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With six awards for five engines gained at this year’s
“International Engine of the Year Awards”, BMW has successfully defended its
position as the world’s leading manufacturer of efficient high-performance power
units.
For the second time in succession, the 3-litre straight six
engine with Twin Turbo and High Precision Injection has won the overall ranking
in this most significant international engine competition.
The 225 kW engine employed in the BMW 3 Series, the BMW 1
Series Coupe and Convertible, as well as in the soon to arrive BMW X6, also has
repeated last year’s victory in the 2.5 to 3-litre engine category.
Only one engine had previously ever succeeded in repeating
overall victory at the “International Engine of the Year Awards”.
The 5-litre V10 high-revving power unit employed in the BMW
M5, BMW M6 Coupé and BMW M6 Convertible received first prize in 2005 and
2006.
This year the 373 kW high-end power unit won the Above
4-litre category.
BMW M GmbH was successful in positioning a further winner: the
309 kW V8 engine from the new BMW M3 won the category for engines between 3 to 4
litres.
Furthermore, the 2-litre four-cylinder diesel with Variable
Twin Turbo employed in the BMW 123d received the award for “Best New Engine” of
the 2008.
And the 1.6-litre four cylinder with Twin Scroll Turbocharger
and direct petrol injection employed in the MINI Cooper S managed to repeat last
year’s win in the engine class 1.4 to 1.8 litres.
For the first time in the history of the competition, the
title “Best New Engine of the Year” has been awarded to a diesel
engine.
The 150 kW four-cylinder diesel with Variable Twin Turbo
has earned this award due to a unique relation between performance and
efficiency.
As the world’s first full-aluminium diesel power unit it
delivers a specific output of more than 100 bhp per litre of
displacement.
At the same time it facilitates in the BMW 123d an average
fuel consumption of 5.2 litres per 100 km in an EU test cycle and a CO2 emission
level of 138 grams per km.
This renders it a fine example of the consistent realisation
of the BMW EfficientDynamics development strategy.
With its current win of six trophies, the BMW Group continues
to impressively dominate the engine competition which has been held now for ten
years.
The repeated success of the straight six engine with Twin
Turbo is already the sixth overall victory for the company since the foundation
of the “International Engine of the Year Awards” in 1999.
The bandwidth of the BMW Group’s currently successful engines
is also remarkable. They range from the 128 kW four cylinder of the MINI
Cooper S to the two high-revving power units produced by BMW M GmbH.
The “International Engine of the Year Award” has been
presented since 1999 by an international jury consisting of highly prominent car
journalists.
This year the team of experts comprises 65 top journalists
from 32 nations which include Australia, the USA, Japan, China, Russia, India,
Germany, France, New Zealand, Korea and South Africa and, this year, Romania and
Poland.
Prizes are awarded for eleven categories as well to the winner
of the overall rating.
The award ceremony was held last night during the “Engine Expo
2008” in Stuttgart, Germany.
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