Fiat, Ferrari, BMW triumph at engine awards

The results of the 2011 International Engine of the Year Awards have been announced.

Fiat’s 875cc two-cylinder TwinAir was voted the greatest engine available today. It also won ‘Best New Engine’, ‘Best Sub 1-litre’ and ‘Best Green Engine’ Categories. Dean Slavnich, editor of Engine Technology International and co-chairman of the International Engine of the Year Awards, says: ‘Fiat has now produced one of the all-time great engines. Who would have thought that a two-cylinder unit could have won the International Engine of the Year title when we launched the Awards in 1999?’

Ferrari’s 562bhp, 4.5-litre V8 from the 458 Italia scooped ‘Best Performance Engine’ and the ‘Above 4-litre’ category.

BMW, always a strong contender in the competition, won four categories. ‘3-litre to 4-litre’ with the M3’s 4-litre V8, the ‘2.5 to 3-litre’ with its direct-injection twin-turbo fitted across much of the range (including the new 1-Series M Coupe), the ‘1.8-litre to 2.0-litre’ category with its 2-litre twin-turbodiesel that powers the 123d and X1 and the ‘1.4 to 1.8-litre’ category, with its 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol turbo engine which it co-developed with PSA Peugeot Citroen, with whom it shared the award.

Volkswagen’s 1.4-litre TSI Twincharger engine (Polo GTI, Fabia vRS, Ibiza Cupra), outright winner in 2009 and 2010, retained its crown in the ‘1-litre to 1.4-litre’ category.