International Engine of The Year 2008 Results

BMW has conquered the 2008 International Engine Of The Year awards again, with the N54 Bi-Turbo in the BMW 335i and the BMW 135i taking home the overall award and the 2.5 liter to 3 liter, and other BMW engines winning the 1.4 liter to 1.8 liter award, the 3 liter to 4 liter award, the above 4 liter award, and the best new engine award. Find out more about the results after the jump.

Overall International Engine Of The Year

Results
1. BMW 3-litre Twin Turbo (335i) 380
2. Volkswagen 1.4-litre TSI (VW Golf, Touran, Jetta) 287
3. Volkswagen/Audi 2.0 liter inline-4 TFSI 270
4. BMW 4-litre V8 (M3) 241
5. BMW 5-litre V10 (M5, M6) 151
6. BMW-PSA 1.6-litre Turbo (Cooper S, Peugeot 207) 149
7. Subaru 2.5 litre boxer turbo (Impreza, Forester) 78
8. Toyota 1-litre 3-cylinder (Aygo, Yaris/Echo/Vitz, Citroen C1, Peugeot 107) 56

The 3.0 liter turbocharged high pressure direct injection N54 engine took away the throne from the M5’s V10 last year, and does it again this year, with the V10 pushed to 5th place instead. A high compression ratio of 10.2:1 and two parallel turbochargers help give the N54 Bi-Turbo a 400Nm kick from barely over the redline at 1,300rpm, with this massive surge of torque lasting all the way up to 5,000rpm. The engine continues all the way up to a 7,000rpm redline and produces 302 bhp at its peak.

Best New Engine of 2008

Results
1. BMW 2.0 liter twin turbodiesel (123d) 257
2. BMW 4.0 liter V8 (M3) 218
3. Subaru 2.0 liter boxer turbodiesel (Outback) 201
4. Audi 5.0 liter twin turbo V10 (RS6) 166
5. Nissan 3.8 liter twin turbo V6 (GT-R) 147
6. Volkswagen 1.4 liter TSI (A3, Leon, Golf, Eos, Jetta) 115

Last year’s winner and this year’s winner have something in common – both are twin-turbocharged BMW oil burners. This year’s winner is the BMW N47D and it made its debut in the BMW 123d. It uses two turbochargers in sequential mode, with a smaller one taking care of the lower revs and a larger one taking care of the higher revs.

The engine makes a peak power of 204 horsepower – this surpasses the 100hp per liter ratio. Peak torque is an M3-matching 400Nm with 200Nm available from just 1,200rpm, and the full 400Nm peaking at 2,000rpm.

Green Engine of the Year 2008

Results
1. Toyota Hybrid 1.5-litre (Prius) 269
2. BMW 2.0 liter turbodiesel (118d, 318d) 266
3. Volkswagen 1.4 liter TSI Twincharged 150
4. Volkswagen 1.4 liter TSI 140
5. Fiat 1.4 liter T-JET 108
6. Honda Hybrid 1.3-litre IMA (Civic) 101

This category replaces last year’s Best Fuel Economy category to take into account factors like emissions. The engine under the hood of the Toyota Prius has claimed this award for the fifth straight year, only narrowly beating BMW’s 2.0 liter turbodiesel with stop-start function by a margin of 3 points. The BMW engine is found in the BMW 118d, which recently won the World Green Car of the Year award thanks to its emissions of just 119g/km and 26/7km per liter of mileage on the US combined cycle.

Best Performance Engine

Results
1. Porsche 3.6 liter twin turbo boxer (911 Turbo, GT2) 137
2. BMW 5-litre V10 (M5, M6) 134
3. BMW 4-litre V8 (M3) 133
4. Ferrari 6-litre V12 (599 GT) 125
5. Nissan 3.8 liter twin turbo V6 (GT-R) 124
6. Audi 5.0 liter twin turbo V10 (RS6) 108

Last year, BMW’s 5.0 liter V10 topped the best performance car list while Porshe’s 3.6 liter boxer-6 managed to get 4th place. It’s either the judges are in a different mood this year or the 3.6 liter is so much better in the 911 GT2. In the GT2, the 911 Turbo’s 420 horses are boosted up to 530 horses. Forced induction is via twin variable geometry turbochargers – something rare in petrol engines – paired with two intercoolers that are 10% bigger in the GT2 compared with the Turbo.

