The Fiat 500 rolled out of the 2011 Engine of The Year awards ceremony with a total of three trophies. The newly released TwinAir model, which runs a 875cc (.9 liters) turbocharged two-cylinder took home the sub 1-liter and Green Engine category as well as the prestigious Best New Engine of The Year award. The little engine did so by a remarkable margin, beating its competition with ease.
The TwinAir was hailed for its blend of power, efficiency and cleanliness. Making 85 horsepower at smile inducing 5,500 rpms, the TwinAir can push around the light 500 and still achieve a stellar 65 mpg. And all that comes out the tail pipe is a lower-than low 95g/km of CO2. What’s even more remarkable is the TwinAir competed with the fully electric Nissan Leaf and Mitsubishi iMIEV for Green Engine of The Year: this is truly a triumph for the internal combustion engine.
