No, new cars are not our typical thing, but then the Fiat 500 twinair is not exactly the typical car. The not-available-here 875 cc turbocharged twin puts out a healthy 85 hp, which scoots the 500 to sixty in 11 seconds, with an unique exhaust/engine sound that most testers rave about. Balance shaft means it runs quite smoothly, unlike the miserable little lawn-motor motor in the original 500. The EU mileage rating of 70 (Imperial) mpg (56 US mpg) is optimistic, like all the EU ratings. European tests have shown that the TwinAir gets about 40-44 (US) mpg. And delivers gobs of fun to drive while achieving it. Pretty much every tester preferred it to the 1.2 four, even though the twin costs a bit more.
In fact, the 500 twinair won an eight small-car comparison test by Germany’s auto-motor-und-sport, which is pretty surprising, especially since the VW Polo Blue Motion came in last. So much for ams‘ reputation for being chauvinistic. As one who likes a healthy torque curve and fun-to-drive small cars, I say bring it on. Only problem: Stephanie and I would be fighting over who gets to drive it.
Fun to drive small cars with good torque are great, one of the resons I love my Xsara diesel, best handling euro fwd hatch chassis of the 90s with torquey turbo D economy.Still seats 5 in air conditioned comfort but you have to peel passengers off the windows in the twistys.
Fiat’s MultiAir technology dispenses with the throttle plate and its losses. “The basic idea, controlling intake valves, works upon the following principle: a valve tappet (cam follower), moved by a mechanical intake cam, is connected to the intake valve through a hydraulic chamber, controlled by a normally open on/off solenoid valve. The system allows optimum intake valve opening schedules.” From the Wikipedia article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiair
I never cease to be amazed how the old four-stroke piston engine just keeps improving. (Its thermal efficiency has been so poor there’s lots of room for improvement.) The Otto engine may be the best example of how a deeply established technology can last much longer than one might think.
“There was also delay in development, in the time (2000-2005) when Fiat was in partnership with General Motors.” Yet another ‘peccato mortale’.
Engine efficiency is improved in the face of high fuel prices, Had the US been faced with high fuel prices instead of loophole ridden CAFE this type of technology could have been developed in NA instead American car makers spent the cmoney on lawyers to find and exploit CAFE loopholes rather than build efficient vehicles. The end user never had to suffer thanks to still very cheap gas.
Not one but two writers at the British enthusiast-porn magazine Evo recently bought TwinAir 500s… and they refuse to shut up about what a great noise it makes. They say the need to rev endlessly hurts MPG compared to the indicated rating, but the noise makes up for it. Plus, in the UK, the tax benefits of something like this are nearly as important as the pure efficiency.
From the sound I’ve heard on a couple of videos, I believe it. Frankly, this should have been the only engine in the 500, except the Abarth.
Just listened to it on utube sounds cool and apparently gives nothing away to the 1.2 so yeah maybe Fiat ahould have stuck with a twin like the original.
Is there video/audio of this thing? I hear “Twin” and I think “Harley idle”, and then I see “turbo twin” and think “ultralight aircraft/weedeater”. (It’s an inline, not a v-twin, right?)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4CRhGVYhdk
Sounds like fun.
You’re fast! I was looking for some too, but got distracted. Yes, it does sound like fun. The trick is that unlike the overwhelming majority of cars today, here’s one that can be wrung out daily, and with pleasure.
When my Dad commuted to Philly in his ’69 Fiat 850 Spyder, he enjoyed driving it full out just to stay with traffic.
After awhile though, he’d had one too many scary merges with trucks and traded it. I was so bummed. But 49 hp and only 43 lb-ft in 1600 lb, yikes. Probably just as well, it would have been a race between new-driver me getting hurt in it, and its urgent rusting away.
Today’s US Fiat 500 1.4L four has 100 hp and 98 lb-ft in 2400 lb. The TwinAir’s 85 hp and 107 lb-ft and hybrid-class mileage is even better. That sounds ideal for the daily brio.
Paul, that’s the car I hope to replace the truck with. 🙂
Sadly, I want that TwinAir but will have to make do with the nearly as fun 1.4 MultiAir 4 pot motor instead, with the 5spd manny tranny.
These cars are so. much. fun.
I have to concur that the 4 pot exhaust note on the sport is quite nice in and of itself.
Paul and anyone else out there who may be of interest in a little more in the TwinAir motor.
