Press Play to watch the video

Image: - Mr Aldo Marangoni, FPT Vice President Product Engineering

This year’s battle for the prestigious Green Engine Award was always going to make interesting reading: first time in the Award’s history, traditional IC engines have had to do battle with a new breed of pure electric powertrains, which for 2011 includes the motors driving the Nissan Leaf and the Mitsubishi iMIEV. The result? Well, a stunning victory for the IC engine, albeit one that takes engine size reduction and mass to a new level.

“I sincerely believe that this engine is the most beautiful illustration of downsizing today,” sums up Etienne Visart de Bocarme, from Road Book Magazine in Belgium, when describing this year’s Green Engine victor: Fiat’s two-cylinder TwinAir.

In fact, Fiat’s 875cc offering, which packages the clever MultiAir system that helped the Italian car maker collect the Best New Engine Award in 2010 for its larger 1.4-litre turbo heart, was praised by judges far and wide, proof that IC engine downsizing is not just a European phenomenon.

Japan’s Jack Yamaguchi could not praise the Italian firecracker enough, “A brilliant, back-to-the-future design! Twin-banger noise? No way, this engine has nothing but pleasant rhythm and sweet sensation, achieving good small car performance, outstanding fuel efficiency, and, oh, what fun!”

Fiat claims that in TwinAir it has delivered the cleanest, quantity production petrol engine in the world, and it’s hard to disagree. TwinAir weighs 85kg; emits only 95g/km of CO2 and helps to realise a fuel economy figure in the Fiat 500 of around 4.34 litres/100km (65mpg).

But green does not need to be dull. The transverse, front-mounted micro engine from Fiat features a Mitsubishi sourced turbocharger to ensure speedy getaways at busy roundabouts in town. In fact, TwinAir is only too happy to be revved, with 85bhp coming good at 5,500rpm and 150Nm of torque at just 2,000rpm. Next up – an even cleaner, LPG version of TwinAir.