Powerful Volkswagen 1.4-liter TSI Twincharger engine scoops top award at the International Engine of the Year Awards for second consecutive year
Intelligent Fiat 1.4-liter MultiAir Turbo is voted most exciting new engine of the year
Volkswagen’s outstanding 1.4-liter TSI Twincharger has secured overall honors at the International Engine of the Year Awards 2010. The powerful yet diminutive engine, which won the overall Awards’ title for the first time last year, boasts almost 180bhp despite its small capacity, thanks to the intelligent use of both a turbocharger and a supercharger. The engine is now a popular choice for customers across much of the VW model range, including the Golf, Scirocco, Eos and Tiguan ranges; it is also found in the Seat Ibiza Cupra derivative.

Dean Slavnich, editor of organizing magazine Engine Technology International and co-chair of the 72-strong international judging panel of esteemed motoring journalists, said: “It is a fantastic achievement for VW to have won the award for a second consecutive year, and it demonstrates that engine downsizing is very much here to stay. We’ve seen more new engines launched into the market than ever before in the Awards’ history, and the vast majority of them were below 1.8 liters. That VW’s clever 1.4-liter Twincharger is still proclaimed by the judges as the best engine on sale in the world today demonstrates the class of this highly refined trend setter.”

Of the 66 new engines to come to market over the past year, it was Fiat’s 1.4-liter MultiAir Turbo engine that impressed the judging panel the most, the unit being named New Engine of the Year 2010. This innovative Italian powerplant, which uses an extremely advanced valvetrain to boost performance and yet save fuel, is currently used to great effect in the Alfa Romeo Mito and Giulietta ranges.

Further downsized engines also tasted Awards success, with Toyota finally receiving some positive news when its 1.8-liter electric-motor-boosted hybrid unit won the Green Engine of the Year award. The engine powers the Prius and Auris/Corolla models. Toyota also continued its dominance in the Sub 1-liter sector, its 999cc, three-cylinder engine once again taking class honors.

But it wasn’t all about being small. At the other end of the engine capacity spectrum, Mercedes-AMG absolutely asserted its authority in the Best Performance Engine category, with its 6.2-liter V8 engine winning for a second time. This awesome engine also scooped the Above 4-liter title.

The Awards, which are judged by 72 motoring journalists from 35 countries from four continents, also rewarded a variety of other manufacturers for engine excellence across a number of different categories. BMW scooped four awards: one for the best 1.4-liter to 1.8-liter class with the Mini Cooper S 1.6-liter turbocharged engine; one for producing the best 1.8-liter to 2-liter engine with its 2-liter diesel Twin-Turbo unit; another for its 3-liter DI Twin-Turbo engine; and finally its mighty 4-liter V8 M engine secured the award for best 3-liter to 4-liter engine. Meanwhile Audi’s 2.5-liter turbocharged engine that powers the TT RS won the 2-2.5-liter category.

The 12th annual International Engine of the Year Awards ceremony took place at Engine Expo 2010 in Stuttgart, Germany, on the 23 June. The event, one of the annual highlights of the automotive industry calendar, saw a total of 11 awards given to those manufacturers judged to have achieved excellence in their powertrain engineering.

Above 4-liters

Mercedes-AMG 6.2-litre (C 63 AMG, S 63 AMG, SL 63 AMG, CL 63 AMG, E 63 AMG, CLS 63 AMG, ML 63 AMG) 236
Ferrari 4.5-litre V8 (458 Italia) 146
Jaguar 5-litre V8 Supercharged (Jaguar XF, XJ, XK, Range Rover, Range Rover Sport) 126
BMW M 5-litre V10 (M5, M6) 84
BMW 4.4-litre DI Turbo (550i, 750i, X5, X6) 80
Porsche 4.8-litre Turbo V8 (Panamera, Cayenne) 79
3-liter to 4-liter

BMW 4-litre V8 (M3) 267
Porsche 3.8-litre flat six (GT3, 911 GT3 RS) 179
Nissan 3.8-litre Twin Turbo (GT-R) 156
Porsche 3.6-litre Turbo (911 Turbo, 911 S Turbo GT2) 150
Porsche 3.8-litre flat six DI (911) 119
Porsche 3.4-litre flat six DI (Boxster, Boxster Spyder, Cayman S) 89
2.5-liter to 3-liter

