BMW i8 takes out top gong at International Engine of the Year awards

The International Engine of the Year awards for 2015 have been announced at a ceremony in Stuttgart overnight – and BMW has taken home four awards.

Three of those awards were for the i8's three-cylinder engine – both separately and as the key component of the hybrid drivetrain system (pictured) powering the fuel-saving supercar.

The i8 was the overall winner for its hybrid drivetrain system and its three-cylinder petrol engine also snared class wins for 'best new engine' and '1.4 to 1.8-litre' categories. BMW's six-cylinder engine that drives the M3 and M4 won its class, '2.5 to 3.0-litre', taking Munich's share of awards up to four.

Ford, as we reported overnight, has taken another win in the 'sub-1.0-litre' class with its redoubtable EcoBoost three-cylinder.

In the '1.0 to 1.4-litre' class, PSA Peugeot Citroen won with its 1.2-litre turbocharged engine, which powers various Peugeot and Citroen models including last year's European Car of the Year, the 308.

A striking pattern emerging among the engines awarded was the prevalence of forced induction. One exception to that was Tesla's electric drivetrain for the Model S – the judges' favourite 'Green engine' in its various performance iterations.

Other winners were Mercedes-AMG with the A 45's 2.0-litre turbo four-cylinder in the '1.8 to 2.0-litre' category, Audi ('2.0 to 2.5-litre') for the RS3's 2.5-litre five-cylinder engine. McLaren's 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8 edged out the Mercedes-AMG 4.0-litre V8 in the '3.0 to 4.0-litre' class, and Ferrari's 4.5-litre V8 from the 458 earned one of two awards for the Italian brand, in the 'Above 4.0-litre' class. The same engine was also honoured as the best 'Performance engine'.

"For our team, winning both these titles for the fourth time is a crowning achievement that testifies to the world-class performance of our naturally-aspirated V8 engine family," Vittorio Dini, Ferrari’s powertrain department head, was quoted saying in a press release.