From 2001 to 2007, the Stilo was Fiat’s C-segment/compact car model in Europe. Commercially, it underperformed -big time- and struggled against the contemporary competition from Volkswagen, Ford, Opel, Renault and Peugeot.
They have become thin on the ground these days, 14 years after the end of the Stilo’s European production run. So it was a pleasant surprise for sure, catching this little gem with its big, torquey inline-five engine.
Just like its direct competitors, the Stilo was offered as a three- and five-door hatchback and as a wagon. A whole range of gasoline engines (1.2, 1.4, 1.6, 1.8 and 2.4 liter displacement) was on the menu, plus Fiat’s highly praised, common rail injected 1.9 liter turbodiesel.
There’s always plenty of power and torque on tap when driving a Stilo 2.4 20v Abarth; 170 DIN-hp @ 6,000 rpm and 221 Nm~163 lb-ft @ 3,500 rpm, respectively. An agitated hot hatch it isn’t.
Apart from the dual exhaust pipes, this Abarth is fully stock, tail light units included. And it’s still in an excellent condition, not a dent or scratch on the whole car.
Initially, the Stilo Abarth was only offered with the Selespeed transmission, a five-speed AMT with paddle shifters. Later on, the five-cylinder engine could also be combined with a five-speed manual.
Inline-five, front-wheel-drive. Audi? Volvo? No, Stilo Abarth is the name. Fiat Stilo Abarth.
Related article (another five-cylinder Fiat):
Cohort Outtake: Splateagle Misses His 1998 Fiat Coupe 20v Turbo by PN
Unaware of these. Make mine a 5 door.
What are the advantages of a 5 cylinder engine as opposed to a 4 of the same displacement? You have 20% more moving parts, a longer block and crankshaft and more cooling passages.
From what I recall in general, most of the I-5s were a matter of design expediency. VW/Audi, for example, built I-4, I-5, and I-6 engines all on the same architecture.
I don’t know squat about designing engines, but if you have a 2.0 I-4 engine and want to build a 2.5 liter, I guess it’s easier to add an additional cylinder of the existing displacement than to punch an I-4 out another half a liter.
VW/Audi also built a 2.3 litre VR5 which was basically the 2.8 VR6 with one cylinder removed. I always liked the sound of five-cylinder engines but my 2000 Golf VR6 (Euro version with 4WD and 200 bhp) did me very well.
I believe Audi ads at one time offered an answer to that question: “Because 4 is too small and 6 is too bulky.”
Advantage of a 5cyl inline? Look for a Video “Walter Roehrl on a 5cyl Audi UrQuattro racing Pikes Peak”. And just listen! Then you get an idea why I do have an Audi 5cyl turbo from 1981 in my garage, too.
Regards, Joe
P.S. Yes, in the design process Audi began with just adding a cylinder to an L4 engine.
I found this good explanation on balance issues in various inline configurations. It’s 20 mins:
A very handsome design that holds up well after 20 years. The shoulder line reminds me of contemporary Volvos, and the rear-quarter is very reminiscent of the C30. The C-segment competition was very good (Golf, Focus, Megane, …). I’m guessing that the Stilo was a good car haunted by Fiat’s reputation.
After the shame of the reviled Regatta, Fiat showed it could still build some decent cars, of which the Coupe and the Stillio were 2 of the best examples.
I don’t know a great deal about them as they were not sold locally.
I’ll have a 3 door 5 cylinder manual.
Why didn’t they sell too well? Good-looking and otherwise up-to-date sort of car which I remember wishing we did get.
(Well, not including the Selespeed, surely amongst the worst modern gearboxes ever melted together in one head-jerking bank-account draining tangle of wishful-thinking mismatched elastic bands).
In its first years, the Stilo suffered from serious technical/electronic problems which gave it a bad rep. And sadly, the Stilo five-door hatch could have been a Lada-design just as well.
Truth is that all Fiat C-segment hatchbacks were lagging behind the “Big Five” (as mentioned in the article) when looking at their European sales numbers/market share. Regardless model name and series. Ritmo, Tipo (the classic and the current model), Bravo/Brava, Stilo.
An example, look at the chart with the Stilo’s Dutch registrations throughout its production run (scroll down a bit): https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_Stilo
In hindsight, Fiat and their hatchbacks in the “Golf-class”: they just got no respect.