Ferrari’s 3.9-liter twin-turbo V8 engine has won the International Engine of the Year award for the third time in succession. The engine, which powers the Ferrari 488, 488 Spider and 488 Pista, took top overall honors and also won Best Performance Engine, and Best 3-Liter to 4-liter category. That hardly comes as a surprise since the engine awards are all about powerful and emotional powerplants: only two categories have awarded an engine that produces less than 200 hp, and all other engines are synonymous with outstanding power figures.

For BMW, as in previous years, it was the 1.5 liter three-cylinder turbocharged engine found in the BMW i8 bringing home the trophy for the Bavarians. In the class of 1.4 to 1.8-liter displacement, BMW was able to celebrate a double victory, as the variants of the three-cylinder B38 used in other series from BMW and MINI were the toughest opponents for the 231-hp i8 hybrid drive. The BMW i8 engine benefits from a special configuration that exploits the advantages of the plug-in hybrid drive and can therefore be operated without a noticeable turbo lag with a setup optimized for high liter performance.

Two class wins were awarded each to Porsche and Tesla, while Audi, BMW, PSA and Volkswagen were able to win one category each. No single diesel engine won the top spot this year.

The new S63 V8 twin-turbo engine found in the F90 M5 placed second in the “New Engine” category, just behind the 6.5-liter V12 of the Ferrari 812 Superfast and the Audi 5.2-liter V10.

A second place was also given to the twin-turbo six-cylinder S55, which comes in BMW M3 and M4 and soon in the M2 Competition. In the 2.5 liter – 3.0 liter category, it was the Porsche six-cylinder engine from the 911 to win the crown.

In the “Electric Powertrain” category, the electric drive of the BMW i3 and i3s is in second place behind the considerably stronger Tesla drive.

International Engine of the Year

1. Ferrari twin-turbo 3.9-litre V8

2. Porsche turbocharged 3.0-litre six-cylinder

3. Ferrari 6.5-litre V12

4. Tesla full-electric powertrain

5. Volkswagen 999cc three-cylinder turbo

6. BMW 1.5-litre three-cylinder petrol-electric hybrid

Best Performance Engine

1. Ferrari twin-turbo 3.9-litre V8

2. Porsche 4.0-litre boxer six

3. Ferrari 6.5-litre V12

4. Mercedes-AMG twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8

5. Audi 5.2-litre V10

6. BMW M twin-turbo 4.4-litre V8

Best New Engine

1. Ferrari 6.5-litre V12

2. BMW M twin-turbo 4.4-litre V8

3. Mercedes-Benz twin-turbo 3.0-litre six-cylinder 48V

4. Porsche turbocharged 4.0-litre V8 electric-petrol hybrid

5. Audi turbocharged 2.9-litre six-cylinder

6. McLaren twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8

Best Green Engine

1. Tesla full-electric powertrain

2. BMW 1.5-litre three-cylinder electric-petrol hybrid

3. BMW full-electric powertrain

4. General Motors full-electric powertrain

5. Volvo turbocharged, supercharged 2.0-litre electric-petrol hybrid

6. Renault-Nissan full-electric powertrain

Best Electric Powertrain

1. Tesla full-electric powertrain

2. BMW full-electric powertrain

3. General Motors full-electric powertrain

4. Renault-Nissan full-electric powertrain

5. Volkswagen full-electric powertrain

6. Hyundai-Kia full-electric powertrain

Sub 1.0-litre

1. Volkswagen turbocharged 1.0 three-cylinder

2. Ford turbocharged 1.0 three-cylinder

3. BMW 647cc two-cylinder electric-petrol range-extender

4. Honda turbocharged 988cc three-cylinder

5. Renault-Nissan turbocharged 898cc three-cylinder

6. General Motors turbocharged 999cc three-cylinder

1.0-litre to 1.4-litre

1. PSA Peugeot Citroën turbocharged 1.2-litre three-cylinder

2. Volkswagen 1.4-litre TFSI ACT

3. Volkswagen 1.4-litre TFSI

4. Volkswagen 1.4-litre TFSI petrol-electric hybrid

5. Toyota turbocharged 1.2-litre

6. Fiat Chrysler turbocharged 1.4-litre MultiAir

1.4-litre to 1.8-litre

1. BMW 1.5-litre three-cylinder petrol-electric hybrid

2. BMW turbocharged 1.5-litre three-cylinder

3. Volkswagen 1.5-litre TSI Evo

4. Audi 1.8-litre TFSI

5. Honda turbocharged 1.5-litre

6. Toyota/Lexus 1.8-litre electric-petrol hybrid

1.8-litre to 2.0-litre

1. Porsche turbocharged 2.0-litre

2. Mercedes-AMG turbocharged 2.0-litre

3. Honda turbocharged 2.0-litre

4. Audi 2.0-litre TFSI

5. BMW twin-turbo 2.0-litre four-cylinder

6. Volvo 2.0-litre turbocharged, supercharged four-cylinder

2.0-litre to 2.5-litre

1. Audi turbocharged 2.5-litre five-cylinder

2. Porsche turbocharged 2.5-litre

3. Ford turbocharged 2.3-litre

4. Toyota/Lexus 2.4-litre petrol-electric hybrid

5. Mercedes-Benz 2.1-litre CDI

6. Subaru turbocharged 2.5-litre

3.0-litre to 4.0-litre

1. Ferrari twin-turbo 3.9-litre V8

2. Mercedes-AMG twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8

3. Porsche 4.0-litre boxer

4. Porsche turbocharged 3.8-litre boxer

5. McLaren twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8

6. Audi/Bentley tri-turbo 4.0-litre TDI V8

Above 4.0-litre

1. Ferrari 6.5-litre V12

2. Audi 5.2-litre V10

3. BMW M 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8

4. Lamborghini 6.5-litre V12

5. Ferrari 6.3-litre V12

6. Jaguar Land Rover 5-litre V8 supercharged

[Source: Bimmertoday]