The Fiat Powertrain Techonogies (FPT) 1.4 Turbo engines, the first to incorporate revolutionary Multiair technology, won the prestigious “Engine of the Year” award in the best new engine of the year category. These innovative four-cylinder engines combine Multiair, the electro-hydraulic management of the inlet valves, with turbocharger, setting new efficiency standards.
Developed and manufactured by FPT, the 1.4 Multiair Turbo engines, with power outputs that range from 100 kW to 125 kW, now equip the Alfa Romeo MiTo and Giulietta, as well as the Fiat Punto Evo and Abarth Punto Evo ranges, and will soon be introduced on the Fiat Bravo and Lancia Delta.
The top range 125 kW version has an outstanding specific power output which, combined with peak torque of 250 Nm, guarantees sporty performances, but also record-setting fuel consumption and emissions (134 g/km of CO2 on the new Alfa Romeo Giulietta).
Multiair technology, which has already won numerous prizes, is based on direct control of the intake air, cylinder by cylinder and stroke by stroke, without a throttle valve, and it reduces fuel consumption and CO2 emissions by as much as 10%, while increasing the power output by 10% and improving torque by 15%. What’s more, all polluting emissions are also reduced by careful monitoring of combustion. Multiair technology is versatile, easily applicable to all petrol engines, and has the potential to be developed for diesel engines in future.
The “Best New Engine of the Year” award, assigned by an international jury of 65 specialist journalists from 32 countries, was collected by Aldo Marangoni, FPT Product Engineering Vice President.
The award is further confirmation of the Fiat Group’s acknowledged capacity for technological innovation; the Group had already won the prize in 2005, in the 1.0 to 1.4 litre capacity class of the “International Engine of the Year”, with the small but sophisticated 1.3 Multijet, which opened a new chapter in the history of diesel engines, a field in which the Group has always been a leader, having been the first to launch innovations such as direct injection and common-rail technology on the market”, said Aldo Marangoni.
“Lots of power combined with serious inroads made in emissions reduction makes this a very good engine. Then, when you look at the fuel economy, Fiat’s MultiAir turbo powertrain becomes a great engine – it’s easy to see why it has won Best New Engine for 2010”, said Dean Slavnich, Co-Chairman of the Awards, and editor of Engine Technology International.
In South Africa Multiair technology is available in the Alfa Romeo MiTo range – both the 100 kW Progression and the 125 kW Quadrifoglio Verde are equipped with this new technology.
