Archive for Fiat

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Fiat has released more official details and photos of the new Fiat 500 Abarth, so I’m posting a follow-up to the previously posted 500 Abarth story.

The engine under the hood is confirmed to be the drive by wire Fiat Fire 1.4 liter 16 valve DOHC engine, which uses an IHI variable geometry turbocharger to boost power up to 135 horsepower at 5,500rpm and 180Nm of torque at 2,500rpm. In sports mode, this torque is boosted up to 206Nm at 3,000rpm. This engine is mated to a 5-speed gearbox, with dual cable external gearbox control. It meets Euro 5 emission standards.

The Fiat 500 Abarth uses MacPherson struts at the front and a torsion beam rear axle with anti roll bar. The suspension is naturally lower than the stock 500 for a sportier stance. The power steering system is a Dualdrive EPS with Sport mode, which tightens during sportier driving conditions. The interior features an LED gear change indicator and an analogue boost gauge for the turbocharger.

Brakes are 284 x 22 mm ventilated discs at the front with floating ZPH 4.1.2 calipers, while the rear uses 240 x 11 mm solid discs with floating CII 34 calipers. Standard wheels are 16 inch with 195/45R16 tyres, with an option for 17 inchers with 205/40R17 tyres.

More photos and a video after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Fiat releases Fiat 500 Abarth official details

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The first details on the upcoming Fiat 500 Abarth have been revealed, and it looks like the MINI Cooper S has a new competitor, although the 500’s 135 horsepower figure and over-8 second 0-100km/h sprint time looks like it is overshadowed by what the turbocharged direct injection 1.6 Prince engine in the Cooper S can do.

The Fiat 500 Abarth’s 1.4 liter Fire family engine puts out 135 horses at 5,500rpm and 206Nm of torque at 3,000rpm, but probably has potential to put out more, possibly up to 180 horses in aggressive states of tune. Expect a boosted up variant to appear in the Fiat 500 Abarth Essesse.

Tata is inching very closely to acquiring Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford Motor Company, and everyone is already assuming the two companies are in Tata’s hands, in a deal that analysts have pegged at being worth between US$1.5 to US2.0 billion.

One company that is very happy about all of this is Fiat, who has a close relationship with Tata. Tata uses Fiat turbodiesel engines in their cars, and the two companies have a partnership worth Rs 4000 crore (3.3 billion ringgit) in India.

Fiat says this will most likely allow the Italian company to get access to Jaguar’s technologies. It is particularly interested in Jaguar’s rear wheel drive platform as well as Land Rover’s four-wheel drive technology. Yup, you guessed right - the first model from the Fiat group to benefit from this is most likely the new flagship Alfa Romeo 169, which Fiat plans to develop as a rear wheel drive car.

Related Posts:
Ford may forgo retained stake in Jaguar and Land Rover

Fiat Group Automobiles has announced that they will unveil its first dual-clutch gearbox in September 2009. The gearbox will be designed and built by Fiat Powertrain Technologies at an investment of 500 million euros. The new gearbox called the DDC will be able to handle up to 343Nm of torque. The dual clutch transmission is one of three transmission variants in the C635 family. The other two will be a manual and a single clutch automated manual.

The new dual clutch Fiat Powertrain Technologies C635 gearbox will use two dry clutches (DDC means Dual Dry Clutch) which are lighter and require less cooling than wet clutches, but there is no indication at the moment how many speeds the gearbox would have, though 6-speed is the most likely since the C635 family will feature a manual as well, and I don’t think a 7-speed manual is very common,

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The Fiat Bravo now has two new engine options, a 105 horsepower turbodiesel and a 120 horsepower turbodiesel - both 1.6 liter Fiat Multijet 16v engines in different states of tune. The new 120 horsepower 16 liter Multijet replaces the old 120 horses 1.9 liter Multijet. The new Multijet’s torque has improved by 25% - 300Nm at 1,500rpm (105hp version has 290Nm), and its consumption has been reduced by 8%, measured on the NEDC cycle. Noise levels has been reduced by 5%. Acceleration time from 80-120 km/h in 5th gear is almost 4 seconds lower.

Most impressively, the engine has a service interval of 35,000km, reducing normal maintenance costs by 25%! The Fiat Bravo is a fun little car especially with a manual gearbox. Read my earlier short test drive report of the 1.4 liter T-JET turbocharged petrol version linked in the related post list below.

Related Posts:
Fiat Bravo GT 1.4 T-JET 150hp Short Test Drive

Artist’s Impression - Click to enlarge

LATEST DELHI 2008 UPDATE: Tata has unveiled the Tata 1-Lakh Car and has named it the Tata Nano. Click here for the latest details on the new Tata Nano.

