2009 International Engine of the Year Winners Announced
While not nearly so popular as the International Automobile of the Year Awards, once annually a jury of 65 automotive journalists from 30 countries gets together to decide what the best engines are. The International Engine of the Year Awards celebrate engine technology, giving honors to engines in 12 specific categories, including the overall International Engine of the Year award.
This year the top position went to Volkswagen for its TSI Twincharger, which can be found in Volkswagens like the Golf, Scirocco, Eos, Jetta, Touran, Tiguan and the Seat Ibiza Cupra. It makes 178hp and 177 ft-lbs of torque from a turbocharged and supercharged 1.4-liter four-cylinder. That is an impressive 127.1 horsepower per liter. Possibly even more impressive, the engine gets an average fuel-economy rating of 45.5 mpg.
Impressively the TSI Twincharger was noted for winning favor with journalists outside Europe, including North America, Asia and South America. American Matt Davis said that, “Volkswagen’s 1.4-liter TSI EA111 is still way ahead of the curve, sensationally over-engineered in all the right ways, and even makes the company’s fantastic 2-litre TFSI already look like yesterday’s tech.”
With those figures the TSI Twincharger also claimed the award for best engine in the 1.0- to 1.4-liter class, as well as the Green Engine of the year class. It also unseated the BMW twin-turbo 3.0-liter engine, which took the top honors in both 2007 and 2008.
In total, German automakers look awards in 11 of the 12 spots with Toyota the lone exception in the Sub 1.0-liter Class for it’s 1.0-liter three-cylinder, which can be found in the Aygo, IQ, Yaris/Vitz, Citroën C1, Peugeot 107 and Subaru Justy.
The award for Best New Engine of the Year went to Porsche for its direct-injection 3.8-liter flat-six, while the Best Performance Engine award was won by the Mercedes/AMG 6.2-liter V8.
Follow the jump for a full-list of the 2009 International Engine of the Year winners:
[Source: ukipme.com]
Best New Engine of the Year: Porsche 3.8-liter flat six DI (911)
Green Engine of the Year: Volkswagen 1.4-liter TSI Twincharger (VW Golf, Golf Variant, Scirocco, Eos, Jetta, Touran, Tiguan, Seat Ibiza Cupra)
Best Performance Engine: Mercedes-AMG 6.2-liter (CLK, S, SL, CL, CLS, ML)
Sub 1.o-liter: Toyota 1-liter three-cylinder (Aygo, IQ, Yaris/Vitz, Citroën C1, Peugeot 107, Subaru Justy)
1.0 to 1.4-liter: Volkswagen 1.4-liter TSI Twincharger (Golf, Golf Variant, Scirocco, Eos, Jetta, Touran, Tiguan, Seat Ibiza Cupra)
1.4 to 1.8-liter: BMW-PSA 1.6-liter Turbo (Mini Cooper S, Clubman,
Peugeot 207, 308)
1.8 to 2.0-liter Audi 2-liter TFSI (Audi A4, A5, Q5, VW Scirocco, Golf GTI)
2.0 to 2.5-liter: Mercedes-Benz Diesel 2.1-liter (BlueEfficiency E-Class,
BlueEfficiency C-Class)
2.5 to 3.0-liter: BMW 3.0-liter DI Twin Turbo (135, 335, X6, Z4, 730)
3.0 to 4.0-liter: BMW 4.0-liter V8 (M3)
Above 4.0-liter: Mercedes-AMG 6.2-litre (CLK, S, SL, CL, CLS, ML)
With AutoGuide from its launch, Colum previously acted as Editor-in-Chief of Modified Luxury & Exotics magazine where he became a certifiable car snob driving supercars like the Koenigsegg CCX and racing down the autobahn in anything over 500 hp. He has won numerous automotive journalism awards including the Best Video Journalism Award in 2014 and 2015 from the Automotive Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC). Colum founded Geared Content Studios, VerticalScope's in-house branded content division and works to find ways to integrate brands organically into content.
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Although in company of Royalty, that Porsche flat engine is without question the leader of the pack. A thing of beauty to treat with clean gloves never allowing it to get dirty.
The results for Engine of the Year Awards 2009 should be subjected to severe auditing from independent sources. I will only name 1 category where the results are simply outrageous to an extent far beyond comprehension: The Green Engine award. The jury had several cars to choose from, and two nominees were the VW TSI and the new Prius 3G (3rd generation). Having: The VW with 174 hp, 6.2 L/100 km and 144 g/km CO2; The Toyota with 136 hp, 3.9 L/100 km and 89 g/km CO2 The jury says the car which has: +30% horsepower, 63% more fuel consumption, 62% more CO2 emissions is the greenest car... yeah... right... is this for real!?!?! The general public demands a general inquiry to this Jury votes right now! This is a shameful representation of how strong lobbies can go. I feel sick to the stomach reading this year's awards. Shame on the jury!