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Fiat 500 Abarth

Fiat 500 Abarth

The 500 Abarth has phenominal performance. It is powered by a 1.4 16v turbocharged petrol engine, it has 135 bhp at 5,000 rpm and peak torque of 206 Nm at 3,000 rpm. Car safety is maximised through the standard ESP and the new Torque Transfer Control system, which improves the transfer of drive torque to the wheels, plus it has seven airbags as standard. The styling fully respects Abarth tradition, it is not an exercise in aesthetics, but it’s driven by the need to improve the car’s performance in every possible way. Aerodynamics are optimised through the use of a ‘diffuser’ (a winged spoiler), that links to the underbody, helping reduce drag and increase high speed downforce.

It’s the front of the Fiat 500 Abarth that really shouts ‘This car is an animal!’. There are not so subtle differences from standard 500’s, like triple air intakes and twin intercoolers, and they had to extend the nose of the car to make room for the turbo. Inside, there are special instruments like a turbo boost gauge, and a shift-light LED to indicate the optimum moment to change up a gear. Aluminium pedals, leather steering wheel, and sporty bucket seats with combined head-restraints and lateral support ensure you’ll know you’re sitting in an Abarth. The current list price for the Fiat 500 Abarth is £13,600 (excluding any discounts), this model falls into insurance group 12 and will return an average of 42.9mpg.

I would like to remind readers of the car scrappage allowance currently in operation the uk, the scheme offers a £2000 discount when you trade in your old car. Certain vehicle age limitations apply, but some new car dealers are varying the restrictions in order to boost sales, so contact your local dealer to find out what they are currently offering.

More fuel economy related articles.

Volkswagen Polo GTi

Volkswagen Polo GTI
Certainly looks the part, but does’nt quite deliver the goods. Under the hood is a turbocharged 1.8 litre engine, and it doesn’t disappoint, it churns out 150 bhp 148bhp and 220Nm of torque, and will hit 60mph in 7.6 seconds. The engine certainly feels punchy and responsive, but the ride is too firm, on rough surfaces the suspensions is so hard, it feels like it’s broken. Driving long distance would very quickly become tiresome, the car also rolls around a bit and just does’nt feel planted. Having said all that, the brakes are sharp as a tack, although again, the brake pedal is a little spongey, it’s just full of annoying niggles that should not be an issue in a car of this calibre.

There is only one petrol engine in the line up, and it comes with either 3 or 5 doors, whichever floats your boat. The interior is the typical of the sombre offerings we have come to expect from volkswagen. The current list price for the Volkswagen Polo GTI is £15,150 (excluding any discounts), this model falls into insurance group 13 and will return an average of 36.4mpg.

I would like to remind readers of the car scrappage allowance currently in operation the uk, the scheme offers a £2000 discount when you trade in your old car. Certain vehicle age limitations apply, but some new car dealers are varying the restrictions in order to boost sales, so contact your local dealer to find out what they are currently offering.

More fuel economy related articles.

Chevrolet Volt

The Beans

General Motors has shelved work on the factory earmarked to build the engines for the Chevrolet Volt, but still claims that the plug-in hybrid will appear in showrooms by the end of 2010 as promised. I will believe it when I see it.  The decision comes as cash strapped GM struggles to shift the growing mountain of petrol guzzling suv’s and other V8 fuel guzzlers that North American buyers are now refusing to spend their hard earned money on.  Meanwhile, GM officials are hoping that Barrack Obama throws them a bone or two in the coming weeks, once he’s settled into his new comfy big house.  Mr Obama had hoped to move in quickly but there are rumours of delays as whitehouse staff struggle to remove 8 years worth of Bush family pebbledashing from 35 bathrooms in the big white house.   GM and Chrysler have also stated ‘if the current economic downturn continues, they would be flat broke and doing ‘elephant impressions’ on the whitehouse lawn in the not too distant future’.  Their cries fell on deaf ears, as the US administration appears to be in no rush to pull them out of the hole they’ve dug for themselves. GM says it had no choice but to shelve work on the the factory in Flint, Michigan, where GM were planning to build the 1400cc turbocharged engine designed for the Chevrolet Volt hybrid. The Chevrolet Volt was intended to be the catalyst in GM’s efforts to reinvent itself as a modern company that builds fuel efficient cars. But with the economic crisis or credit crunch as some have labeled it (a recession to the rest of us), there is no money available for that project right now.

A Turbocharged Battery Charger?