The BMW 5.0 liter V10 manages a second place spot, beating its third-placed smaller 4.0 lier V8 sibling by 1 point.

Best Sub-1 Liter Engine

Results
1. Toyota 1-litre (Aygo, Yaris/Echo/Vitz, Citroën C1, Peugeot 107) 294
2. Smart Diesel 799cc (Smart Fortwo) 285
3. Mitsubishi 999cc Turbo (Smart Fortwo) 197
4. Ford 1-litre Supercharged (EcoSport) 167
5. Opel/Vauxhall 1.0 liter inline-3 Twinport 113
6. Kia 1.0 liter inline-4 (Atos, Picanto) 76

The top 4 in this category this year is exactly the same as last year’s results, although the points and how far separated they are are quite different this year. The diesel Smart engine is much closer to the Toyota 1.0 liter VVT-i engine this year. The winner is found in the engine bay of the Toyota Aygo and its badge-engineered siblings, the Citroen C1 and the Peugeot 107. It weighs 69kg which is rather light, thanks to an all-aluminium construction and resin coating for the pistons. Peak power output is 67 horses, and 93Nm of torque at 3,600rpm.

Best 1 Liter to 1.4 Liter Engine

Results
1. Volkswagen 1.4 liter TSI Twincharged 140/170hp 340
2. Volkswagen 1.4 liter TSI 125hp 170
3. Fiat 1.4 liter T-JET 165
4. Fiat-GM 1.3 liter turbodiesel (500, Panda, etc) 157
5. Honda Hybrid 1.3 liter IMA (Civic) 103
6. Renault 1.2 liter Turbo (Twingo, Clio, Modus) 99

Both turbocharged and twincharged variants of the 1.4 liter FSI engine by Volkswagen occupy the top two spots in this category, with the twincharged one obviously impressing the judges more. In its highest state of tune so far, 170hp is achieved from a 1.4 liter engine. Boost levels at low revs is as high as 2.5 bar to achieve a peak torque of 240Nm by the time the rev needle touches the 1,750rpm mark, and later tapers down to about 1.53 bar. A lower boosted 140hp twincharged variant is available too.

Best 1.4 Liter to 1.8 Liter Engine

Results
1. BMW-PSA 1.6-litre Turbo (Cooper S, Peugeot 207) 333
2. Audi 1.8 liter TFSI (A3, A5) 197
3. Toyota Hybrid 1.5-litre (Prius) 182
4. Mercedes-Benz 1.8-litre Supercharged (C, SLK, CLK, E) 121
5. Toyota 1.8 liter supercharged (Lotus Elise 111R) 82
5. Honda 1.8-litre (Civic, Stream, FR-V) 75

BMW and PSA’s nice direct injection twin scroll turbocharged 1.6 liter “Prince” engine tops the 1.4 liter to 1.8 liter list once again this year. Installed in the Cooper S, it delivers loads of torque at low revs and feels stronger than the 175 horsepower and 260Nm figures it actually has. The engine features gasoline direct injection, a twin-scroll turbocharger, and infinitely variable valve timing on the intake side.

You can see how far the first place and second place winner is separated. We will see the number 2 engine sometime this year installed in the B8 Audi A4.

Best 1.8 Liter to 2 Liter Engine

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Results
1. Volkswagen/Audi 2-litre Turbo FSI (A3, A4, A6, TT, Golf GTI) 256
2. BMW 2.0 liter twin turbodiesel (123d) 254
3. Subaru 2.0 liter boxer turbodiesel (Outback) 196
4. Mitsubishi 2.0 liter inline-4 Turbo (Evo X) 105
5. Honda 2-litre i-VTEC (Civic Type R) 97
4. Honda 2-litre (S2000 (Europe/Asia)) 67

Volkswagen’s 2.0 liter TFSI engine that topped the 1.8 liter to 2.0 liter list last year does it again this year, beating the new twin turbocharged 2.0 liter turbodiesel BMW engine which won the Best New Engine award by only 2 points.

