Fiat Marea
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Fiat Marea | |
 |
|
| Manufacturer: | Fiat Auto |
|---|---|
| Production: | 1996-present |
| Predecessor: | Fiat Tempra |
| Successor: | Fiat Stilo Multiwagon |
| Class: | Small family car |
| Body style: | 4-door saloon 5-door estate (Weekend) |
| Related: | Fiat Bravo/Brava |
| Similar: | Volkswagen Bora |
The Fiat Marea is a small family car available as a saloon and a estate (Fiat Marea Weekend), produced by the Italian automaker Fiat. Launched in 1996, the Marea models were essentially different body styles of Fiat's hatchback offerings, the Bravo and Brava. While the Fiat Stilo Multiwagon is the succesor of the Marea Weekend, the Linea is scheduled to replace the saloon version in 2007.
Contents |
[edit] Production and markets
The Marea was originally manufactured in Fiat's Cassino and Mirafiori plants in Italy[1]. Later Marea also superseded the Tempra in Brazilian, Betim and Turkish Bursa (Tofaş)[2], which make vehicles mostly for local and other developing markets.
In Europe, production and sales of the Marea ceased in 2002, a year after the Bravo and Brava were replaced with Fiat Stilo. The Marea Weekend was replaced by the Stilo Multiwagon, while the sedan was dropped altogether due to relatively low popularity of compact sedan cars in Europe. Nevertheless, the Marea (in both body styles) is still manufactured in Turkey and Brazil for local (and other Latin American) markets. The Brazilian version was facelifted in 2001, when it gained a redesigned rear end with taillights taken from the Lancia Lybra[3] [4]. For 2006 the Marea was mildly revised again, gaining a new rear end, and a new grille, similar in style to other current Fiat models[5].
[edit] Engines
The Marea petrol and turbodiesel engines 1.4 L, 1.6 L, 1.8 L and 2.0 L petrol and 1.9 L were sourced from the Brava and Bravo, and a 2.0 20v turbo option from the Fiat Coupé was also available. For a short time there was also a 2.4 turbodiesel available, dropped in 2001, which has become sought after. A Marea BiPower 1.6 L flexible fuel engine was later added to the range; it may run on either petrol, ethanol or any mixture of them.
[edit] Brazilian engines and models
The Marea was introduced in 1998 into the Brazilian market with only one engine: the 2.0 20v. Due to Brazilian production taxes the 2.0 20v engine had its electronic fuel injection remapped to limit the engine power to 128 bhp in the Marea SX and ELX models of 1999. The engine retained its full power (141 bhp) on the more expensive Marea HLX model. Simply exchanging the SX or ELX fuel injection chip with the HLX chip would bring back the original engine power. Fiat initially claimed it to be untrue explaining that other modifications had been made in the SX/ELX models for cost-savings, but this was revealed to be false.
In 2000 the 2.0 20v engine was replaced with the 2.4 20v (159 bhp) engine in the HLX model, and the SX model started using the 1.8 16v engine (131 bhp), while the ELX injection was maped as the HLX to give the 2.0 20v engine the original engine power (141 bhp).
Later the 2.0 20v engine was dropped and the 1.6 16v (103 bhp) engine was introduced. The Brazilian models and their respective current engines are as follows:
- Marea/Marea Weekend SX 1.6 16v (103 bhp)
- Marea/Marea Weekend ELX 1.8 16V (131 bhp)
- Marea/Marea Weekend HLX 2.4 20V (15 9bhp)
- Marea/Marea Weekend Turbo 2.0 20v Turbo (182 bhp)
All Brazilian engines are petrol based.
[edit] References
- ^ World Markets Research Centre's 2001 European Automotive Productivity Index results, a PR Newswire press release. Retrieved on 2006-06-06.
- ^ Global Autoindex Marea page. Retrieved on 2006-06-06.
- ^ Comparativo Sedãs Médios. Revista Quatro Rodas (2005-02). Retrieved on 2006-08-03.
- ^ Comparativo Completo. Best Cars (2002-01-15). Retrieved on 2006-08-03.
- ^ Novo Marea 2006 @ Fiat Brazil homepage (Portuguese). Retrieved on 2006-06-06.
| <- Previous | Fiat car timeline, European market, 1980s-present - | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Type | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | |
| City car | 126 | Cinquecento | Seicento | 500 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Panda | Nuova Panda | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Supermini | 127 | Uno | Punto I | Punto II | Grande Punto | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Small family car | Ritmo | Tipo | Bravo / Brava | Stilo | Nuova Bravo | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Regata | Tempra | Marea | Linea | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Large family car | Argenta | Croma I | Croma II | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coupé | X1/9 | Coupé | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Roadster | Barchetta | Barchetta | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Panel van | Fiorino I | Fiorino II | Doblò | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mini SUV | Sedici | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mini MPV | Idea | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Compact MPV | Multipla | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Large MPV | Ulysse I | Ulysse II | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
