Fiat’s 1.4 MultiAir turbo is Best New Engine of the Year
The FPT 1.4 Turbo engine, the first Fiat power unit to incorporate revolutionary MultiAir technology, has won the prestigious Engine of the Year award in the Best New Engine of the Year category. This innovative four-cylinder engine combines MultiAir, the electro-hydraulic management of the inlet valves, with a turbocharger, setting new efficiency standards.
Developed and manufactured by FPT – Fiat Powertrain Technologies – the 1.4 MultiAir Turbo engines, with power outputs ranging from 135 to 170 bhp, now equip the Alfa Romeo MiTo and Giulietta, as well as the Fiat Punto Evo and Abarth Punto Evo, and will soon be introduced to the Fiat Bravo.
The top of the range 170 bhp version, with 124 bhp/litre, has an outstanding specific power output which, combined with peak torque of 250 Nm, guarantees sporty performance, together with record-setting fuel consumption and emissions (134 g/km of CO2 in the new Alfa Romeo Giulietta).
MultiAir technology, which has already won numerous awards, is based on direct control of the intake air, cylinder by cylinder and stroke by stroke, without a throttle valve, and reduces fuel consumption and CO2 emissions by up to 10%, while increasing power by 10% and improving torque by 15%. Additionally, all polluting emissions are also significantly 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, bestowed 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 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,” says Marangoni.
“Lots of power combined with serious reductions in emissions 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,” says Dean Slavnich, Co-Chairman of the Awards, and editor of Engine Technology International.