The Ford 1.0-liter EcoBoost engine has won the International Engine of the Year Award for the third straight year. The turbocharged 3-cylinder easily outdistanced the Ferrari 4.5-liter V8, 351 votes to 281. Taking third was the VW 1.4-liter TSI twincharger, and rounding out the Top-5 were the Mercedes AMG 2.0-liter turbo and the Tesla full-electric powertrain found in the Model S.
No American-developed engine finished in the Top 5 of any category, with the exception of the Tesla powertrain.
The award is voted on by 82 jurors from 34 countries and sponsored by Engine Technology International magazine. Boosted engines dominated the competition, winning numerous individual categories as well as the top spot.
Winners in other major categories include:
- New Engine – Mercedes AMG 2.0-liter turbo
- Green Engine – Tesla electric powertrain
- Performance Engine – Ferrari 4.5-liter V8
The 1.0-liter EcoBoost, which actually checks in at 999cc, won the Sub 1-Liter category over BMW’s 647cc 2-cylinder and VW’s 999cc 3-cylinder. The engine is found most in Europe but is also available in a total of 72 countries. It’s currently an option in the US-spec Fiesta and will soon be available in the Focus.
More than 200 engineers and designers from Ford research and development centers in Aachen and Merkenich in Germany, and Dagenham and Dunton in the United Kingdom spent 5 million-plus hours developing the 1.0-liter EcoBoost engine. Its compact, low-inertia turbocharger spins at up to 248,000 rpm – more than 4,000 times per second and almost twice the maximum rpm of the turbochargers powering 2014 Formula 1 race car engines.
“Ford’s triple has done the treble,” says Dean Slavnich, editor of Engine Technology International and co-chairman of the awards. “No other engine has won the overall International Engine of the Year Awards for three successive years. This achievement not only cements the 1.0 EcoBoost’s place in the history books, but is proof that this is one of the finest examples of powertrain engineering.”
The Ferrari engine was second last year in the Above 4.0-liter category, beaten by its larger V12 brother. This year the V8 beat out the 6.3-liter V12 as well as the Mercedes AMG 5.5-liter turbo, BMW’s 4.4-liter twin turbo, Jaguar’s 5.0-liter supercharged V8 and Lamborghini’s 6.5-liter V12. Ferrari’s spirited V8 is arguably the most powerfully packaged naturally aspirated engine around with a rating of 605 horsepower at 9,000 rpm. It optimizes combustion with a knock-control system that senses ionisation across the spark-plug gap. It also sports an amazing 14:1 compression ratio with a unique piston geometry. Other F1 technologies include friction reduction features, carbon-fiber plenum and exotic materials used for the pistons and bearings.
“Can any engine sound more exuberant than the flat-crank V8 in the Ferrari 458,” praised juror John Simister.
“This red-headed screamer generates precisely the sound and fury every car-loving schoolboy dreams of when he imagines blasting over the Futa Pass in a Ferrari,” echoes Motor Trend’s Frank Markus.
Other winning engines include:
- 1.0-1.4 Liter – VW 1.4-liter TSI twincharger
- 1.4-1.8 Liter – BMW/PSA 1.6-liter turbo
- 1.8-2.0 Liter – Mercedes AMG 2.0-liter turbo
- 2.0-2.5 Liter – Audi 2.5-liter turbo
- 2.5-3.0 Liter – BMW 3-liter twin-turbo
- 3.0-4.0 Liter – McLaren 3.8-liter V8