Ferrari dominates Engine of the Year awards

Almost inconceivably, the twin-turbocharged 3.9-litre Ferrari V8 nestled behind drivers of the 488 GTB and the 488 Pista has won the Engine and Powertrain of the Year award yet again.

In the face of the addition of the “Powertrain” part that opened the door to electric cars, the Ferrari motor maintained its mortgage on the award for the fourth straight year.

No other engine has ever won four straight titles before, and it had to overcome the 3.8-litre Porsche turbo motor, the McLaren 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8, the 6.5-litre naturally aspirated Ferrari V12 and even Tesla’s electric powertrain to win the Over 650 Horsepower category.

It left the award’s co-chairman, Dean Slavnich, shaking his head at the supercar engine’s dominance of its class and all other engines.

"Since its launch in 2016 the Ferrari V8 engine remains undefeated at the International Engine + Powertrain of the Year Awards, winning 14 trophies over three years,” Slavnich said.

“And now it has won the overall award four years straight, cementing its place in the history books. I very much doubt such an achievement will ever be matched again.”

The award, managed by the Engine Technology International organisation, was rebranded this year to include electric cars, with Jaguar’s I-PACE adding to its World Car of the Year and European Car of the Year awards by taking the Best Electric Powertrain award.

The award gave Jaguar Land Rover a second dose of good news this week, following a return to profit after four quarters of repeated losses and makes it easily the most credentialed electric car on the market.

But there was more  accolades for Jaguar, with the I-PACE also claiming trophies for the Best New Engine + Powertrain award and the Best Powertrain between 350 and 450 (metric) horsepower.

The Jaguar ran the Ferrari close in the outright award as well, finishing second ahead of the versatile and strong Mercedes-AMG 4.0-litre biturbo V8 that powers everything from heavy SUVs to the stunning GT R sports car.

Porsche’s 2.5-litre turbocharged motor finished fourth outright, followed by Audi’s ultra-flexible 2.0-litre, turbocharged petrol engine, Ford’s seemingly eternal 999cc, three-cylinder favourite and the less aggressive version of Ferrari’s 3.9-litre biturbo motor, found in the Portofino.

The sub-150hp category was dominated by three-cylinder engines, with Ford’s evergreen 999cc motor beating out BMW’s 1.5-litre and PSA’s 1.2-litre unit.

The 150-250hp award was claimed by Audi’s 2.0-litre, turbocharged four-cylinder motor ahead of BMW’s similar-sized (but twin-turbo) four and the upper reaches of Ford’s 1.5-litre, turbo triple. In a sign of the times, the fourth and fifth places in the category fell to full-electric powertrains from BMW and Hyundai/Kia.

The 250-350hp grouping was dominated by Porsche’s 2.5-litre turbo engine, ahead of BMW’s turbocharged straight-six engine and the top end of Audi’s 2.0-litre, four-cylinder, with Tesla’s full-electric powertrain from the Model 3 classified in fourth.

The I-PACE beat out Porsche’s 3.0-litre, flat-six turbo, BMW M’s 3.0-litre, six-cylinder twin turbo and Mercedes-Benz’s new straight-six 3.0-litre, twin-turbo motor, with its 48-Volt electrical mild-hybrid setup. Long-time class champion, Audi’s 2.5-litre turbo motor from the RS3, finished fifth.

The big hitters arrived for the 450-550hp category, with Mercedes-AMG’s 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 beating out Porsche’s 4.0-litre flat six and BMW M’s 3.0-litre, twin-turbo straight six.

The even-bigger hitters were in the 550-650hp class, which was dominated by the 3.9-litre, biturbo V8 in the Ferrari Portofino and GTC4 Lusso T. It beat out Porsche’s 3.8-litre boxer turbo, the AMG 4.0-litre twin-turbo, Audi’s evergreen atmo V10 in the R8, the BMW M5’s 4.4-litre biturbo V8 and McLaren’s twin-turbo 3.8-litre engine.

It was supercar city above 650hp, with the Ferrari 388 GTB/Pista motor taking the class honours ahead of the 6.5-litre V12 motor from Ferrari, Porsche’s 3.8-litre turbo six, Lamborghini’s 6.5-litre V12 and the 4.0-litre version of McLaren’s biturbo V8.

