2010 Fiat 500 first model to get company's new 0.9-liter engine

Last month Fiat head Sergio Marchionne put Chrysler's five-year plan on everyone's plate to digest. This month he's done the same with Fiat's 2-year plan. One of the first items to come out is that the dinky Fiat 500 will get an even dinkier motor: the 0.9-liter, 2-cylinder turbocharged MultiAir gasoline engine.

Right now the smallest engine on offer in a 500 is the SOHC, inline 4-cylinder, 1.2-liter petrol with anywhere from 68 to 74 horsepower. The new unit will muster 65 horsepower in its naturally aspirated guise and 80 to 105 horsepower with the turbos on board. In addition to the reduced carbon dioxide output, the engine is lighter and more fuel efficient.

The news here isn't the output – the base three-door Fiesta, for example, has a 68-hp, 1.3-liter engine in the UK, and the Peugeot 107 has a 1-liter, 68-hp lump described as "zippy" – it's the size of the engine. While Ferrari tries to see how much power it can extract from a slightly smaller engine, Fiat, on the other hand, appears to want to see how small it can build an engine and still extract anything.

[Source: Carscoop]

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