Fiat 500 TwinAir: Pics and Videos

This week, Italian manufacturer Fiat presented the Fiat 500 and 500C TwinAir or, if you like, Europe's first two-cylinder engine to have made it into a production car. Being the first of a new family of two-cylinder engines to be thrown onto the market by Fiat, the unit and how it propels the 500 and 500C on the roads have now been caught on tape.

Now, don't start believing, before watching the videos below, that we will witness the reinvention of the engine. You won't hear any incredible roars, you won't see out of this world performances or the 500 making something it wasn't built to make.

You will see, however, the TwinAir, as the Italians baptized their engine, a 0.9l turbocharged two-cylinder gasoline which spits out an unnatural 85 hp. Small as it is, the unit barely manages to pull the tiny 500 from a standstill to 62 mph in 11 seconds. But, then again, power is not why it was built for.

TwinAir was created to be economical and the environment's best pal. It is supposed to live on little food, 4.1l/100 km (57.4 mpg), and not leave much residue behind while doing so (C02 emissions of 95g/km). But that's only for the unit paired with a manual gearbox, because when the TwinAir meets the Dualogic robotized gearbox, sparks fly.

Featuring two modes, Normal and ECO, the Dualogic helps drop the fuel consumption to 4.0l/100km (58.8 mpg ) and CO2 emissions to 92g/km.

As previously announced, the tiny 500 with the tiny engine will hit the big European market in September.