First off, let me say, I’ve studied up on the Fiat 500 since 2009?
That’s when I first heard about it via the European version and that was I think when rumors were floating that Fiat may “shack up” with Chrysler.
Anyway, been following it since and have read up on the TwinAir but here are some basics on it.
When the new Nuevo 500 was introduced in 1957, it had a reciprocating 2 cylinder (where one piston moves up, the other down) aircooled motor. The current twin pot is what they refer to as a Parallel twin, where both cylinders move in unison, meaning both move up and down together, has a balance shaft to reduce vibration and uses the MultiAir technology to very the intake valves, just like in the 1.4L 4 pot motor used in the current US spec 500.
Basic numbers.
107FtLbs of Torque at 1900rpm
85HP via a small I think twin scroll turbo
85HP at 4000rpm or so
This motor has been mentioned to come in 3 flavors, a normally asperated (non turbo) running at 68HP or so, a mild turbo boosted model at 85HP, (on sale now in Europe) and eventually, a heavier boosted model producing something like 105HP.
Fifth Gear test drove the 85 horse version and it is a bit more fun than the non MultiAir 1.4L (only in the Euro spec 500) and provides better mileage, but you’d better keep your foot out of it if you want to get the maximum mileage though.
Here is a link to an indepth blog entry on this motor from Fiat500USA Blog. I think it’s pretty good.
http://www.fiat500usa.com/2010/10/fiat-twinair-in-depth.html
Yes, I followed and wrote about the 500 back at TTAC. It has what is called a 360 degree twin, like the classic British twins, which have a wonderful and evenly-spaced exhaust note, but very shaky, without a balance shaft.
The Honda twins had a 180 degree crank; smoother, but an un-even exhaust pulse.
Yep, I’d love to have one. It’d make me feel right at home with all the Triumph’s and BSA’s I’ve owned over the last 25 years.
Did you say 40-44 MPG? That’s still considered virtually unattainable in the US without adding an electric motor and batteries. The Smart ought to be that efficient but isn’t. So stop saying it can’t be done! I realize that 0-60 in eleven seconds is considered slow in a new car, but that’s just silly. It’s more than quick enough for any real world situation. Bring it over here! And by the way, what mileage would a normally aspirated version of that engine return? I would accept 3 more seconds on that 0-60 to get 50 MPG.
Madhungarian,
A couple of posts up, I mention that the non turbo or naturally aspirated version produces I think 68 horsepower, Don’t know the torque of the motor in that tune but I’m sure it’s at most 97#Ft but probably is less than that being that it’s only 875cc of 2 cylinder motor and all the internal parts are smaller than most, if not all 4 pot motors.
It may WELL get over 50mpg US in the process.
Back when I had my ’83 Honda Civic 1500DX hatchback in the 90’s, it only did 67HP with a carburetor but the whole curb weight was some 1800# and it was zippy indeed, the Fiat weights more than the Civic did back then so it may not be as favorable as it would otherwise be and may well have been intended to mate up as part of a hybrid drive train.
Lots of data and photos in the Wikipedia article on the new 500:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_500_(2007)
Big chart with all the engines, specs, mileage numbers. The TwinAir with start/stop (no idling) gets 57 mpg US on the (optimistic) euro test.
Dad is practically salivating at the prospect of getting his hands on a Twin-Air powered model when they next replace their car.
My parents have been avid devotees of the 500’s older, far less cute, far more practical sibling – the 2nd gen FIAT Panda – since they replaced their loved-but-unreliable Mercedes A Class with one in 2004. They’re on to their third now, only because the second was cut down in its prime in a high speed shunt on the motorway last year (a frightening accident which wrote off the car, but from which they both emerged completely unscathed – thank you FIAT!).
Dad (an inveterate hyper-miler) has always lamented that their preference for the semi-auto transmission puts the Mk2 Panda’s most economical engines out of their reach. So he was practically giddy when the Mk3 was announced with the same semi-auto box mated to the little 875cc Twin-Air.
They usually get upwards of 60mpg (UK) out of the old style 1242cc Fire engine in their current Panda so goodness knows how many miles they’ll ring out of a gallon in the next version.
Whats the opinion of the twin air now? has it passed the test of time ?
I live in Cyprus, and there are several for sale here as i am considering replacing my mx-5. Most are automatics tho. None of them are local, so i will have to make a day of it to test drive one. All i have found on the web is contemporary reviews.