Detroit 2010: Chrysler will show three new, cleaner engines

With the ENVI electric vehicle group disbanded, the engineers at Chrysler will need to resort to old-fashioned efficiency improvements to meet upcoming federal CAFE regulations for cleaner vehicles. That's just what the company has in store to show off this week at the Detroit Auto Show with three new powerplants that it says will improve fuel economy by 25 percent by 2014. The three engines on display in Detroit are:

• The Pentastar V6, which is apparently eight percent more efficient than Chrysler's other V6 engines while giving 33 percent more horsepower and 11 percent more torque than the current Grand Cherokee V6.
• The 2.4-liter I4 "world" gasoline engine with Multiair that offer 190 hp and 175 lb-ft of torque.
• The Fiat 1.4-liter FIRE (Fully Integrated Robotized Engine) with Multiair.

The new engines use some technology from Fiat, which makes sense. In December, Chrysler announced it would invest $179 million to get ready to the FIRE engine at an engine plant in Dundee, MI. That engine will be used in the 500, coming later this year.

[Source: Automotive News – sub. req.]