And the International Engine of the Year is...

Staff Reporter|Published 7 years ago

488 GTB's V8 becomes one of only four engines to have won back-to-back titles. Picture: Ferrari 488 GTB's V8 becomes one of only four engines to have won back-to-back titles. Picture: Ferrari

Stuttgart, Germany – Ferrari’s 3.9-litre biturbo V8 has been crowned as overall winner of the International Engine of the Year award for the second consecutive year.

At the awards ceremony on Wednesday at the 2017 Stuttgart Engine Expo, the 488 GTB powerplant – rated for 492kW at 8000 revs and 760Nm at 3000rpm – became one of only four engines in the 19 year history of the awards to have won back-to-back titles.

The panel of 58 automotive journalists, representing 31 countries (including South African Nicol Louw of Car Magazine), awarded it a resounding 251 points, 35 points ahead of the second placed three-litre Porsche 911 Carrera flat-six turbo – and it also won Performance Engine of the Year as well as the 3 to 4-litre category.

Ferrari also achieved a second consecutive class win – and its third since 2013 – in the biggest, over-four litre category, for the naturally aspirated 6.3-litre F12Berlinetta V12, but even that ‘double double’ pales besides Ford’s phenomenal 999cc three-cylinder Ecoboost, which won the smallest, sub-one litre category for a sixth consecutive year.

Honda was back with a bang after not even making the shortlist for 11 years, winning the tough New Engine of the Year contest with the 3.5-litre V6 biturbo hybrid of its NSX supercar, and Tesla won two categories – Green Engine and the new-this-year Pure Electric segment – with the same Model S powerplant.

BMW’s i8 hybrid powertrain couldn’t match the Tesla in the Green Engine category, but the three-cylinder 1.5 that forms the petrol half of the i8 equation scooped the 1.4 to 1.8-litre segment, while PSA Peugeot Citroen’s 1.2-litre turbopetrol three came out on top of the 1 to 1.4-litre category for the third time.

TOP THREE IN EACH CATEGORY

International Engine of the Year

Ferrari 3.9-litre biturbo V8488 GTBPorsche 3-litre flat-six turbo911 Carrera BMW 1.5-litre petrol-electric hybridi8

Over four litres

Ferrari 6.3-litre V12F12Berlinetta

Audi 5.2-litre V10Audi R8, Lamborghini Huracan

Lamborghini 6.5-litre V12Aventador

3-4 litres

Ferrari 3.9-litre biturbo V8488 GTB

AMG 4-litre biturbo V8Mercedes-AMG GT

Porsche 4-litre flat-six911 GT3 RS

2.5-3 litres

Porsche 3-litre flat-six turbo911 Carrera

BMW M 3-litre biturbo straight-sixM3, M4

Fiat Chrysler 2.9-litre biturbo V6Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio

2-2.5 litres

Audi 2.5-litre five-cylinder turboRS3, TT RS

Porsche 2.5-litre flat-four turbo718 Boxster S, 718 Cayman S

Ford 2.3-litre four-cylinder turboFocus RS

1.8-2 litres

Porsche 2-litre flat-four turbo718 Boxster, 718 Cayman

AMG 2-litre four-cylinder turboMercedes A45 AMG

Audi 2-litre four-cylinder TFSITT S

1.4-1.8 litres

BMW 1.5-litre three-cylinderi8

BMW 1.5-litre three-cylinder turbo1 Series, Mini Cooper

Audi 1.8-litre four-cylinder TFSIA3, Volkswagen Golf

1-1.4 litres

PSA Peugeot Citroen 1.2-litre threePeugeot 208, Citroen C3

BMW 1.2-litre three-cylinder turboMini One

VW 1.4-litre four-cylinder TFSI ACTVolkswagen Golf, Audi A3

Less than 1 litre

Ford 999cc three-cylinder turboFiesta, Focus EcoSport

VW 999cc three-cylinder turboVolkswagen Golf, Audi A1

BMW 647cc two-cylinder extenderi3

Performance Engine

Ferrari 3.9-litre biturbo V8488 GTB

Porsche 4-litre flat-sixGT3 RS

AMG 4-litre biturbo V8Mercedes-AMG GT

New Engine

Honda 3.5-litre V6 hybridNSX

Mercedes two-litre turbodiesel fourMercedes-Benz E-Class