The Volt is by far GM’s most important project and a huge leap foward over conventional hybrid technology as it relies entirely on electric propulsion. The petrol engine exists only as a charger the lithium ion battery pack as it approaches depletion. The car is capable of a 40 mile range in pure electric mode and deliver 3 digit fuel economy figures. I can’t help but wonder why they would need a 1.4 litre turbocharged petrol engine to charge a few batteries? There are similar engines already fitted to several conventional small cars here in the UK car market, namely the VW polo 1.4TSI, and VW extract 140 bhp from that 1.4 litre turbocharged petrol engine and it hits close to 130 mph? and while its reputedly fuel efficient, its hardly the model of high fuel economy, and certainly not what you would expect to see being utilised as a battery charger? But I suppose that with the vast majority of americans driving 5 litre V8’s for the last 60 years, it probably seems like a small engine to them? I’m going to stick my neck out here and throw out a guess that the 10 Horsepower diesel engine in my lawnmower would be perfectly capable of charging a large battery bank in a relatively short period of time. It seems to me that the high powered petrol engine has more to do with pleasing Texan Oil Barons than producing fuel efficient motor cars, but then i’m a naturally suspicious person with an unhealthy dislike of oil companies. GM insiders say that development of the Chevrolet Volt will continue and they hope to see them rolling off the production line before the start of 2011 as previously announced. Now I know what you’re thinking already, “That might prove a little difficult without a factory to build your engines in?” or “I think it goes without saying that if you’re serious about making engines, you need an engine factory?” Well it turns out that General Motors already builds that particular 1.4 litre turbocharged engine in their Austrian engine plant, so they could just send a few over if its really neccesary. That bombshell makes this article rather pointless really, and now i’m wondering why I’ve even bothered to write it.

Conclusion

Bring on the electric cars GM, we were ready for them 80 years ago, that’s how long it’s taken you to catch up! For those of you waiting to buy a chevrolet volt in 2010, 2011 or maybe 2012?, let’s hope that whitehouse staff get to the bottom of the George W Bush pebbledashing problem soon, and Barack Obama gets to move in before Dub’ya makes off with what’s left of America’s valuables. In the meantime, i’m off to build myself a new generation diesel hybrid, now that GM’s told me how to do it.

As you probably already know, diesel engines get better fuel economy than petrol, simply because they don’t need to burn as much fuel as petrol engines to get the same amount of power. Diesel engines are built heavier than petrol engines, to help sustain the added stress of the much higher compression ratios.

Diesel engines don’t have an ignition system either, so you’ll never have to tune them up. The exhaust systems will last longer as well, as the exhaust on a diesel isn’t as corrosive as an exhaust on a petrol engine.

With diesel engines, it isn’t unusual to see them with 400,000 or even 500,000 miles. There are some out there that have even went beyond 600,000 miles!

When it comes to maintenance, 3,000 mile oil changes are a must. Diesel fuel isn’t as refined as petrol, so the oil will get dirtier faster. You should also replace the air and fuel filters at least once a year.

If you live in a colder climate, you’ll need to switch to a winter blend of fuel to prevent fuel gelling. There are several additives that you can put in the fuel as well, to help prevent your fuel from getting gel.

It’s also recommended that you replace the glow plugs every two years. If the temperature drops below 10 degrees, a block heater is something you should have. This will ensure starting in cold weather, especially with the heavy grade of oil that a diesel engine requires.

If you take care of your diesel vehicle, you can count on it to be around for years to come. Unlike petrol vehicles, diesel engines are built for the long haul, and will last you for miles and miles if you take care of them.

When gas is compressed, the temperature of it will rise, with diesel engines using this very property to ignite the fuel. Air is then drawn into the cylinder and compressed by the rising piston at a much high compression ratio than gas engines, up to 25:1, with the air temperature reaching 700 – 900 degrees C.

At the top of the piston stroke, the diesel fuel is injected into the combustion chamber at high pressure, then through an atomizing nozzle, it mixes with the hot high pressured air. The resulting mixture will ignite and burn very rapidly. This combustion will cause the gas in the chamber to heat up rapidly, which increases the pressure and forces the piston downwards.

The connecting rod will transmit this motion to the crankshaft. The scavenging of the engine is either done by ports or valves. To get the most out of a diesel engine, use of a turbocharger to compress the intake of air is vital. You can also use an aftercooler or intercooler to cool the intake air after compression by the turbocharger to further increase your efficiency.

An important part of older diesel engines was the govenor, which limited the speed of the engine by controlling the rate of fuel that was delivered. Unlike petrol engines, the air that comes in is not throttled, so the engine would overspeed if this wasn’t done. Older style injection systems were driven by a gear system that came from the engine.

The diesel engine is truly an advancement to vehicles as we know it. As technology gets better, you can expect the diesel engine to get better as well, possibly even proving just how much better it is to the petrol engine.