The Ferrari 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8 has once again been crowned overall winner of the coveted International Engine of the Year award. In doing so, it has become only the second engine in the awards’ history to scoop the title for three consecutive years, writes the Irish juror, Padraic Deane.
The same Ferrari engine has also been named the best engine of the last two decades, winning the ‘Best of Best’ Award that has been created to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the International Engine of the Year Awards. The 3.9-litre unit saw off tough competition from a field comprising all of the the previous overall awards’ winners such as Toyota’s ground-breaking Prius hybrid, BMW’s supercar-beating 1.5-litre hybrid, and Ford’s 1-litre three-cylinder, the latter having been the only engine to have previously won the overall title three times.
Elsewhere in the Awards, Ferrari has dominated other categories this year, also walking away with the hotly contested ‘New Engine’ award for its 6.5-litre V12, plus winning the Performance Engine and 3-Litre to 4-Litre categories, again with its 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8.
Another big story from the awards is Volkswagen’s first International Engine of the Year Awards’ win for four years. It takes the Sub-1-Litre award for the 1.0 TSI 999cc three-cylinder turbo, a welcome return for the marque after the recent ‘Dieselgate’ controversies.
Tesla was another winner, the US marque again topping the Green Engine and Electric Powertrain categories. This is the fifth time Tesla has won the former category - second time for the latter, with its full-electric powertrain, as found in the Model S, Model X and Model 3.