Best 2 Liter to 2.5 Liter Engine

Results
1. Subaru 2.5 liter boxer turbo (Forester, Impreza) 188
2. BMW 2.5-litre (325, 525, Z4, X3) 187
3. Honda Diesel 2.2-litre (Civic, Accord (Europe), CR-V, FR-V) 145
4. Mazda 2.3-litre GDI Turbo (3MPS, 6MPS, CX-7, MPV) 118
5. Peugeot-Citroen-Ford 2.2 liter turbodiesel 107
6. Toyota Diesel 2.2-litre D-CAT (Avensis, RAV4, Auris, Lexus IS220d) 90

The 2.5 liter turbocharged boxer engine that came in second place last year has been updated and swaps places with the 2.5 liter N52B25 Double VANOS magnesium alloy BMW engine this year, only beating it by 1 point. An older variation of the engine was also the winner in 2006, taking the throne from the BMW engine in 2005, so it’s been a close fight between the two engines in the past few years. In this incarnation, the turbocharger impeller shape has been improved to help with low and mid-range torque.

Best 2.5 Liter to 3 Liter Engine

Results
1. BMW 3-litre Twin Turbo (335i) 375
2. BMW Diesel 3-litre Twin Turbo (335d, 535d, X3) 238
3. Audi/VW Diesel 3-litre V6 (A4, A6, Allroad, A8, Q7, Touareg, Phaeton) 145
4. Porsche 2.7-litre flat six (Boxster, Cayman) 119
5. BMW 3-litre (Z4, 330, 530, 630, 730) 88
6. Jaguar 2.7 liter turbodiesel V6 (XF) 85

The first and second place here are both twin-turbocharged 3.0 liter BMW engines, with the winner burning petrol and the runner-up burning diesel. Coming in third is Audi’s 3.0 liter TDI engine, left behind by a considerable margin behind the oil burning BMW. The oil burner engine used in the Jaguar XF makes an appearance here too, lacking only 3 points behind BMW’s magnesium alloy Double VANOS N54B30.

Best 3 Liter to 4 Liter Engine

Results
1. BMW 4.0 liter V8 (M3) 331
1. Porsche 3.6-litre Turbo (911 Turbo) 255
3. Nissan 3.8 liter twin turbo V6 (GT-R) 144
4. BMW 3.2-litre (Z4 M) 99
5. Toyota Hybrid 3.5-litre V6 (GS450h) 88
5. Audi 3.6-litre FSI (Q7, VW Touareg, Porsche Cayenne) 71

Porsche’s 3.6 liter twin turbo boxer beat the M3’s engine in the Best Performance Engine category, but the M3’s engine tops the Porsche in the 3.0 liter to 4.0 liter engine category. Interestingly, the previous generation M3’s motor is still in this list, installed in the BMW Z4 M. Despite a larger displacement and two more cylinders, the new S85B40 4.0 liter V8 is 2kg lighter than the 3.2 liter inline-6 M motor.

Best Above 4 Liter Engine

Results
1. BMW 5-litre V10 (M5, M6) 218
2. Mercedes-AMG 6.2-litre (CLK, E, CLS, S, ML, R) 183
3. Ferrari 6-litre V12 (599 GTB) 172
4. Lexus Hybrid 5-litre (LS600h) 132
5. Audi 4.2-litre FSI (A6, A8, Q7, RS4, R8) 104
6. Ferrari 4.3 liter V8 (F430) 80

This list looks almost the same as last year’s, except for a few rearrangement of the positions and the twin turbocharged 6.0 liter AMG engine replaced by the 4.3 liter V8 in the Ferrari F430 series. The winner of the category is the venerable 5.0 liter V10 found in the M5 and the M6.

For past year results, visit the related posts links below.

Related Posts:
International Engine of the Year Awards 2005
International Engine of the Year Awards 2006
International Engine of the Year Awards 2007