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| Functional Art: Among the big V8s and small 1-litres, judges at the annual Engine of the year awards rates Audi’s 2-litre TFSI four-cylinder petrol engine as ‘the most flexible and versatile ever to be developed’, and one that ‘can do it all’. |
FERRARI and Jaguar topped the 2019 Engine and Powertrains of the Year Awards, announced on Thursday in Stuttgart, Germany.
The awards are judged by an independent jury that comprises 70 automotive journalists from 31 countries, including Nicol Louw from Car magazine in South Africa.
The panellists judged each shortlisted engine using their subjective driving impressions and technical knowledge, taking into account characteristics such as fuel economy, smoothness, performance, power delivery, noise and overall driveability. The jurors each had 25 points to award to their five favourite engines in each category. A maximum of 15 points could be allocated to an engine, and the minimum was one point.
During the early stage of voting, the old-school V8 and new-look electric motors were neck-in-neck, but in the end, Ferrari’s 3,9-litre again won the overall title for the fourth consecutive year as well as the Best Performance Engine award.
However, the writing seems to be on the wall for the “no replacement for displacement” philosophy, as the full-electric whine of Jaguar Land Rover’s modern powertrain placed only 97 points behind Ferrari’s sonorous engine, deployed in the 488 series. The electric drivetrain is currently only used in the Jaguar I-Pace.
The full-electric powertrain from the Hyundai-Kia factory placed second behind the Jaguar in the Best New Engine category. Among the hybrids, BMW’s 1,5-litre 3-cylinder won the first Best Hybrid Powertrain award ahead of Porsche’s 4-litre turbo V8-and the evergreen Toyota 1,8-litre.
ENGINEERING ART
Among the more affordable engines, Audi won the 2-litre category with the 2,0 TFSI, which Audi also deploys in its hybrid models and — with a modified intake manifold system — with natural gas. According to the jury, Audi’s four-cylinder engine is “one of the most flexible and versatile engines ever to be developed — in short, it can do it all.”
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| Skateboard with a difference. The Jaguar I-Pace's entire drivetrain has an electric motor on each axle, powered by the flat battery pack in between, totalling thousands fewer moving parts than a fossil fuel car. |
Head of Audi technical development Hans-Joachim Rothenpieler said in a statement: “We introduced the first TFSI to the market in 2004. Since then, we have achieved class victory with a TFSI at the awards every year.”
