned independently that they are not going to 2 cylinder engines in the upcoming Lupo because it is more important to work on the fuel effidiency of the 3 cylinder models than trying to get engines smaller and smaller.

Looks like Fiat will have to do some re-thinking. The success of the 500 is dwindeling in Europe and does not look like a success in India either. People are less willing to pay the overinfalted prices of the 500 in Europe and neither will a lot of people be willing to pay the price tag in India either, which nobody can blame them. By topping the screwing up with the new engine Fiat will once more shoot itself in the foot.

 

Can you please specify the source of the same???

Also, In my opinion, this could be a groundbreaking engine. Fuel Efficiency is dependent alot on the driving style. So if someone gives the beans to this engine and still pulls out a 13kmpl figure, thats very respectable man.
Quoting from FIAT's release statement:
"Equipped in this way, the Fiat 500 reaches a top speed of 173 km/h and accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in only 11 seconds. This remarkable performance corresponds to a significant reduction of fuel consumption and emissions: 4.1 l/100 km and 95 g/km respectively on the urban cycle (with manual gearbox), that becomes 4.0 l/100 km and 92 g/km with a Dualogic robotised gearbox." Now thats something that the 1.2 FIRE engine definitely doesn't do.
Coming to what VW thinks of a 2 cylinder engine, its a totally strategic statement. if you can get the same power from a smaller engine while improving your FE, then whats the point in having the larger sized engine. Case in point- the 8L dodge Viper engine produces almost the same power (~400bhp) as the 2L turbocharged Mitsubushi EVO X FQ360 engine.
What i think is that when this engine comes to india, it wont just be limited to the 500. In europe, even the Fiat Cinquecento gets this engine. So i guess when this arrives in India, it would be on a different car (read NEW). I somewhere read that FIAT intends to launch a India specific by 2012 a segment lower than the Punto. May be this engine finds its way into that. But this is just a guess.

I truely hope that this engine is introduced in India. FIAT engines are anyways driving the Indian car market...

 

YEAH Fiat Drives India with Multijet Diesel

 

I am not new to the automotive field. I am for over 30 years in the industries and have been involved in racing, I am an automotive consultant and a performance tuner.

The so called Euro cycle to determine fuel consumption does not work in practical terms. Manufacturers map the ECUs for maximum fuekl efficiency for these tests. The Toyoata Prius made similar claims and people here are cursing it for the poor real fuel consumption. Toyota was even fined for making these claims. An FE of 13kpl for a car like the Fiat 500 is appaling. I have no reason to doubt the test in the European press. 25kpl is not realistic. I did not expect to see the 25kpl, but I would have at least expected to be around the 20kpl.

The engine is forced induced, which should give it a much better torque situation allowing for low rpm driving. The aid of hydraulic valve control should help this and give additional fuel saving on cruising. The much lower mass, 2 big end bearings and 2 mean bearings less as well as less drag in the overall surface of the 2 cylinders in comparison with equivalent 4 cylinder should make a much clearer difference in the fuel consumption. And then you have quite a bit less weight to carry around that again should be beneficial for fuel consumption.

Fact is that this engine has not excited any tester in Europe.

Volkswagen is staying with the larger units and not going for the smaller ones.

The engine might even in Europe end up in the Fiat Bravo. At least is the plan right now. Only question is whether customers will stomach it.

 

I dont is this a correct thread to post this video. Fiat 500 1.4 16v defeated Nissan 370z and that so easily. Worth to watch this video. Poor 370Z :lol:

 

Did you know that the Fiat 500 is exempt from the London congestion charge due to its amazingly low CO2 emissions! :dancing