Fiat first in engine awards
Italian and German engines shine at this year's Engine of the Year competitionA jury of 76 journalists and industry experts from 36 countries has voted on the year's best engines, considering environmental aspects, performance figures and technological achievements in their decision.
The awards, which span 11 categories, saw Italian manufacturer Fiat take out several classes -- including 'Best New Engine of 2011' and 'Green Engine of the Year' -- with its twin-cylinder 875cc TwinAir unit.
Currently featured beneath the bonnet of Fiat 500 and 500C in Europe, the turbocharged TwinAir develops 63kW in its current guise, but will soon be offered in normally aspirated (48kW), high-output turbo (78kW) and eco-friendly bi-fuel (59kW) versions.
At the other end of the scale, and again hailing from Italy, Ferrari's romping 4.5-litre V8 has taken honours in both the 'Best Performance Engine' and 'Above 4.0-litre' categories. Ferrari beat the likes of Porsche, McLaren, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Nissan to win the coveted title; its high-revving 419kW/540Nm unit the same found powering the prancing horse brand's stunning 458 Italia.
Taking out an impressive four categories in the year's awards, BMW has showcased a variety of technologies and indeed fuel types in the '1.4 to 1.8-litre', '1.8 to 2.0-litre', '2.5 to 3.0-litre' and '3.0 to 4.0-litre' categories, pipped by compatriots Volkswagen and Audi in the two remaining fields.
BMW's collaborative effort with PSA, the 1.6-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol (137kW) found beneath the bonnet of MINI Cooper S and Citroen DS3 (to name but a few), was praised for its state-of-the-art Valvetronic system which not only delivers more power, but has also shaved 9 per cent from the existing mill's combined fuel economy figure.
The German marque's new lightweight 2.0-litre twin-turbo diesel four-cylinder (152kW), powering the new X1 SUV, was also heralded for its Valvetronic system, and for the combination of power and economy achieved by its small and large turbocharger arrangement, which also eliminates turbo lag.
The Bavarian manufacturer also cleaned up in the '2.5-3.0-litre' and '3.0 to 4.0-litre' categories with its direct injected and twin turbocharged 3.0-litre six-cylinder (238kW) magnesium alloy unit, as-found powering the exciting new 1 Series M Coupe (among others), and astonishing normally aspirated 4.0-litre V8 (313kW) which powers the now legendary 'driver's car', M3.
In the remaining categories, Germany's Volkswagen Group has claimed top prize in the '1.0 to 1.4-litre' and '2.0 to 2.5-litre' fields with its 1.4-litre supercharged and turbocharged four-cylinder (138kW) and 2.5-litre turbocharged and direct injected five-cylinder (268kW) which feature most notably in Polo GTI and TT-RS respectively.
From the categories listed, one winner is selected to take home the 'International Engine of the Year' award which has this year been given to the Fiat 875cc TwinAir. It's only the second time in the award's history that a sub-litre engine has won the prestigious award (the last was Toyota's 1.0-litre VVT-i in 1999) -- a trend likely to increase as engineers push for more powerful and efficient low capacity technology.
"We wanted an engine to fully demonstrate our downsizing capabilities and we needed a displacement that could fully exploit our MultiAir system," explained Fiat TwinAir's program manager, Gianni Mastrangelo.
"We concluded that a two-cylinder, 875cc setup with a turbo was capable of realising all our development targets."
In the final decision, Fiat beat Volkswagen, Ferrari, BMW and Audi for line honours, in what the Italian manufacturer says is a "solid endorsement by the judges".
2011 Engine of the Year category winners:
- Best new engine of 2011 – Fiat 875cc TwinAir
- Green engine of the year – Fiat 875cc TwinAir
- Best Performance engine – Ferrari 4.5-litre V8
- Sub 1-litre engine of the year – Fiat 875cc TwinAir
- 1.0 to 1.4-litre engine of the year – Volkswagen 1.4 TSI Twincharger
- 1.4 to 1.8-litre engine of the year – BMW 1.6-litre Turbo
- 1.8 to 2.0-litre engine of the year – BMW 2.0-litre Twin-Turbo Diesel
- 2.0 to 2.5-litre engine of the year – Audi 2.5-litre Turbo
- 2.5 to 3.0-litre engine of the year – BMW 3.0-litre Direct Injection Twin-Turbo
- 3.0 to 4.0-litre engine of the year – BMW 4.0-litre V8
- Above 4.0-litre engine of the year – Ferrari 4.5-litre V8
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