Ferrari V8 sweeps engine of the year award for the third year in a row

The Ferrari 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8 has once again been crowned overall winner of the coveted International Engine of the Year, becoming only the second engine in the awards’ history to scoop the title for three consecutive years. 

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 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 only engine to have previously won the overall title three times).

Speaking yesterday at the Awards’ ceremony that was held in Stuttgart, Germany at Engine Expo, the exhibition dedicated to powertrain design and technologies, Dean Slavnich, co-chairman, International Engine of the Year Awards said: “With its V8, Ferrari has demonstrated that even the most discerning of car buyers want smaller, more efficient engines. Indeed, the turbocharged engine’s blend of heart-thumping performance and glorious Maranello rumble has made it unbeatable not just for the past three years, but also when pitched against the best of the past two decades.”
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.

(Lead image courtesy: enginetechnologyinternational.com)