With all the speculation about the Fiat Uno making a come back, Fiat showed the sketch of its future model in one of their presentations for investor relations. Fiat calls it ‘B-COMPACT‘ a car most likely to revive the Fiat Uno name in 2009. It is to be made available in two body versions and will be high on practicality and value for money. Furthermore, Fiat is aiming for a very aggressive price for this model.
According to Autocar, the new Uno will be built on a shortened version of the Punto platform sharing many of its parts with the Punto. It will be slotted in between the Panda and the Punto and one of the likely engines is the 105 bhp 900cc twin-cylinder turbo which was featured in the Panda Aria concept. If you don’t mind some semi-hardcore techno babble, here’s an excerpt about this engine from Fiat’s official press release.
The concept behind this new engine is the downsizing from a conventional 4-cylinder engine to a 2-cylinder turbocharged engine that incorporates the innovative Multiair® electronic inlet valve control system. In addition to advantages in terms of consumption, the twin-cylinder engine also results in a 20% reduction in weight and 25% in volume inside the engine bay compared to a 4-cylinder engine with the same power output.
The maximum output achievable by the new twin-cylinder engine, in the Mono Fuel petrol version is 105 bhp (a 65 bhp aspirated version, also equipped with the Multiair® system, is now under development). The SGE engine family adopts a crankshaft balancing system that significantly reduces vibration and noise levels compared to other two and three cylinder engines.
The innovative Multiair® system controls the air in controlled-ignition petrol engines without the usual throttle valve, and therefore with a greater degree of flexibility than mechanical timing systems.
This electrohydraulic valve activation technology is based on the insertion, between the camshaft and the engine inlet valve, of an amount of oil (high pressure chamber) that can be varied by a valve, which in turn is controlled by a specific electronic control unit.
This allows the raising profile of the valve to be modified in response to the request for air from the engine and to the running speed. Different strategies can be employed (Early inlet valve closing – EIVC, Late inlet valve opening – LIVO, or Multi-Lift) to optimise combustion efficiency, with considerable benefits in terms of power output, torque, consumption and emissions. Another advantage of this system is the fact that the air pressure upstream of the valves is always constant. This characteristic, combined with the high system activation dynamics (from partial load to full load in one engine cycle) allows the torque response of the engine to be increased without any delay, on both an aspirated and a turbocharged engine, increasing the ‘fun to drive’ factor.
[lead: Carscoop]
If this is true, I need to give a applause… The Uno is a classic. I really hope the Uno comes back…