Fiat 500 Twin Air“The World’s Greenest Petrol Engine” is how the commercials describe Fiat’s latest offering. The already-popular 500 is now on sale with an engine that returns to the 500’s roots.When the original tiny Fiat 500, which sold in millions, was launched in 1957 it was powered by a two-cylinder engine of just 479cc. ‘Powered’ may not be the right word here, at 13 bhp. Now, the retro-styled current 500 is available with Fiat’s brand-new 875cc ‘Twin Air’ petrol engine. And how times have changed! This engine produces 650% more horse power than the little classic, with 85 bhp.Fiat have designed the new engine so that the two cylinders move up and down together (as opposed, for example, to a flat twin ‘boxer’ engine). In order to stop the engine, car and passengers also jumping up and down, the engine is fitted with a balancer shaft for smoothness. Does it work? We’ll come to that.As to the ‘green-ness’ of the new 500, as far as Carbon Dioxide emissions are concerned, the figure is a mere 95 grams per kilometer, which beats all others in quantity production. The only exceptions are those engines of smaller capacity found in certain specialist city cars, so the World’s Greenest claim is reasonable.On the road, the Twin Air feels quite different from its brother models. Anyone who ever drove a Citroen 2CV would recognise the noise emitted. However, anyone who ever drove a 2CV would be blown away by the Fiat’s sheer performance.A notable feature of the new engine, which was designed specifically to exploit Fiat’s clever ‘Air’ engine technology, is the amount of torque or pulling power that it develops. From 1900 rpm a surge of power sweeps the Fiat to the sort of acceleration that you normally only get in diesel engines or the big multi-cylinder cars. Unlike the diesels, though, there’s no running out of puff at 4000 revs. Ascending a long hill on our test drive, with a clear road all the way, the speedometer indicated 80 mph in third gear. The accuracy of this isn’t known, but the car does have a maximum of 108 mph and, as we found, it is all too easy to find yourself galloping along at a speed higher than you would have thought. Something about the sound and feel of the engine fools you into not realising how fast you’re going.The pricing of the 500 Twin Air is interesting. Fiat wants £10,665 for the basic version, called Pop. Sport, Lounge, BlackJack and byDIESEL are, respectively, £12,065, £12,065, £13,365 and £13,715. The BlackJack version has a dulled black finish and byDIESEL doesn’t mean there is a diesel engine, but that the Diesel designer clothes label is associated with the particular styling of this version.Pop, Lounge and byDIESEL are also available in the cabriolet car, the 500C, with prices of £13,665, £15,065 and £16,065.All of that means of course that the Twin Air is not the cheapest option amongst 500s. But Fiat claims that the premium paid on, say, the Pop would be clawed back over three years of less costly ownership. So potential customers will want to take a look at the VED, which is a delicious £zero per annum, and the official fuel consumption figures: in the combined cycle this is 68.9 mpg.The test car was very low mileage, of course, and this, along with the way we drove, may account for a trip meter figure of 39.8 mpg for our 100-mile drive, mainly through the countryside.To help improve on this, a closer watch on the gear-change indicator would have helped. However, this is something that owners will pick up once they get familiar with the system. Also of help would be to press the ‘Eco’ button on the dashboard when in towns; this tells the engine to make around a third less torque available.Across the range, automatic stop/start is another economy feature. One thing you learn with this is that there can be times when the engine will start up again by itself if the management system reckons that the battery will be discharging too much. This could happen in wet or cold weather when the heater, rear window demister, wipers, lights, etc., are all in use.All the 500s sell very much on their retro styling. The latest range of Twin Air adds in a new colour, ‘Pasodoble Blue’, a sky blue in fact; and there is a range of interior colour coding and matching that make the interiors bright and attractive. The Twin Air is a cracker. All the boxes are ticked: it’s environmentally-friendly, it’s cheap to run and it’s a whole load of fun to drive.Tom Scanlan - Nov 2010
Fiat 500 Twin Air
“The World’s Greenest Petrol Engine” is how the
commercials describe Fiat’s latest offering. The
already-popular 500 is now on sale with an engine
that returns to the 500’s roots.