BMW 3-litre DI Twin Turbo (135i, 335i, 535i, X5 35i, X6 35i, Z4) 332
BMW Diesel 3-litre Twin Turbo (335d, 635d, X3 35d, X5 40d, 740d) 278
Audi 3-litre DI Supercharged (S4, S5) 125
Jaguar/Ford/PSA Diesel 3-litre (Citroën C5, C6, Peugeot 407 Coupe, Jaguar XF, XJ, Range Rover Sport) 117
Porsche 2.9-litre flat-six DI (Boxster, Cayman) 109
Audi/VW 3-litre TDI (Audi A4, A4 Allroad, A5, A5 Sportback, A6, A6 Allroad, Q5, Q7, VW Touareg, Porsche Cayenne) 82
2-liter to 2.5-liter

Audi 2.5-litre five-cylinder turbo (Audi TT RS) 269
Mercedes-Benz Diesel 2.1-litre (C-Class, E-Class) 185
Subaru 2.5-litre flat-four turbo (Forester, Impreza, Legacy) 123
Ford 2.5-litre Hybrid (Ford Fusion Hybrid, Mercury Milan Hybrid) 110
BMW 2.5-litre DI six-cylinder (Z4 23i) 101
Honda Diesel 2.2-litre DTEC (Accord, Accord Type S, CR-V) 82
1.8-liter to 2-liter

BMW 2-litre Twin Turbo Diesel (123d, X1 23d) 293
Audi 2-litre four-cylinder TFSI (Audi A4, A4 Allroad, A5, A5 Sportback, A6, Q5, S3, VW Scirocco, Jetta, Passat, Tiguan, Golf, Seat Leon, Cupra R, Exeo, Skoda Octavia RS) 215
Audi 2-litre four-cylinder TFSI (Audi TT, VW Eos, Golf, Seat Leon, FR/Cupra, Seat Altea/XL/Freetrack) 156
Honda 2-litre four-cylinder i-VTEC (Civic Type-R) 150
Mitsubishi 2-litre Turbo (Evo, Lancer) 73
Subaru 2-litre Diesel (Impreza, Outlook, Forester, Legacy) 71
1.4-liter to 1.8-liter

BMW-PSA 1.6-litre Turbo (MINI Cooper S, Clubman Cooper S, Peugeot 207, 308, MINI JCW, Clubman JCW) 268
Toyota Hybrid 1.8-litre (Prius, Auris) 185
Audi 1.8-litre TFSI (Audi A5, A4, A3, TT, Seat Leon, Altea/XL/Freetrack, Exeo, Skoda Octavia, Superb, Yeti, VW Passat, Passat CC) 133
Mercedes-Benz 1.8-litre Supercharged (CLC, C-Class, SLK, E-Class) 98
Alfa Romeo 1.7-litre DI Turbo (159, Brera, Spider, Giulietta) 84
Volkswagen 1.6-litre TDi (VW Polo, Jetta, Passat, Audi A3, Seat Ibiza, Seat Leon, Altea/XL/Freetrack) 61
1-liter to 1.4-liter

Volkswagen 1.4-litre TSI Twincharger (VW Golf, Scirocco, Jetta, Touran, Tiguan, Seat Ibiza Cupra) 307
Fiat 1.4-litre MultiAir Turbo (Alfa MiTo, Giulietta) 254
Volkswagen 1.4-litre TSI Turbo (VW Golf, Scirocco, Jetta, Skoda Superb, Octavia, Audi A1, Audi A3, Seat Leon, Altea/XL) 241
Volkswagen 1.2-litre TSI (VW Polo, Golf, Seat Ibiza ST, Skoda Octavia, Skoda Yeti) 146
Honda Hybrid 1.3-litre (Insight, Civic) 87
Fiat 1.4-litre Turbo (Fiat Punto Evo, Abarth 500, Abarth Grande Punto, Bravo, Linea, Lancia Delta, Alfa Romeo Mito, Giulietta) 70
Sub 1-liter

Toyota 1-litre three-cylinder (Toyota Aygo, IQ, Yaris/Vitz, Citroën C1, Peugeot 107, Subaru Justy) 301
Smart Diesel 799cc (Smart Fortwo) 247
Mitsubishi 999cc three-cylinder Turbo (Smart Fortwo) 237
Opel 1-litre three-cylinder Twinport (Opel Agila, Corsa, Suzuki Alto, Splash) 131
Mitsubishi 999cc three-cylinder (Smart Fortwo) 76
Kia 1-litre four-cylinder (Picanto) 75
Performance Engine

Mercedes-AMG 6.2-litre (C 63 AMG, S 63 AMG, SL 63 AMG, CL 63 AMG, E 63 AMG, CLS 63 AMG, ML 63 AMG) 220
Porsche 3.8-litre flat six (GT3, 911 GT3 RS) 125
BMW 3-litre DI Twin Turbo (135i, 335i, 535i, X5 35i, X6 35i, Z4) 67
Ferrari 6-litre V12 (599 GTB) 67
Nissan 3.8-litre Twin Turbo (GT-R) 64
BMW 4.4-litre V8 (X5 M, X6 M) 60
New Engine

