TwinAir Named Engine of the Year

[jamesday24]

Dean Slavnich, editor of Engine Technology International and co-chairman of the International Engine of the Year Awards, says: “Fiat has now produced one of the all-time great engines. Who would have thought that a two-cylinder unit could have won the International Engine of the Year title when we launched the Awards in 1999? Its triumph is a clear signal that less is more: people want low-emission, fuel-efficient yet powerful engines, and just two cylinders certainly seems to provide a comprehensive solution!”

[PiZ]

Hi there !

I've just registered and I'd like to start from here

I am from Italy, engines and cars lover (first of all) and working in FPT Research&Technologies ()
I am following Fiat's USA retourn with interest, more for passion than for job reasons (I am a technician). I was also unsure about registering here...
I am a fan of USA since I was a child....maybe one day I'll come to work there !

I (and my family) have owned a lot of Fiats, Alfas and other european cars (BMW, VW).
At the moment I am a proud owner of the fastest and most powerful Fiat's production car ever: Fiat Coupé 2.0 20V Turbo.

Ciaoooo !

PiZ

P.S.: beautiful forum

[Jeepnut]

Hello there PiZ we are glad to have you here.  Since you work at FPT congratulations on the awards.  It sounds like this is a very good engine i really hope Fiat brings it to the USA.

[PiZ]

Thanks !!

[Fiat500USA]

PiZ wrote

Hi there !

I've just registered and I'd like to start from here

I am from Italy, engines and cars lover (first of all) and working in FPT Research&Technologies ()
I am following Fiat's USA retourn with interest, more for passion than for job reasons (I am a technician). I was also unsure about registering here...
I am a fan of USA since I was a child....maybe one day I'll come to work there !

I (and my family) have owned a lot of Fiats, Alfas and other european cars (BMW, VW).
At the moment I am a proud owner of the fastest and most powerful Fiat's production car ever: Fiat Coupé 2.0 20V Turbo.

Ciaoooo !

PiZ

P.S.: beautiful forum

Hi PiZ, welcome to the forum!

We are all proud of the work Fiat and FPT are doing and are glad that your company is finally back in the US so we can sample your great work!

I am working on a story about these awards and should have it up shortly.  Congratulations to you and all that work for FPT!

-Chris

[Terry]

Benvenuto, PIZ! (Thanks for your passion and engineering gifts.)

Terry
(A Torino FC fan whose grandparents came from Castellamonte, Piemonte.)

[rossonero404]

Benvenuto PiZ!  Avere un italiano nel nostro forum e' fantastico.  Mi chiamo Mark Sarcione e vivo a Salem, Massachusetts (vicino a Boston). Anch'io ho avuto delle VW's e BMW, ma questa e' la mia prima Fiat.  Sono molto felice con la mia, in particolare perché e' una Prima Edizione.  Il motore "TwinAir" e' forte e molto divertente.
Sei un membro del club dei Cinquecentisti?  
Per favore ci puoi mostrare delle foto della tua Fiat Coupé 2.0 20V Turbo?

P.S. Di dove sei?

Mark

Ti presento la mia 500

     

[PiZ]

Thanks everybody for your welcome

I am from Turin (where Fiat was born). I also have some friends in Castellamonte !

Tomorrow (in Italy ) I will post a couple of photos of my car, as you asked me.
I am not part of the cinquecentisti forum, but I am a staff member of fiatcoupepassion.it club and forum.

I have landed here because I love the cinquecento (abarth in particular ) and I wish that this little car will make a lot of you guys smile. I know the potentials of Fiat group and I'd like that it will have the success that deserves there in the States.

I know that there is some bias against Fiat there, due to the past. Anyway I think that this will be another chance, a sort of re-start.
Fiat had bad reputation here in Italy, too. But this is another story.

Now, 2011, Fiat is at the same level of quality of the other european competitors, but it has some "heart" ideas they do not have.... this is why I decided to work for them. I was also contacted by Audi, but.... how could I say.... it's just like comparing warm sea sun (that sometimes burns your skin ! ) with polar icy calmnes.
Fiat drives you mad sometimes for little annoying things, but normally doesn't just stop in the middle of the desert ! Don't know... just like a bad temper (but great love) against cold assumed perfection.

Sorry for the looong post !

Ciao,

PiZ

[PiZ]

Fiat500USA wrote

.....

I am working on a story about these awards and should have it up shortly.  Congratulations to you and all that work for FPT!

-Chris

Hi Chris,

if you need infos, please ask me. I'l be glad to help you, if I can.
Congratulations for the great job you did and you are doing here....

PiZ

[PiZ]

My car !





More (and better) photos here (not only Fiat Coupé): Photorepetto

Some numbers: http://www.torquestats.com/index.php?car_id=5

Ciao,

PiZ

[rossonero404]

Wow, that's cool!  Really sleek looking car, Love it.  Surprised to see the numbers, 220bhp and 228 torque?  That must be pretty quick.  Was it unusual back then to mate a turbo with a 5 cylinder engine rather than a 4?

[PiZ]

...5 cyls were quite a fashion in that years. Volvo still mounts one 5cyl and there was also Audi...

It's not the legendary AlfaRomeo 250bhp NA 3.2V6 "Busso" (production stopped a couple of years ago) but it's a great engine.
Consider that at the time the coupé was in production it was faster and better accelerating than Porsche Boxter and Audi TT1.8 Turbo (which both had only 2 seats).....

