Chrysler Engines to Get Fiat MultiAir Technology

[ahmed_7erzon]

Nobody ever objected to more horsepower or more miles per gallon. So how about both? It's an offer you can't refuse, especially if you're Chrysler. A senior Fiat powertrain exec confirmed to Motor Trend that the Italian automaker's clever MultiAir valve-control tech will be fitted to Chrysler's four- and V-6 engine families, and soon.

Massimo Fumarola, Fiat Powertrain vice-president of product and key account management, says development work is nearly complete on MultiAir versions of Chrysler's 2.0- and 2.4-liter fours, and both 3.2- and 3.6-liter versions of the new Pentastar V-6. The engines will be installed in Chrysler brand cars for the North American and European markets (where the 200, 300 and Town & Country will go on sale soon wearing Lancia badges)

MultiAir is a computer-controlled electrohydraulic inlet valve lift and duration control system. It offers the same advantages as BMW's well-known Valvetronic system, but is even more flexible, as it's able to control individual cylinders. With inlet valves directly controlling the amount of air entering the engine, the pumping losses involved in sucking air past a conventional throttle butterfly are avoided.

The system is easily adaptable to existing engines. The key component -- an alloy block with hydraulic pistons, passages, and electrically controlled bleed valves -- can simply bolt on top of an existing head. Fiat Powertrain engineers call this piece simply The Brick.
The first engine to get the MultiAir treatment was an existing 1.4-liter four, introduced in both naturally aspirated and mild turbo forms back in 2009. The same engine, including more powerful turbo versions, has since been installed in Alfa Romeo's Mito and the new Giulietta, and also will power the American market version of the Fiat 500.