Fiat 1.4-litre MultiAir Turbo (Alfa MiTo, Giulietta) 228
Ferrari 4.5-litre V8 (458 Italia) 200
Volkswagen 1.2-litre TSI (VW Polo, Golf, Seat Ibiza ST, Škoda Octavia, Yeti) 134
Mercedes-Benz 4-litre Hybrid (S400) 76
VW 3-litre TSI Hybrid (VW Touareg, Porsche Cayenne) 71
BMW 4.4-litre V8 (X5 M, X6 M) 68
Green Engine

Toyota hybrid 1.8-litre (Prius, Auris) 216
Fiat 1.4-litre MultiAir Turbo (Alfa MiTo Giulietta) 106
Volkswagen 1.4-litre TSI Twincharger (VW Golf, Scirocco, Jetta, Touran, Tiguan, Seat Ibiza Cupra) 104
BMW Diesel 2-litre Twin Turbo (123d, X1 23d) 79
Honda hybrid 1.3-litre (Insight, Civic) 67
Mercedes-Benz Diesel 2.1-litre (C-Class, E-Class) 58
The International Engine of the Year Award 2010 -- Overall Results

Volkswagen 1.4-litre TSI Twincharger (VW Golf, Scirocco, Jetta, Touran, Tiguan, Seat Ibiza Cupra) 384
BMW 3-litre DI Twin Turbo (135i, 335i, 535i, X5 35i, X6 35i, Z4) 365
Mercedes-AMG 6.2-litre (C 63 AMG, S 63 AMG, SL 63 AMG, CL 63 AMG, E 63 AMG, CLS 63 AMG, ML 63 AMG) 258
BMW Diesel 2-litre Twin Turbo (123d, X1 23d) 218
BMW M 4-litre V8 (M3) 169
Audi 2.5-litre five-cylinder turbo (Audi TT RS) 155
BMW-PSA 1.6-litre Turbo (MINI Cooper S, Clubman Cooper S, Peugeot 207, 308, MINI JCW, Clubman JCW) 153
Toyota 1-litre (Aygo, IQ, Yaris/Vitz, Citroën C1, Peugeot 107, Subaru Justy)

International Engine of the Year Awards 2010 jury
Argentina: Carlos Angio, Pablo Jorge Gualtieri; Austria: Horst Bauer; Australia: John Carey, Bill McKinnon; Belgium: Etienne Visart de Bocarmé; Brazil: Marcelo Moura; Canada: David Booth, Marc Lachapelle,Jim Kenzie, Richard Russell; China: Gary Tsang; Czech Republic: Tomas Hyan; France: Christophe Congrega, Thierry Etienne, Benoît Pérot, Yves Maroselli; Egypt: Mohamed Sheta; Germany: Thomas Imhof, Georg Kacher, Jürgen Lewandowski, Juergen Zoellter; Greece: Nikos Kounitis; Netherlands: Jeroen Jongeneel; Hungary: Gabor Szécsényi; India: Hormazd Sorabjee, Adil Jal Darukhanawala; Ireland: Padraic Deane; Italy: Lorenzo Facchinetti, Marco Marelli, Massimo Nascimbene; Japan: Yasuhiko Kawamura, Jack Yamaguchi; Mexico: Rogelio Rivera, Sergio Oliveira; New Zealand: Brian Cowan; Poland: Robert Bielecki; Portugal: Joaquim Oliveira, José Vieira; Philippines: Carl Cunanan; Romania: Dan Vardie; Russia: Leonid Golovanov, Mikhail Podorozhansky; Slovenia: Tomaz Porekar; South Africa: Jake Venter, Francois Rabe; South Korea: Charley Chae; Spain: Arturo de Andrés; Sweden: Rolf Gildenlöw; Thailand: Richard Kajornsak Leu; Turkey: Halit Bolkan; Ukraine: Oleg Vasilevsky; UK: John Simister, Dean Slavnich, Paul Horrell, Graham Johnson; USA: Mike Allen, Dan Carney, Ken Gross, Patrick Hong, Frank Markus, Marc Noordeloos, Dennis Simanaitis, Chris Walton, Jason Cammisa, Eddie Alterman, Dave VanderWerp; International Judges: Matt Davis, Peter Lyon, Greg Kable, Peter Nunn, Peter Robinson

The International Engine of the Year Awards are presented by Engine Technology International magazine, published by UKIP Media & Events. The Awards involve the voluntary participation of 65 leading motoring journalists from 32 countries. Engine Technology International receives no advertising or financial support from any car manufacturer or distributor.