2011 Engine of the Year awards

The results of the 13th international Engine of the Year (EOTY) awards were announced on Wednesday and BMW again sweeped most of the categories. However, CAR's technical editor and EOTY juror, Jake Venter, questions the validity of some of the results…

The awards were presented by Engine Technology International magazine, published by UKIP Media and Events Ltd. They’re based in Dorking, Surrey.

The judges were drawn from 36 countries, and 76 motoring journalists took part in the voting. Two journalists from RamsayMedia, Venter and Francois Rabe, and Mohamed Sheta from Egypt, were the only ones from Africa.

Any engine housed in a passenger car that was on sale in more than one country as of May 2011 is eligible. The winners in the various categories are:

New engine: Fiat 875 cm³ two-cylinder (Fiat 500)
Green engine: Fiat 875 cm³ two-cylinder (Fiat 500)
Performance engine: Ferrari 4,5-litre V8 (Ferrari 458 Italia)
Sub 1,0-litre: Fiat 875 cm³ two-cylinder (Fiat 500)
1,0 to 1,4-litre: Volkswagen 1,4-litre TSI Twincharger (Various VW, Skoda and Seat models)
1,4 to 1,8-litre: BMW 1,6-litre four-cylinder turbo (Various Mini models)
1,8 to 2,0-litre: BMW diesel 2,0-litre twin-turbo (BMW 123d, X1 xDrive23d)
2,0 to 2,5-litre: Audi 2,5-litre five-cylinder turbo (Audi TT RS, RS3)
2,5 to 3,0-litre: BMW 3,0-litre DI twin-turbo (Various BMW models)
3,0 to 4,0-litre: BMW 4,0-litre V8 (BMW M3)
Above 4,0-litre: Ferrari 4,5-litre V8 (Ferrari 458 Italia)
International Engine of the Year: Fiat 875 cm³ two-cylinder (Fiat 500)

Says Jake Venter: "BMW's engines are excellent, but there are other engines that are just as good. The latter seldom get mentioned because too many judges vote with their emotions instead of their brains, and BMW make very emotive engines. Furthermore, the little Fiat engine has won four classes, and yet in a recent Autocar roadtest the fuel consumption was nowhere near the claimed values. Why did so many judges vote for it? Perhaps it’s time to change the European fuel consumption measurement cycle to something a bit more realistic?"