Ferrari bags top honours at 2017 Engine of the Year Awards; Tesla, Ford and Honda win awards

Ferrari’s 670hp 3.9 litre twin-turbo V8 seen in the existing 488 GTB and Spider models, was awarded the coveted title of 2017 Engine of the year at an awards ceremony held in Germany yesterday. This is the second consecutive year that the 3.9 litre V8 has been awarded the title, clearly underscoring the significance of downsized turbo motors. The win takes Ferrari’s V8 into the elite league of four other powertrains such as BMW’s V10, seen in the M series and the 3.0-litre twin-turbo six, Volkswagen’s 1.4-litre ‘Twincharged’ TSI  and Ford’s 1.0-litre EcoBoost to have won the award at least twice. The 3,902cc V8 puts out 670hp at 8,000rpm, and 760Nm at 3,000rpm in the 488 GTB. It wasn’t a landslide victory, however. Closely behind was Porsche’s new 3.0 litre bi-turbo flat six, used in the facelifted 911 Carrera. Ferrari’s engineering superiority also won the naturally aspirated 6.3-litre V12 engine in the above 4-litre award for the second year consecutively. The engine powers the iconic F12 Berlinetta. Further behind in third place was BMW with its plug-in hybrid 1.5-litre petrol-electric drivetrain. The engine used in the i8 and the winner of the award in 2015. Ferrari’s engineering superiority also won the naturally aspirated 6.3-litre V12 engine in the above 4-litre award for the second year consecutively. The engine powers the iconic F12 Berlinetta. Further behind in third place was BMW with its plug-in hybrid 1.5-litre petrol-electric drivetrain. The engine used in the i8 and the winner of the award in 2015. The new engine of the year award was stolen by Japanese giants Honda. The petrol-electric hybrid, 3.5-litre V6 with tri-electric motors powers the 2017 NSX sportscar. With Electric vehicles on the rise, a new category has been devised for them. The top finishers in order were Tesla, BMW i3 and the Chevrolet Bolt. Tesla’s P1000 all-electric system also took the Green Engine title and was noted for its ability to mix a 500km driving range and a sub-3 sec 0-100kph acceleration. The other winners were, the Ford 1.0 three-cylinder turbo in the below 1.0 litre category, competed stifly by Volkswagen’s 1.0 TSI. Peugeot and Citroen’s 1.2 litre three-cylinder turbo also won the award in the 1.0 to 1.4 litre category. The jury at the International Engine of the Year Awards this year, comprised of a panel of 58 motoring journalists from as many as 31 countries.