Today’s announcement that Chrysler
Group LLC will debut Fiat’s 1.4-liter, in-line four-cylinder
with Multiair technology, in North America starting in 2010 has
lead to one question: What’s Multiair?
This is
one of those times when an analogy between the human body and a car
engine is actually apt.
Think of
an engine’s RPMs like your heart rate. The faster your heart
beats, the more air you need to breathe in to supply your body with
oxygen. The same is true for an engine. Multiair gives the engine a
more efficient breathing pattern at varying RPMs. Regardless of how
quickly the RPMs are scaling up at the moment, the engine adjusts
accordingly by opening and closing valves and allowing a certain
amount of air to enter and escape.
It’s a great analogy (one which I
didn’t come up with by the way) that really boils down to one
healthy engine, or as Chrysler Group CEO Sergio Marchionne said
today, “Multiair gives the engine
the lungs of an athlete.” (Think Lance
Armstrong).
You’ll be able to drive the first
application of the Multiair in North America by the end of 2010
when it joins the lineup in the Fiat 500 (a first for the vehicle
anywhere). And though the 1.4-liter is small, it’s mighty,
packing 100 horsepower (75 kW) at 6,750 rpm and 95 lb.-ft. (129 Nm)
of torque at 4,250 rpm. It goes without saying that this
powerplant is efficient, with fuel economy savings of 10% and about
the same amount less in C02 emissions.
For you turbo
lovers, a turbo version is planned as well, delivering 25 percent
fuel economy savings when compared to an equally powered V-6
engine.
What’s
more, Multiair technology can be adapted to different types of
engines, including diesels to significantly lower NOx, and is
planned for Chrysler Powertrain's four-cylinder World Gas Engine
and all-new Pentastar V-6.
