Ford came away with top honours and joined Ferrari and BMW in cleaning up at this year's International Engine of the Year awards. CAR's Nicol Louw is a jury member.
Ford walked away with the overall International Engine of the Year title for 2012 with its new 1,0-litre, three-cylinder EcoBoost unit. This wasn’t the only award for this powerplant as it also scooped wins in both the New Engine and sub-1,0-litre categories.
Given the global move towards downsizing and the adoption of efficient engine technologies, it seems fitting that Ford's lively EcoBoost unit should take top honours in three categories. Dean Slavnich, editor of Engine Technology International and co-chairman of the International Engine of the Year Awards, said: "That the small capacity engines continue to impress the most in overall terms, even against the larger, higher performance engines, says a great deal about how the automotive industry has developed in recent years."
Other category winners include Ferrari, which scooped the Performance Engine of the Year title and was the winner in the above-4,0-litre category with its 4,5-litre V8 in the 458 Italia.
Audi and Volkswagen made sure that the VW Group had some trophies to add to its cabinet. Audi’s 2,5-litre T FSI engine and Volkswagen’s 1,4-litre TSI twincharger engine scooped awards, while the BMW Group garnered praise with wins in the 1,8- to 2,0-litre category with its 2,0-litre twin-turbo four-cylinder. The Bavarian company also won with its 3,0-litre bi-turbo six-cylinder and the 4,0-litre V8 from the M3. The 1,6-litre turbo four-cylinder found in the Mini S models was a winner in the 1,4- to 1,8-litre category.
The Green Engine of the Year award went to General Motors for its 1,4-litre range-extender hybrid unit that does duty in the Chevrolet Volt and Opel Ampera.
