Fiat Powertrain Technologies

Fiat Powertrain Technologies developed high performance engines for the Alfa 159 Sportwagon, monitoring their application on the car.

Where the diesel engines are concerned, the well known 4-cylinder, 2 and 4-valve versions and the powerful 200 bhp 5-cylinder version were all optimised to match the characteristics of the car. Great care went into the calibration of the engine control system, to guarantee an enjoyable drive set off by the Alfa 159 Sportwagon's sporty temperament. Where emission controls are concerned, a special self-regenerating particulate trap was developed, to completely eliminate polluting emissions.

For the 4 and 6-cylinder petrol engines, development and complete experimentation was undertaken based on an existing aluminium crankcase, to achieve the necessary technological requirements for the Alfa Romeo engines, with new cylinder heads for direct injection and variable valve timing.

And finally, where transmissions are concerned, Fiat Powertrain Technologies has developed special sporty gear shift controls, achieving the best engine-transmission match via an optimal choice of gear ratios. Special experiments were carried out to test the functional reliability of transmissions subjected to high levels of torque and engine power, both on the bench and on the car.

And a new four-wheel drive transmission with a self-locking differential was tested at length in conditions of good and poor grip, on icy surfaces, but also at high speed on the test track.

Fiat Powertrain Technologies was created early in 2005, a new industrial company based in Orbassano, that draws together all the Fiat Group's capacity for innovation and experience in the field of engines and gearboxes. A new business that is open to the outside world.

The company is present in 10 countries with 17 plants and 10 research and development centres, and it draws together resources, employees and activities from Fiat Auto Powertrain, Iveco Powertrain, Iveco Motoren Forschung and the Powertrain activities of Centro Ricerche Fiat and Elasis.

Fiat Powertrain Technologies is expected to develop considerably in the future and currently has sales of about Euro 6 billion. It relies on about 20,000 employees, 11,000 of whom come from Fiat Auto, 7,200 from Iveco and over 1,000 from Centro Ricerche Fiat, Iveco Motoren Forschung and Elasis.

With an annual output of over 2,400,000 engines and approximately 1,700,000 gearboxes, and a very broad range of power outputs and applications, Fiat Powertrain Technologies is one of the most important companies in the automotive world. And we cannot overlook the fact that being able to operate in a coordinated manner with a large number of leading-edge research and engineering centres will bring considerable advantages for the development of highly innovative products that are very competitive where performance and costs are concerned.

Activities are structured in the following strategic lines:

• development of markets outside the Fiat Group;

• enhancement of centres of technological excellence and systematic transfer of results to the product range;

• integration of engineering capacities from the product development stage to experimentation, and management of products on the road;

• synergies between the industrialisation and manufacturing processes;

• purchasing synergies thanks to innovation, technological rationalisation and higher volumes;

• greater focus on investment in research and development for environment-friendly engines: methane, hybrid, fuel-cell.

Magneti Marelli

Magneti Marelli has contributed elegance, comfort, technology and safety to the development of the Alfa 159 Sportwagon. The exterior look of the car is expressed to a large extent by the headlights developed by Automotive Lighting in its plant in Venaria Reale (Turin), which play their part in defining its personality and harmonising the forms and volumes. There is a choice of two types: halogen headlights with a 70 mm elliptical module and H7 lamp, or headlights with Xenon Bi-function technology.

previous page | go to page 17