During the first day of the investor presentation at Lingotto Fiat confirmed a raft of new cutting edge engines and technologies currently under development and scheduled to arrive in production during the next few years. Highlights include a brand new compact 0.9 litre Multiair turbocharged petrol engine and DDCT transmission.

Petrol engines will still prevail in the European medium-low passenger car segments and offer a number of advantages - believe Fiat, including robust and low-cost emission control technology (3-way catalyst) and intrinsic cost advantage compared to diesel, expected to widen in future. The technological challenge for petrol engine is to drastically reduce fuel consumption and improve the fun-to-drive factor, through: progressive adoption of turbo-charging technology to improve performance, with emphasis on torque and driveability; the introduction of breakthrough technology (Multiair) to significantly reduce fuel consumption through throttle-less operation; substantial reduction of engine displacement (downsizing) through synergic integration of above mentioned technologies and gradual introduction of direct fuel injection as technology’s cost decreases.

Multiair Technology on the Fire Engine

The "Multiair" induction technology has been under development by FPT for some years and will be rolled out across a range of engines of different capacities and and characteristics. Using a specially-developed new engine electro-hydraulic actuator, Multiair will be applied to the FIRE engine range offering 10 percent higher torque and power with enhanced dynamic response to pedal; 10 percent fuel consumption reduction for both turbo and naturally aspirated units; and a 50 percent emissions reduction. The technology applicable to Diesels for NOx Emissions reduction.

New Small Gasoline Engine (SGE) under Development

One of the most exciting pieces of news to emerge from the Lingotto presentation is that a new small capacity, but powerful and torquey petrol engine is being developed. At just 0.9 litres in capacity it will be fitted with the new Multiair induction technology and feature a small turbocharger. This will add up to a power band ranging from 90 to 110 bhp depending on application, making this engine as significant to the development of small, compact, efficient and responsive petrol engines as the highly-regarded 1.3 Multijet has been to diesels. This new 0.9 litre engine will offer a fuel economy improvement higher than 20 percent by its substitution of 1.2 litre naturally aspirated engine on the A-segment vehicles. The new engine will arrive on the market in the new Fiat 500 and will also be incorporated into the next-generation Fiat Panda which is under development.

New Petrol and Diesel Engines

Fiat also reiterated the imminent arrival the new 1.4 litre turbo (which will debut on the new C-segment Bravo model) and which will offer up to 120 bhp, and the new 1.8 litre DI (direct injection) petrol engine with between 190 bhp and 230 bhp depending on application.
 

Also confirmed was the much rumoured news that a new family of V6 engines, ranging from 3.0 to 3.5 litres 250-350 bhp is under development which will make redundant the current 3.2 litre V6 which is derived from a General Motors engine and which has been criticised.

Transmission Technology Evolution

Transmission technology will evolve in next decade under pressure of following, presently conflicting, drivers: increasing customer demand for high-comfort automatic transmissions and higher transmission efficiency to reduce fuel consumption; automated manual transmissions (AMT) have very high efficiency but comfort level still not completely satisfactory; conventional automatic transmission has adequate level of comfort but fuel economy penalty will become increasingly unacceptable; thus Fiat believes dual-Dry-Clutch transmission (DDCT), combining high comfort and high efficiency at affordable cost, represents the needed technological leap forward.

Alternative Fuels

Natural gas propulsion, reckons the Fiat investor presentation, is only technically and industrially available solution for ultra-low emission urban vehicles in the medium term, while waiting for long-term hydrogen option Natural gas, biofuels and hydrogen are only alternatives to crude oil. Fiat Powertrain, presently leader in natural gas propulsion technologies, aims to further increase its competitive advantage by extending natural gas engine/vehicle portfolio (cars-trucks-buses); adding bio fuel option (tri-fuel versions) to current bi-fuel (natural gas – gasoline) cars and adopting, natural gas – hydrogen blends in special urban fleets to promote development of hydrogen infrastructure

Alternative Propulsion - Hybrids

Hybrid propulsion technology provides consistent fuel consumption reduction in urban missions, says Fiat, but with very high add-on cost Fiat Powertrain considers Diesel hybrid propulsion promising for urban light commercial vehicles and buses, and is currently developing the technology for the Daily and Ducato platforms.