2019 International Engine of the Year Award Winners

The annual competition to determine the best car engines in the world is back and the 2019 winners have just been announced.

Already crowned as the Best of the Best engine of the last 20 years, Ferrari’s 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8 was recognized as the International Engine of the Year for the fourth time in a row. It also won in three other categories including Best Performance Engine. This powerplant can be found in the 488 GTB, 488 Spider and 488 Pista, plus the Portofino and GTC4 Lusso T.

Photo: William Clavey

The fully electric powertrain in the Jaguar I-PACE came in second place, although it took home three awards of its own including Best New Engine and Best Electric Powertrain. Remember, this zero-emission crossover was also voted as the 2019 World Car of the Year.

Photo: Mercedes-Benz Canada

The third-place finisher in the overall category is Mercedes-AMG’s 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8, which powers a number of models from the compact C-Class to the entire GT range, not to mention the Aston Martin Vantage and DB11.

Interestingly, the voting process for the International Engine of the Year awards has changed to reflect the growing presence—and impressive performance—of alternative powertrains. Instead of being based on engine displacement like in the past, the various categories now focus on output measured in metric horsepower (PS). To give you an idea, an engine with a rating of 300 PS generates 296 hp.

Here is the full list of winners for 2019:

  • International Engine of the Year: Ferrari 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
  • Best Performance Engine: Ferrari 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
  • Best New Engine: Jaguar electric powertrain
  • Best Hybrid Powertrain: BMW 1.5-litre three-cylinder electric-gasoline hybrid
  • Best Electric Powertrain: Jaguar electric powertrain
  • Sub 150PS: Ford 1.0-litre EcoBoost three-cylinder
  • 150PS to 250PS: Audi 2.0-litre TFSI four-cylinder
  • 250PS to 350PS: Porsche 2.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
  • 350PS to 450PS: Jaguar electric powertrain
  • 450PS to 550PS: Mercedes-AMG 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8
  • 550PS to 650PS: Ferrari 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8 (different version)
  • Above 650PS: Ferrari 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8

A total of 69 automotive journalists from 31 countries around the world including The Car Guide’s Marc Lachapelle make up the International Engine of the Year jury.

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