Sub 150PS
1. Ford 999cc three-cylinder turbo
2. BMW 1.5-litre three-cylinder turbo
3. PSA Peugeot Citroen 1.2-litre three-cylinder turbo
4. Toyota / Lexus 1.8-litre electric-gasoline hybrid
5. Volkswagen 999cc three-cylinder turbo
6. Volkswagen 1.5-litre TSFI Evo

150PS to 250PS
1. Audi 2-litre four-cylinder TFSI
2. BMW 2-litre four-cylinder twin-turbo
3. Ford 1.5-litre three-cylinder turbo
4. BMW full-electric
5. Hyundai-Kia full-electric powertrain
6. PSA Peugeot Citroen 1.2-litre three-cylinder turbo

250PS to 350PS
1. Porsche 2.5-litre turbo
2. BMW 3-litre six-cylinder turbo
3. Audi 2-litre four-cylinder TFSI
4. Honda 2-litre turbo
5. Tesla full-electric powertrain
6. Renault / Nissan / Infiniti 2-litre VC-turbo

350PS to 450PS
1. Jaguar Land Rover full-electric powertrain
2. Porsche 3-litre six-cylinder turbo
3. BMW M 3-litre six-cylinder twin-turbo
4. Mercedes-Benz 3-litre six-cylinder twin-turbo 48V ISG
5. Audi 2.5-litre five-cylinder turbo
6. BMW 1.5-litre three-cylinder electric-gasoline hybrid

450PS to 550PS
1. Mercedes-AMG 4-litre biturbo V8
2. Porsche 4-litre boxer
3. BMW M 3-litre twin-turbo six-cylinder
4. Porsche 3.8-litre boxer turbo
5. McLaren 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8
6. Fiat Chrysler 2.9-litre V6 twin-turbo

550PS to 650PS
1. Ferrari 3.9-litre biturbo V8 (Portofino and GTC4 Lusso T engine derivative)
2. Porsche 3.8-litre boxer turbo
3. Mercedes-AMG 4-litre biturbo V8
4. Audi 5.2-litre V10
5. BMW M 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8
6. McLaren 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8

Above 650PS
1. Ferrari 3.9-litre biturbo V8 (488 GTB, 488 Spider and 488 Pista engine derivative)
2. Ferrari 6.5-litre V12
3. Porsche 3.8-litre boxer turbo
4. Lamborghini 6.5-litre V12
5. McLaren 4-litre twin-turbo V8
6. Tesla full-electric powertrain

Best Electric Powertrain
1. Jaguar Land Rover full-electric powertrain
2. Tesla full-electric powertrain
3. BMW full-electric powertrain
4. Hyundai-Kia full-electric powertrain
5. Renault / Nissan full-electric powertrain
6. General Motors full-electric powertrain

Best Hybrid Powertrain
1. BMW 1.5-litre three-cylinder electric-gasoline
2. Porsche 4-litre turbo V8 electric-gasoline hybrid
3. Toyota / Lexus 1.8-litre electric-gasoline hybrid
4. Volvo 2-litre turbocharger supercharger electric-gasoline hybrid
5. Toyota / Lexus 2.5-litre electric-gasoline hybrid
6. Porsche 3-litre electric-gasoline hybrid

Best New Engine
1. Jaguar Land Rover full-electric powertrain
2. Hyundai-Kia full-electric powertrain
3. Audi / Lamborghini 4-litre V8
4. Renault / Nissan / Infiniti 2-litre VC-turbo
5. Mercedes-AMG 2-litre turbo
6. Ford 1.5-litre three-cylinder turbo

Best Performance Engine
1. Ferrari 3.9-litre biturbo V8 (488 GTB, 488 Spider and 488 Pista engine derivative)
2. Ferrari 6.5-litre V12
3. Porsche 4-litre boxer
4. Mercedes-AMG 4-litre biturbo V8
5. McLaren 4-litre twin-turbo V8
6. Audi 5.2-litre V10

International Engine + Powertrain of the Year 2019
1. Ferrari 3.9-litre biturbo V8 (488 GTB, 488 Spider and 488 Pista engine derivative)
2. Jaguar Land Rover full-electric powertrain
3. Mercedes-AMG 4-litre biturbo V8
4. Porsche 2.5-litre turbo
5. Audi 2-litre four-cylinder TFSI
6. Ford 999cc three-cylinder turbo
7. Ferrari 3.9-litre biturbo V8