This engine has also a lot of room for "hard tuning" improvements. A number of 350bhp monsters are going around here in Europe....

[Jeepnut]

It's ok I know Fiat had a bad rep here but I think that has for the most part gone away there are plenty of fans here that are glad to have Fiat back I absolutely am. I'm to young to remember Fiats missteps here in the US so I am perfectly willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. I also want to say that your Fiat coupe looks great and I'm sure it's a blast to drive. I welcome you to the forum and I'm personally glad that Fiat is back as a Chrysler fan I think this partnership will work. I just hope you guys in Italy enjoy the Chryslers we are sending you as Lancias.

[PiZ]

Jeepnut wrote

It's ok I know Fiat had a bad rep here but I think that has for the most part gone away there are plenty of fans here that are glad to have Fiat back I absolutely am. I'm to young to remember Fiats missteps here in the US so I am perfectly willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. I also want to say that your Fiat coupe looks great and I'm sure it's a blast to drive. I welcome you to the forum and I'm personally glad that Fiat is back as a Chrysler fan I think this partnership will work. I just hope you guys in Italy enjoy the Chryslers we are sending you as Lancias.

Thank you for the warm welcome !
As I said in another post, USA were a dream for me when I was a child. I grew up with the tv series Starsky and Hutch (ford Gran Torino), The dukes of hazard (with the famous Dodge Charger The General Lee), Chips, Different strokes, etc...

Now I am proud to see a tiiiiiiiiny piece of me in the States and I hope you all will be satisfied by Fiats, Alfas, Abarths and Lancias. I have direct contact with people in Chrysler and I think I will be soon there for work. One thing it's sure. If I will have to stay there for a long time, i will do all that I can to bring my coupé with me !

But i'd also like to drive a charger....

American muscle cars are very appreciated by cars enthusiasts here in Italy...the only problem are taxes due to the big displacement.
Chrysler 300C and Voyager (pre-Fiat) are quite diffused here.
I think Chryslers will be appreciated in Europe, but there is only a little problem imho.
The management choice to name the "italian" 300 -> "Lancia Thema".
That model was a cult here in Europe. I think it would have been better to use that name with a future, best-laid model.

Ciaooooo

PiZ

[JustWilliam]

  Hey Piz!

  Thanks for joining us! Your enthusiasm for FIAT, Italy and the US is fantastic. And your English is quite good as well! FIAT is lucky to have you on either side of the Atlantic, and so are we!

Best wishes wherever your career takes you, and thanks again for your contribution!

Peace,
William  

[Fiat500USA]

PiZ wrote

Fiat500USA wrote

.....

I am working on a story about these awards and should have it up shortly.  Congratulations to you and all that work for FPT!

-Chris

Hi Chris,

if you need infos, please ask me. I'l be glad to help you, if I can.
Congratulations for the great job you did and you are doing here....

PiZ

Thank you Piz!  I've always loved the Fiat Coupé and miss having the opportunity to drive this (and the other great creations from Italy).  When the Fiat Coupé came out, I loved hearing about all the cars it could devastate.  It's my favorite Fiat since they left here in 1984.

Whenever I see the body colored dash on a 500, it always reminds me of your car - Love It!

[PiZ]

JustWilliam wrote

Hey Piz!

  Thanks for joining us! Your enthusiasm for FIAT, Italy and the US is fantastic. And your English is quite good as well! FIAT is lucky to have you on either side of the Atlantic, and so are we!

Best wishes wherever your career takes you, and thanks again for your contribution!

Peace,
William

Thanks William !  

[PiZ]

Fiat500USA wrote

Thank you Piz!  I've always loved the Fiat Coupé and miss having the opportunity to drive this (and the other great creations from Italy).  When the Fiat Coupé came out, I loved hearing about all the cars it could devastate.  It's my favorite Fiat since they left here in 1984.

Whenever I see the body colored dash on a 500, it always reminds me of your car - Love It!

Yes Chris ! You ought drive it...
Believe me, I shouldn't use the Coupé everyday, to preserve it... but I cannot deny myself that driving pleasure. And I have the chance to drive almost every european car in my job (including Ferraris and Maseratis) and now also some Dodge, Jeepand Chrysler... ok, obviously Coupé it is not a super car..but.... what a car !
....and it still devastates 95% of circulating cars here !!   

Ok, just another couple of pictures (with interiors) of my Coupé...and then I think I should really stop my big OT !  

[PiZ]

To apologize being OT until now....






Photos taken with the iPhone while I was walking...sorry for the quality.

Officine Abarth are just a few steps away from where I live. They were built where it was originally located Karl Abarth's factory and then the legendary Lancia Martini workshop.
When I was a child I took my bicycle whenever I could, to wait in front of the gates that one of those masterpieces came out to go for a test....
I stil remember the colors, the smell and....the SOUND !!

PIZ

[Fiat500USA]

PiZ wrote

To apologize being OT until now....






Photos taken with the iPhone while I was walking...sorry for the quality.

Officine Abarth are just a few steps away from where I live. They were built where it was originally located Karl Abarth's factory and then the legendary Lancia Martini workshop.
When I was a child I took my bicycle whenever I could, to wait in front of the gates that one of those masterpieces came out to go for a test....
I stil remember the colors, the smell and....the SOUND !!

PIZ

Hi PiZ,

That would be dream to live near Officine Abarth!  There must be lots of neat things to see on the streets!