Volkswagen’s outstanding 1.4-liter TSI Twincharger has secured overall honors at the International Engine of the Year Awards 2010. The powerful yet diminutive engine, which won the overall Awards’ title for the first time last year, boasts almost 180bhp despite its small capacity, thanks to the intelligent use of both a turbocharger and a supercharger. The engine is now a popular choice for customers across much of the VW model range, including the Golf, Scirocco, Eos and Tiguan ranges; it is also found in the Seat Ibiza Cupra derivative.

Dean Slavnich, editor of organizing magazine Engine Technology International and co-chair of the 72-strong international judging panel of esteemed motoring journalists, said: “It is a fantastic achievement for VW to have won the award for a second consecutive year, and it demonstrates that engine downsizing is very much here to stay. We’ve seen more new engines launched into the market than ever before in the Awards’ history, and the vast majority of them were below 1.8 liters. That VW’s clever 1.4-liter Twincharger is still proclaimed by the judges as the best engine on sale in the world today demonstrates the class of this highly refined trend setter.”

Of the 66 new engines to come to market over the past year, it was Fiat’s 1.4-liter MultiAir Turbo engine that impressed the judging panel the most, the unit being named New Engine of the Year 2010. This innovative Italian powerplant, which uses an extremely advanced valvetrain to boost performance and yet save fuel, is currently used to great effect in the Alfa Romeo Mito and Giulietta ranges.

Further downsized engines also tasted Awards success, with Toyota finally receiving some positive news when its 1.8-liter electric-motor-boosted hybrid unit won the Green Engine of the Year award. The engine powers the Prius and Auris/Corolla models. Toyota also continued its dominance in the Sub 1-liter sector, its 999cc, three-cylinder engine once again taking class honors.

But it wasn’t all about being small. At the other end of the engine capacity spectrum, Mercedes-AMG absolutely asserted its authority in the Best Performance Engine category, with its 6.2-liter V8 engine winning for a second time. This awesome engine also scooped the Above 4-liter title.

The Awards, which are judged by 72 motoring journalists from 35 countries from four continents, also rewarded a variety of other manufacturers for engine excellence across a number of different categories. BMW scooped four awards: one for the best 1.4-liter to 1.8-liter class with the Mini Cooper S 1.6-liter turbocharged engine; one for producing the best 1.8-liter to 2-liter engine with its 2-liter diesel Twin-Turbo unit; another for its 3-liter DI Twin-Turbo engine; and finally its mighty 4-liter V8 M engine secured the award for best 3-liter to 4-liter engine. Meanwhile Audi’s 2.5-liter turbocharged engine that powers the TT RS won the 2-2.5-liter category.

* The 12th annual International Engine of the Year Awards ceremony took place at Engine Expo 2010 in Stuttgart, Germany, on the 23 June. The event, one of the annual highlights of the automotive industry calendar, saw a total of 11 awards given to those manufacturers judged to have achieved excellence in their powertrain engineering.