International Engine of the Year awards

The International Engine the Year Awards (IEOTY) took place on June 23 in Stuttgart, Germany, as part of the Engine Expo 2010, and for the second year running, Volkswagen has taken the top prize.

The VW designed and built TSI Twincharger engine repeated its 2009 feat by taking out the overall International Engine of the Year Award, edging out BMW's 3.0-litre direct injection twin turbo petrol engine.

Volkswagen's compact 1.4-litre TSI Twincharger unit can belt out up to 240Nm of torque, thanks to a clever combination of supercharging and turbocharging. In Australia, the engine is a mainstay in the Golf range -- read our latest road test on the Twincharged Golf for more background.

According to the judges, the four-cylinder engine is still the best overall powerplant on the market. "Last year's IEOTY is still the most accurate, efficient pointer to the future of petrol power. It was an easy choice," said Australian-based motoring journalist Bill McKinnon.

"The VW Twincharger engine remains the best combination of various technologies to produce high power with low emissions and fuel consumption," added Canadian judge Jim Kenzie.

All told, some 71 judges from across the globe rated engines in 12 different categories, including Green Engine of the Year, Sub 1-Litre and Best Performance Engine.

BMW took home the most awards, with four in total, while Fiat and Audi scored a single category each. Full details on the winners can be found below.

The Best New Engine of the Year award went to Fiat for its 1.4-litre MultiAir Turbo, with second place going to another Italian unit, Ferrari's 4.5-litre V8 that powers the 458 Italia sports car.

Road & Track magazine's technical journalist, Dennis Simanaitis, lavished praise on Fiat's new mill: "Fiat's MultiAir gives traditional internal combustion a breath of fresh air via an entirely new set of valvetrain strategies."

Toyota's hybrid engine used in the Prius won the Green Engine of the Year award. International freelance journalist Jack Yamaguchi said the Toyota powertrain is the "essence of mechanical, electric and electrical ingenuity in one affordable package, obtaining outstanding results."

Some of the surprise winners included the 6.2-litre Mercedes-AMG powerplant for Best Performance Engine, and the BMW-PSA 1.6-litre Turbo engine, which has been in used in vehicles such as the MINI Cooper S and Peugeot 207 GTI for a handful of years already.

"The nice thing about the 1.6-litre turbo is that it retains its awesome character, despite what end application it's used in," said Italian-based journalist Lorenzo Facchinetti. The full list of winners from the IEOTY are as follows:

• Best New Engine of the Year: Fiat 1.4-litre MultiAir Turbo
• Green Engine of the Year: Toyota 1.8-litre Hybrid
• Best Performance Engine: Mercedes-AMG 6.2-litre
• Sub 1-litre: Toyota 1-litre
• 1-litre to 1.4-litre: Volkswagen 1.4-litre TSI Twincharger
• 1.4-litre to 1.8-litre: BMW-PSA 1.6-litre Turbo
• 1.8-litre to 2-litre: BMW 2-litre twin-turbo diesel
• 2-litre to 2.5-litre: Audi 2.5-litre five-cylinder turbo
• 2.5-litre to 3-litre: BMW 3-litre DI Twin-Turbo
• 3-litre to 4-litre: BMW 4-litre V8
• Above 4-litre: Mercedes-AMG 6.2-litre

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