Ford 1.0-litre EcoBoost (2014)
Ford won again in 2014, with Dean Slavnich, co-chairman of the International Engine of the Year awards, saying: ‘The 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine is one of the finest examples of powertrain engineering.’ Years later, Ford was giving full refunds to thousands of customers affected by sudden failures of the EcoBoost engines. This followed a BBC investigation, which found that hundreds of engines had overheated.
BMW 1.5-litre three-cylinder (2015)
BMW was back on the scene in 2015, when its TwinPower Turbo three-cylinder was named overall winner at the annual awards. The 1.5-litre three-cylinder hybrid unit was also named Best New Engine and a class winner in the 1.4-litre to 1.8-litre category. There were also class wins for Mercedes-AMG, Tesla, Ferrari and McLaren, while Ford’s EcoBoost won the 1.0-litre category.
Ferrari 3.9-litre V8 (2016)
Get ready for a Ferrari lock-in, with 2016 marking the first of four consecutive victories for its 3.9-litre twin-turbocharged V8 engine. There were four wins, including awards for Performance Engine, New Engine, the 3.0-litre to 4.0-litre category, and the overall prize. Graham Johnson, co-chairman of the awards, said: ‘It’s a giant leap forward for turbocharged engines in terms of efficiency, performance and flexibility.’
Ferrari 3.9-litre V8 (2017)
‘It truly is the best engine in production today and will forever be remembered as one of the all-time greats,’ Johnson continued. We praised the engine for having no detectable lag and a rev-hungry nature – a trait normally reserved for normally aspirated units. The engine produces 661bhp yet could manage an official combined fuel efficiency figure of 24.8mpg.
Ferrari 3.9-litre V8 (2018)
An engine such as this deserves greater detail. The F154 CB in the 488 GTB is a 3.9-litre V8 with a 90deg bank angle, flat-plane crankshaft, oversquare cylinder design and two IHI twin-scroll turbochargers, one for each cylinder bank. It produces 661bhp from 6200rpm to 8000rpm, with up to 561lb ft at as little as 3000rpm. The 0-60mph time is polished off in 3.0sec dead, with 150mph blitzed in just 13.3sec.