Sometimes, as in the case of Fiat's 'TwinAir' engines, less really is more
The Tata Nano seems to have accomplished something very significant – it has paved the way for more car manufacturers to start using extremely fuel-efficient twin-cylinder engines on some of their small cars. Yes indeed, before Tata Motors did the Nano, no car manufacturer would think of using anything less than a three-cylinder engine – as per conventional thought, twin-cylinder engines were only for motorcycles. But now, things have changed, and how!
Very recently, Fiat’s all-new 875cc twin-cylinder ‘TwinAir’ engine did very well at the 2011 International Engine of the Year Awards – this tiny unit won the award for the world’s best engine, with a jury of 76 motoring journalists from 36 countries around the world voting in its favour. The results of the awards were announced last week at the Engine Expo in Stuttgart, Germany.
Fiat’s TwinAir turbocharged engine impressed judges with its low emissions, high fuel economy and impressive power output of 85bhp. ‘Fiat has now produced one of the all-time great engines. Who would have thought that a two-cylinder unit could have won the International Engine of the Year title when we launched the Awards in 1999? Its triumph is a clear signal that less is more – people want low-emission, fuel-efficient yet powerful engines, and just two cylinders certainly seems to provide a comprehensive solution,’ said Dean Slavnich, Editor of Engine Technology International and co-chairman of the International Engine of the Year Awards.
Fiat currently offers this 85bhp TwinAir engine on the Fiat 500 hatchback and will soon launch other variants of this engine, including a naturally-aspirated 65bhp version, a turbocharged high-performance 105bhp version and even a bi-fuel version for some markets. And the best part is, the naturally-aspirated version of the TwinAir also stands a good chance of making it to the Indian market in the near future – the engine may be fitted to the all-new small, low-cost car that Fiat is said to be developing for India and other emerging markets.
And here's a Fifth Gear test of the Fiat 500 equipped with the TwinAir engine