When the original tiny Fiat 500, which sold in
millions, was launched in 1957 it was powered by a
two-cylinder engine of just 479cc. ‘Powered’ may not
be the right word here, at 13 bhp. Now, the retro-
styled current 500 is available with Fiat’s brand-new
875cc ‘Twin Air’ petrol engine. And how times have
changed! This engine produces 650% more horse
power than the little classic, with 85 bhp.
Fiat have designed
the new engine so
that the two
cylinders move up
and down together
(as opposed, for
example, to a flat
twin ‘boxer’
engine). In order to
stop the engine,
car and
passengers also
jumping up and
down, the engine
is fitted with a
balancer shaft for
smoothness. Does
it work? We’ll come
to that.
As to the ‘green-
ness’ of the new
500, as far as Carbon Dioxide emissions are
concerned, the figure is a mere 95 grams per
kilometer, which beats all others in quantity
production. The only exceptions are those engines of
smaller capacity found in certain specialist city cars,
so the World’s Greenest claim is reasonable.
On the road, the Twin Air feels quite different from its
brother models. Anyone who ever drove a Citroen
2CV would recognise the noise emitted. However,
anyone who ever drove a 2CV would be blown away
by the Fiat’s sheer performance.
A notable feature of the new engine, which was
designed specifically to exploit Fiat’s clever ‘Air’
engine technology, is the amount of torque or pulling
power that it develops. From 1900 rpm a surge of
power sweeps the Fiat to the sort of acceleration that
you normally only get in diesel engines or the big
multi-cylinder cars. Unlike the diesels, though,
there’s no running out of puff at 4000 revs.
Ascending a long hill on our test drive, with a clear
road all the way, the speedometer indicated 80 mph
in third gear.
The accuracy of this isn’t known, but the car does
have a maximum of 108 mph and, as we found, it is
all too easy to find yourself galloping along at a
speed higher than you would have thought.
Something about the sound and feel of the engine
fools you into not realising how fast you’re going.
The pricing of the 500 Twin Air is interesting. Fiat
wants £10,665 for the basic version, called Pop.
Sport, Lounge, BlackJack and byDIESEL are,
respectively, £12,065, £12,065, £13,365 and
£13,715. The BlackJack version has a dulled black
finish and byDIESEL doesn’t mean there is a diesel
engine, but that the Diesel designer clothes label is
associated with the particular styling of this version.
Pop, Lounge and byDIESEL are also available in the
cabriolet car, the 500C, with prices of £13,665,
£15,065 and £16,065.
All of that means of course that the Twin Air is not the
cheapest option amongst 500s. But Fiat claims that
the premium paid on, say, the Pop would be clawed
back over three years of less costly ownership. So
potential customers will want to take a look at the
VED, which is a delicious £zero per annum, and the
official fuel consumption figures: in the combined cycle
this is 68.9 mpg.
The test car was very
low mileage, of
course, and this, along
with the way we
drove, may account
for a trip meter figure
of 39.8 mpg for our
100-mile drive, mainly
through the
countryside.
To help improve on
this, a closer watch on
the gear-change
indicator would have
helped. However, this
is something that
owners will pick up
once they get familiar
with the system. Also
of help would be to
press the ‘Eco’ button on the dashboard when in
towns; this tells the engine to make around a third less
torque available.
Across the range, automatic stop/start is another
economy feature. One thing you learn with this is that
there can be times when the engine will start up again
by itself if the management system reckons that the
battery will be discharging too much. This could
happen in wet or cold weather when the heater, rear
window demister, wipers, lights, etc., are all in use.
All the 500s sell very much on their retro styling. The
latest range of Twin Air adds in a new colour,
‘Pasodoble Blue’, a sky blue in fact; and there is a
range of interior colour coding and matching that make
the interiors bright and attractive.
The Twin Air is a cracker. All the boxes are ticked: it’s
environmentally-friendly, it’s cheap to run and it’s a
whole load of fun to drive.
Tom Scanlan - Nov 2010
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