VW Twincharger takes Engine of the Year award

THE Volkswagen Group’s innovative 1.4-litre TSI Twincharger engine has won the 2009 International Engine of the Year award, marking the first time the German manufacturer has taken out the major title in the coveted independent ‘Engine Oscars’.

Available in the Golf sold in Australia, but sold overseas is a number of VW Group models, the Twincharger supercharged and turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine was a category winner in previous years but has now wrested the limelight from BMW, which was looking for its fifth successive win in overall terms ahead of the awards presentation this week at the Engine Expo in Stuttgart.

In the closest result in the award’s 11-year history, BMW was within four points of Volkswagen – this time with its 3.0-litre direct-injection twin-turbo straight-six, which scored 350 points to the Twincharger’s 354.

Both engines were the standout performers, finishing well ahead of VW/Audi’s 2.0 TFSI (220), Mercedes-Benz’s 2.1-litre BlueEfficiency diesel (203) and a string of other impressive powerplants.

As ever, the Engine Oscars, which are judged by a panel of 65 motoring journalists from 32 countries (including Australia), have created a stir among enthusiasts and manufacturer circles with some controversial results.

Left: VW's 1.4-litre TSI Twincharger engine. Below: Porsche's 3.8-litre flat six engine.

Notwithstanding the fact that the awards are organised through a UK publishing house, British interests have objected to Jaguar’s 5.0-litre supercharged V8 being relegated fourth in the ‘best new engine’ category, well behind the Porsche 911’s winning 3.8-litre direct-injection flat-six, while the same engine from Jaguar was determined a better instrument than Porsche’s venerable 3.8 – to take third – in the high-performance section.

Look behind the headlines, however, and the Porsche performance engine was the soon-to-be-replaced 911 GT3’s flat-six, sans direct injection.

For the record, the Mercedes-AMG 6.2-litre V8 won the performance section, ahead of the BMW-M 5.0-litre V10.

Mercedes also added the 2.0-2.5 award to its collection with the aforementioned 2.1-litre BlueEfficiency diesel – the sole diesel engine to win a category this year.

The VW Twincharger backed up its overall win with the gong for best green engine, beating a number of clean diesels and petrol-electric engines, and took honours in the 1.0-1.4-litre section. The VW Group also took out the 1.8-2.0 section with the VW/Audi 2.0 TFSI turbo.

BMW again underlined its status as one of the world’s most successful automotive engine constructors with wins in the 3.0-4.0 section via the M3’s 4.0-litre V8 (beating both the DI and non-DI Porsche 3.8), while the 3.0 twin-turbo took both first (in DI form) and second place in the 2.5-3.0 class.

The 1.6-litre turbo BMW has developed with PSA Peugeot-Citroen also won the 1.4-1.8 category.

Note the conspicuous absence of non-German manufacturers at the top of the field. Toyota was sole car-maker outside Europe to win a class, with its 1.0-litre three-cylinder engine (shared with Citroen and Subaru) again taking out the sub-1.0 category.

Awards chairman Dean Slavnich said the judging panel was “hugely impressed” by Volkswagen’s Twincharger engine, which won top marks from judges outside Europe, including North America, Asia and South America.

“It’s a masterstroke of downsizing technology and a real engineering showcase,” he said. “I have no doubt that this engine will become the template for a whole new generation of high-efficiency, small-capacity engines in the years to come.”2009 International Engine of the Year AwardsInternational Engine of the Year 2009:
VW 1.4-litre TSI Twincharger 4-cyl (VW Golf, Golf Variant, Scirocco, Eos, Jetta, Touran, Tiguan, Seat Ibiza Cupra)

Best New Engine of 2009:
Porsche 3.8-litre DI 6-cyl (911)

Green Engine of the Year:
VW 1.4-litre TSI Twincharger 4-cyl (VW Golf, Golf Variant, Scirocco, Eos, Jetta, Touran, Tiguan, Seat Ibiza Cupra)

Best Performance Engine:
Mercedes-AMG 6.2-litre V8 (CLK, S, SL, CL, CLS, ML)

Sub 1.0-litre:
Toyota 1.0-litre 3-cyl (Aygo, IQ, Yaris/Vitz, Citroen C1, Peugeot 107, Subaru Justy)

1.0-litre to 1.4-litre:
VW 1.4-litre TSI Twincharger 4-cyl (VW Golf, Golf Variant, Scirocco, Eos, Jetta, Touran, Tiguan, Seat Ibiza Cupra)

1.4-litre to 1.8-litre:
BMW-PSA 1.6-litre turbo (Mini Cooper S, Clubman, Peugeot 207, 308)

1.8-litre to 2.0-litre:
Audi 2.0-litre TFSI 4-cyl (Audi A4, A5, Q5, VW Scirocco, Golf GTI)

2.0-litre to 2.5-litre:
Mercedes-Benz Diesel 2.1-litre 4-cyl (BlueEfficiency E-Class, BlueEfficiency C-Class)

2.5-litre to 3.0-litre:
BMW 3.0-litre DI Twin Turbo 6-cyl (135, 335, X6, Z4, 730)

3.0-litre to 4.0-litre:
BMW 4.0-litre V8 (M3)

Above 4.0-litre:
Mercedes-AMG 6.2-litre V8 (CLK, S, SL, CL, CLS, ML)

Read more:

BMW scoops EOTY awards – again