The new Fiat 500X is the first model to include the company’s latest family of turbo engines, designed to strike the right balance for customers between driving performance and economy. Euro 6D compliant and fitted with a gasoline particle filter (GPF), the new turbo engines are the result of over 75,000 hours of virtual tests, 60,000 hours of real-life off-vehicle tests and 5,000,000km clocked up on roads worldwide.
Developed on a modular structure, the new front-wheel drive turbo gasoline engine line-up includes a three-cylinder 1.0-liter powerplant that delivers 120ps and 190Nm of torque and is paired with a six-speed manual transmission, as well as a four-cylinder 1.3-liter engine with 150ps and 270Nm of torque, combined with six-speed dual clutch automatic transmission (DCT).
Designed to achieve efficiency, modularity, a high degree of component and production process standardization, flexibility and openness to future evolutions, the new engines are made entirely from aluminum alloy, ensuring lightness (the three-cylinder version weighs 93kg). The cylinder block, developed in partnership with Teksid, is in high-pressure die-cast aluminum alloy with a bedplate architecture to achieve a combination of ride, weight and structural performance.
The Italian OEM has included a number of technical features to contribute to improved performance and maximum driving comfort. These include direct fuel injection to maximize volumetric efficiency and a low inertia turbocharger controlled by an electrically operated wastegate actuator, which, combined with a supercharger module water-cooled directly in the intake manifold, ensures a faster response and swift acceleration.
The new turbo engines also optimize combustion efficiency through continual control of intake valve opening and timing. The specific intake and exhaust cam profiles improve low load efficiency by recycling exhaust gas through advance opening of the intake valves. When higher power is required, the engine reduces the real compression ratio by delaying valve closure, controlling knock and substantially improving fuel efficiency, even at the highest loads.
The range of gasoline engines in the new Fiat 500X is completed by the entry level 110ps 1.6 E-Torq, combined with manual transmission and front-wheel drive, which has been upgraded to meet the Euro 6D pollution reduction standards and now features Start & Stop technology.
