italiaspeed.com

Fiat has added self-shifting versions of the Fiat Ducato to its Australian range with the MTA Gearbox now available as an option on Ducatos with the 3.0 litre 115.5 kW Turbo Diesel engine, combining the fuel economy and performance of a manual gearbox with the convenience and ease of use of an automatic.

“It would have been very easy for Fiat to have simply placed a conventional automatic gearbox in the Ducato,” explains Andrei Zaitzev, General Manager of Fiat in Australia. “But, with its reputation for economical and environmental vehicles right across its range, this would have been a backward step. Therefore, Fiat has developed an automated manual gearbox that offers the performance and economy of a manual gearbox – in fact slightly better than a conventional manual as it makes the perfect gear change for economy and emissions every time – and ease of use of a conventional automatic. But Fiat went even further. With the majority of the MTA gearboxes expected to be fitted to motor homes, Fiat honed the gearbox to the specific needs of motor home drivers, making it the perfect gearbox for Australian users – as economical as a manual on the open road, as easy to use as an automatic around town.”

“The MTA gearbox also has significant advantages for van users, as it eliminates driver wear and tear on the clutch and gearbox and ensures that the Ducato is always operating at its optimum economy, a significant advantages in tough economic times when every dollar counts,” explains Mr Zaitzev.

In Australia and New Zealand, Motor Home conversions are the largest single market sector for the Fiat Ducato with eight converters - Jayco, A’Van, Trakka, Winnebago, Paradise, Ballina, Sunliner and Horizon – using the Fiat Ducato to meet a wide range of different motor home market requirements. To meet the demand locally Fiat provides the motor home industry with a range of specialist platforms on which to build their vehicles.

The MTA gearbox is not a manual gearbox that has been adapted to work as a self shifting unit, like some automated manual transmissions. The MTA gearbox has been designed from the ground up to be an automated or robotised manual gearbox with all its systems fully integrated into a gearbox that has been designed to maximise the advantages of robotisation. Furthermore, during the development stage in particular, great attention has been paid to ensuring that the gearbox meets the specific needs of motor home. To this end, rather than use vans and cab chassis to develop the gearbox, Fiat built special ‘mule’ test vehicles that reproduced all the load characteristics of motor homes for the fine-tuning and testing phase.

These provided a faithful reproduction of the front surface configurations, gross vehicle weight and conditions of use typical of this class of vehicle. In addition, as is often the case with trailers and motor homes which by their very nature are employed in conditions of maximum load, the MTA gearbox offers the driver an “UP” button which makes it possible to optimise gear-change points automatically, thus guaranteeing optimal engine revs in all circumstances and improving performance in particularly demanding conditions or on steep slopes.

The gearbox offers six gears plus reverse with a choice of manual or automatic operation. In manual mode the driver can freely choose the ratio required via the gear lever on the dash but without having to use a clutch pedal or worrying about stalling or being in the wrong gear. In automatic mode the customer has the benefit of a variety of useful functions typical of the electronic operation of the gearbox: Uphill – Downhill Mode: Gear changing logics operated by software to guarantee the best ratio depending on the slope in the road; Warm Up Mode: Emission/Fuel Consumption reduction strategy for cold starts; Brake Assistance Mode: MTA goes down through the gears to support vehicle deceleration; Kick Down Mode: Quick selection of a lower gear for over taking, for example; Fast-Off Detection: The gearbox will stay in a given gear if the accelerator is suddenly released and will not slur up a gear, as with conventional automatics, ensuring that the Ducato is more responsive.

Compared to traditional automatic gearboxes, the Fiat Ducato’s MTA gearbox is 30 per cent lighter, is more economical, reduces emissions, and requires less maintenance. “The MTA gearbox provides yet another excellent strength for the Ducato,” says Mr Zaitzev. “The Ducato has been awarded ‘Van of the Year’, it has been named as the best chassis on which to build a motor home and the 3.0 litre engine is so good, other companies are buying it from Fiat to fit to their vehicles. Now, added to this, is a gearbox that maintains the performance and economy of the existing manual gearbox, reduces emissions and makes driving safer and easier. Once again, the Ducato is confirmed as the benchmark for both commercial vehicles and motor homes!” The new MTA gearbox has a recommended retail price of A$2420 as an option in versions of the Fiat Ducato fitted with the 3.0 115.5 kW engine in both vans and motor homes.