Artist’s Impression - Click to enlarge

This is a little bit of imagination going wild here… but something I think is interesting nonetheless. Most of you know that Tata is developing a 1-Lakh car (USD2,500), and we’ve seen an artist’s impression of it when I wrote about the car back in October.

Now, Tata currently has a JV with Fiat, and Fiat’s plant at Ranjangaon, Pune is making both Fiats and Tatas. Tata even uses Fiat diesel engines for its Tata Indica and Tata Indigo. Now, what if Fiat uses the Tata 1 lakh car as a baseline budget model, and a pure styling-enhanced Abarth model is created from it?

Seems like a long shot… but doesn’t stop the very generous Theophilus Chin from flexing his Photoshop muscles and creating something at a request from another paultan.org reader, who had this crazy idea in the first place.

Above is the result, along with a new artist’s impression of the Tata 1-Lakh car, looking alot better than the previous version I posted. The original 1-Lakh car is a 5-door, while the “Abarth” is a 3-door version.

Related Posts:
More details on the Tata 1-lakh car

Talks between Daimler and Fiat on a possible platform-sharing venture have ended with no positive results. It seems that during the talks, Daimler found out that a platform-sharing cooperation with Fiat would not be as cost-advantageous as expected because Fiat produces its small models more expensively than Daimler can already do with its A-class (shown above) and B-class.

Daimler is still in talks with BMW as previously reported, and if that does not go through it will go ahead to develop new entry-level models on its own. Mercedes-Benz has a new cost saving program called CORE and the next generation A-class and B-class will be cheaper to make than the current generation even without the savings gained from platform-sharing. But of course, more savings would definitely be a bonus.

Mercedes Benz Cars wants to make a decision on whether to go for platform-sharing or develop on its own by the end of 2007. They are also talking to Japanese manufacturers about joint usage of 4-cylinder gasoline and diesel engines - this probably means the end of the M266.

Related Posts:
MINI platform for next generation A-Class?

People who value a fun drive in Malaysia now have another option to choose from in the form of the Fiat Bravo GT 1.4 T-JET, boasting a 1.4 liter turbocharged engine putting out 150 horsepower mated to a 6-speed manual gearbox.

This test drive was rather short and spontaneous - a friend and I just happened to see a Fiat showroom on our way back from lunch today, so I had to snap the photos with my camera phone. Also, this writeup is based on a rather short drive for just a few kilometers as it was a typical showroom test drive.

Read my impressions of my short but fun experience with the turbo Bravo after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Fiat Bravo GT 1.4 T-JET 150hp Short Test Drive

The Fiat Panda Aria concept car marks the return of the twin-cylinder engine to cars, something which Fiat thinks is the next step to reducing fuel consumption and improving emissions. For the longest time, the smallest of cars like the K-cars of Japan have been using 3-cylinder inline engines. Fiat’s new SGE 900cc Turbo twin-cylinder engine knocks one off the cylinder count.

Fiat Powertrain Technologies decided to downsize from a conventional 4-cylinder engine to a 2-cylinder turbocharged engine. The engine incorporates Fiat’s Multiair electronic inlet valve control system (fancy word for throttle-less intake), turbocharging, and a Stop and Start device to reduce fuel consumption during heavy traffic. Two versions of the engine are available, with a third one under development.

The first variant is a 80 horsepower version that uses a petrol-methane fuel supply system. It runs on a mixture of 70% methane and 30% hydrogen. Then you have the Mono Fuel petrol-only version which puts out 105 horsepower. The third one currently being developed is a normally aspirated version making 65 horsepower.

The engine is 20% lighter and takes up 25% less space than a 4-cylinder engine that makes a similiar power output.

Other than the engine, the Fiat Panda Aria has a few other interesting features. The interior is upholstered with natural fibres, woven coconut fibre and biodegradable elements, while the exterior panelling is made of semi-transparent eco-resin and the structure is treated with opaque ‘totouch’ paint. Even the tyres are Pirelli’s experimental ultra-green tyres which use new compounds and new aromatic oil-free textile weaves.

One more rear shot after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Fiat Panda Aria features two-cylinder turbo engine

Fiat will be showing off it’s Fiat Grande Punto Abarth “esse-esse” (Super Sport, or SS) prototype at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show. The SS tuning kit boosts power of the basic Abarth up to 180 horsepower, up from the stock 150 horsepower that the Abarth’s turbocharged 1.4 liter engine makes.

Other enhancements include a lower stance and more powerful brakes, plus it will have SS badging around the car.

One more photo after the jump.

Related Posts:
Fiat Grande Punto Abarth

Click here to read the rest of Fiat Grande Punto Abarth SS