BMW wins International Engine of the Year Award

Things changed and things stayed the same this year at the 17th  International Engine of the Year Awards held this June in Stuttgart, Germany.

The winners in the different categories this year were those that blended high-end performance with advanced technologies that improved emission and economy. We also saw further trends in lowering weight and volume.

In continuation of a five-year trend, engines with smaller displacements were increasing in importance. We were also seeing performance-oriented engines from AMG and M come in smaller sizes than where they would normally be.

Another trend is triples. Not just for the economically oriented engines, they were also seen in the assembly that powers the BMW i8 and the little PSA Peugeot Citroen 1.2. Seems the triple is really becoming a worthwhile fixture.

Next big wave is the turbos. With few exceptions (the all-electric, the hybrid, and the big powerful Ferrari), everything is turbocharged. They start tiny and single in the Ford and the PSA for economy.

Mercedes AMG uses them for fun, while Audi has always used them for fun, anyway. And BMW and McLaren both use two of them each for the higher classes for their high-performance cars.

Normal air only comes back into play for the largest class and the Performance Engine category.

Basically, everything now has to be more efficient, and smaller and weigh less. They are often used in multiple platforms (Ford, Mercedes), but in some cases, are quite singular (Tesla, the BMW i8, McLaren, Ferrari.)

Economies of scale dictate that all these components will need to be more flexible in where they are used, and in some cases, will be used in different cars with different levels of performance, changed only by tuning.

BMW has traditionally done well in the International Engine of the Year Awards, taking home more trophies since the start of the ceremonies in 1999 than anyone else.

This year, they took top honors as International Engine of the Year and as New Engine of the Year, and in the 1.4- to 1.8-liter class for their 1.5-liter, three-cylinder electric/gasoline hybrid powerplant that powers the i8 sports car.

This new hybrid motor system has made an impact not only in the technological fields but also among the enthusiasts and the media—a very well-rounded solution that satisfies the past, present and future.

So this one engine took three awards, plus the win in the 2.5- to 3-liter class, for the BMW M 3-liter twin-turbo six-cylinder.

Ferrari took a multiple win again this year as well, with its 4.5-liter V8 from the 458 Italia and Speciale winning the Performance Engine Award and the above 4-liter class award.

The Italian firm has been taking these wins for the last five years, four of them with this engine, a normally-aspirated highly-tuned overperformer.

This engine will be out of production and therefore no longer in contention next year, so the heat will be on.

The replacement for this engine now sits in the 488 GTB, and won’t even be in the same engine class but in the one below it, yet produces more power.

The sub-1-liter class win  once again went to the little  999-cc, three-cylinder turbo, the lovable Ford EcoBoost. This is the fourth year in a row for the carry-on-sized little powerplant, especially notable when you know that this is what brought Ford its first win ever in the International Engine of the Year Awards.

Smaller blown engines are making their mark from the ground up, starting with that little Ford.

The next class of 1- to 1.4-liter engine was won by the PSA Peugeot Citroen 1.2-liter, three-cylinder turbo. This tight high-performing powerplant broke the long dominance of another PSA partnership product, then for BMW.

As stated, the next class size up went to BMW with the i8’s hybrid. Then came another little turbo: The win in the 1.8- to 2-liter class went to the Mercedes-AMG 2-liter turbo.

Part of the Mercedes BlueDirect family, this engine won last year’s New Engine Award and was the first pure performance-bred offering in this class to win in almost a decade.

Audi won the 2- to 2.5-liter class with its 2.5-liter, five-cylinder turbo as used in the RS3 and RS Q3. Hand-built by a small team of Audi specialists in Gyor, Hungary, this is a lightweight with a compression ratio of 10:1 and turbo pressure up to 1.3 bar. Quite deserving, given that it powers what many consider to be the spiritual successor to the mighty Quattro Rally cars.

The 2.5- to 3-liter class was won, as stated, by the BMW M 3-liter twin-turbo six-cylinder, which is used in the M3 and M4.

The 3- to 4-liter class Engine Award went to the McLaren 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8.

In the above 4-liter Class, as mentioned, the award went to the Ferrari again.

The Green Engine Award was won by the Tesla full-electric powertrain.