Ferrari tops Engine of the Year list

A panel of journalists from all around the world has named the 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8 from the Ferrari 488 as the International Engine of the Year for 2017.

The Ferrari engine accrued 251 points for the win, beating the runner-up, Porsche's 3.0-litre flat six on 216 points. In addition, the Ferrari V8 won in the categories of best performance engine and best engine 3.0 to 4.0-litre. Another Ferrari engine, the 6.3-litre V12 from the F12, also won its category.

"This is only the second time in the history of the IEOTYA that such a powerful performance engine has taken the overall honours two years consecutively and won the most coveted, outright IEOTYA title," said Tony Robinson, founder of the International Engine of the Year Awards.

"The Ferrari V8 is all about amazing power delivery, precision, driveability and a wonderful soundtrack, too. One day soon it'll be a classic in its own right; indeed I think it is already!"

It's the second consecutive year Ferrari has won the gong with the 488's V8 powerplant, which was new in 2016.

A few of the engines under consideration by the judges have been award winners in the past. BMW's 1.5-litre three-cylinder engine, which powers the i8, has won its category – 1.4 to 1.8 litres – for the third year in a row.

As for Ford's 1.0-litre EcoBoost three-cylinder, that's now up to an astonishing record of six consecutive wins in its category of Best Engine under 1.0-litre. In addition to winning its category so many times, the EcoBoost engine has been named best engine outright on three occasions and won Best Newcomer during its inaugural year, back in 2012.

"Our 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine has been a game-changer, setting the benchmark for compact, fuel-efficient engines with sophisticated EcoBoost turbocharging, direct fuel injection and Twin-Independent Variable Camshaft Timing technologies," said Joe Bakaj, vice president, Product Development, Ford of Europe.

"Even with 10 International Engine of the Year awards under our belt, we're still finding ways to push back the boundaries of powertrain engineering, and deliver even more benefit to our customers from this acclaimed small engine."

The winners by category are as follows:
Engine of the Year: Ferrari 3.9-litre turbo eight-cylinder
Sub 1.0-litre: Ford 1.0-litre turbo three-cylinder
1.0 to 1.4-litre: Peugeot Citroen 1.2-litre turbo three-cylinder
1.4 to 1.8-litre: BMW 1.5-litre turbo three-cylinder hybrid
1.8 to 2.0-litre: Porsche 2.0-litre turbo four-cylinder
2.0 to 2.5-litre: Audi 2.5-litre turbo five-cylinder
2.5 to 3.0-litre: Porsche 3.0-litre turbo six-cylinder
3.0 to 4.0-litre: Ferrari 3.9-litre turbo eight-cylinder
Above 4.0-litre: Ferrari 6.3-litre 12-cylinder
Electric powertrain: Tesla (Model S/X)
Green engine: Tesla (Model S/X)
New engine: Honda 3.5-litre six-cylinder hybrid
Performance engine: Ferrari 3.9-litre turbo eight-cylinder