May 9, 2008

The winners of the annual ‘engine of the year awards are in and it’s been another good year for the Germans and BMW in particular.  They won engine of the year for the forth year in succession.  It gave the 3.0L twin-turbo unit back to back victories as it claimed top spot last year. 

In total the Bavarian Motor giant won five of the eleven categories as well as taking the outright best engine of 2008 as well.Volkswagen and Audi had a collaborative victory in the 1.8 – 2.0L category with their 2.0 Turbo FSI, with VW picking up the 1.0 – 1.4L for their 1.4L TSI TwinchargerThe other winners all came from Japan with Toyota picking up best green engine and best up to 1L, and Subaru’s 2.5L Boxer engine picking up the honours for the 2.0 – 2.5L category. 

The engine categories were given out as follows:-     

Sub 1-Litre: Toyota 1.0L three-cylinder (Aygo,Yaris/Echo/Vitz, Citroën C1, Peugeot 107, Subaru Justy)

1.0L - 1.4L: VW 1.4L TSI Twincharger (VW Golf, Touran, Tiguan, Jetta)

1.4L - 1.8L: BMW-PSA 1.6L Turbo (MINI Cooper S, Clubman, Peugeot 207, 308)

1.8L - 2.0L: VW/Audi 2.0L Turbo FSI (A3, A4 Cabrio, A6, TT, Eos, Jetta, Golf GTi, Škoda Octavia, Seat Altea, Leon)

2.0L - 2.5L: Subaru 2.5L Turbo (Forester, Impreza, Legacy, Outback)

2.5L - 3.0L: BMW 3.0L twin-turbo inline-six (135, 335, X6)

3.0L - 4.0L: BMW 4.0L V8 (M3)

Above 4.0L: BMW 5.0L V10 (M5, M6)

With the following extra winners:-

Engine of the Year 2008

BMW 3.0L twin-turbo inline-six (135, 335, X6)

Best new Engine 2008

BMW 2.0L twin-turbo diesel (123d)

Green Engine of the Year 2008

Toyota 1.5L Hybrid Synergy Drive (Pruis)

Best Performance Engine 2008

Porsche 3.6L Turbo (911 Turbo, 911GT2)

In every category, the panelists judged each shortlisted engine using their subjective driving impressions and technical knowledge, and took into account characteristics such as fuel economy, smoothness, performance, noise and drivability.  Among the winners eight were turbo charged (with the VW twincharger being both Turbo and supercharged), and one a hybrid engine.  There were just three normally aspirated cars on the list, the Toyota sub 1.0L winner and the two big BMW units. 

This is a clear indication that the motoring world in increasingly looking to technology to squeeze more power out of smaller amounts of fuel.  While the mechanical efficiencies of modern engines, in terms of using increasingly advanced materials that reduce levels of friction, and increased accuracy and precision within the manufacturing process will be able to get more from less it will only go so far so more manufacturers are looking at turbo chargers to get more from their litre of fuel.  The VW twincharger is a great example of how the industry is looking to make technology work harder.  The Twincharger’s major elements are an exhaust turbocharger and a mechanically driven supercharger that increases the boost pressure build-up of the exhaust turbo and fills the ‘hole’ in the torque at low revs. The supercharger ensures that the power is available at a much lower rev range than is commonly found with turbo charged engines.  This gives the sort of torque and pull normally found in bigger and therefore more thirsty engine.

With common rail diesels squeezing ever more power from a thimble full of fuel the coming years should see some interesting developments.  That said there were a number of repeat winners in this years list maybe some of the other manufacturers need to spend more on their R&D departments.

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