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Ford's 999cc EcoBoost engine wins top honors at Engine Awards

At the 2012 International Engine of the Year Awards, Ford walked away with three prizes for its small, turbocharged engine.

Wayne Cunningham Managing Editor / Roadshow
Wayne Cunningham reviews cars and writes about automotive technology for CNET's Roadshow. Prior to the automotive beat, he covered spyware, Web building technologies, and computer hardware. He began covering technology and the Web in 1994 as an editor of The Net magazine.
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2012 International Engine of the Year Awards (pictures)

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This year's International Engine of the Year Awards saw many repeats from 2011, but stealing the show was a new sub-1-liter engine from Ford. Using direct injection and a turbocharger, this 999cc engine manages to generate 123 horsepower, enough for most subcompact and compact cars. And in European test cycles, the engine manages well over 50 mpg.

Despite the economy of Ford's engine, the Green Engine Award went to GM for the range extended electric power train in the Chevy Volt and Opel Ampera.

Here are the various categories, with their respective winners:

  • 2012 International Engine of the Year: Ford 999cc three-cylinder turbo (Ford Focus)
  • Best New Engine of the Year: Ford 999cc three-cylinder turbo (Ford Focus)
  • Green Engine of the Year: GM 1.4-liter four-cylinder range extender (Opel Ampera)
  • Best Performance Engine: Ferrari 4.5-liter V8 (Ferrari 458 Italia)
  • Sub 1-liter: Ford 999cc three-cylinder turbo (Ford Focus)
  • 1-liter to 1.4-liter: Volkswagen 1.4-liter four-cylinder TSI Twincharger (VW Golf, Jetta, Tiguan)
  • 1.4-liter to 1.8-liter: BMW 1.6-liter four-cylinder turbo (Mini Cooper S)
  • 1.8-liter to 2-liter: BMW 2-liter four-cylinder turbo (BMW 328i)
  • 2-liter to 2.5-liter: Audi 2.5-liter turbo (Audi TT RS)
  • 2.5-liter to 3-liter: BMW 3-liter six-cylinder turbo (BMW 135i, 335i, 535i, X3)
  • 3-liter to 4-liter: BMW 4-liter V8 (BMW M3)
  • Above 4-liter: Ferrari 4.5-liter V8 (Ferrari 458 Italia)

The International Engine awards are run by UKIP Media. For 2012, judging was done by 76 automotive journalists from 35 countries.