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| “Set
to establish an even greater dynasty than its 1.8-litre predecessor”
Brian Cowan, freelance |
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This category produced one of the closest
fights ever in the history of the International Engine of the
Year Awards. Volkswagen/Audi’s 2-litre Turbo FSI won the
1.8- to 2-litre class by more than 100 points in 2007, the third
year in a row that it had come out on top. But in 2008, the
unit, which is found in many different vehicles across the Volkswagen
Group, faced a strong challenge from two new diesel powerplants:
Subaru’s groundbreaking Boxer and BMW’s acclaimed
2-litre twin-turbo unit.
When all the votes had been counted, however, the defending
champion triumphed once again, scraping home just two points
ahead of the BMW engine installed in the 123d. New jury member
Nikos Kounitis summed up the dilemma: “On one hand we
had the exceptional TFSI; on the other was the best diesel,
BMW’s new twin turbo. I really appreciated the diesel,
but decided to stick to the gasoline engine because its smoothness
and adaptability in any vehicle remains unbeatable.”
A pioneer of the current trend for turbocharged, downsized motors,
the 2-litre Turbo FSI was developed by engineers at Audi before
making its debut in the Golf GTi. Since then, the engine has
proliferated both in terms of outputs and applications, ranging
from 165bhp (Audi A6), through numerous Volkswagens, Audis,
Seats and Škodas (197bhp), all the way up to the 272bhp variant
in the Audi TTS.
Along with this versatility,
a winning blend of power, torque,
fuel economy and low emissions is key to the popularity of the
2-litre Turbo FSI. The 197bhp version in the Audi TT, for example,
makes a punchy 280Nm of torque across a wide band of 1,800-5,000rpm,
yet consumes only 7.7L/100km (36.7mpg) on the EC combined cycle,
with a CO2 output of just 183g/km.
It is all-round performance like this that prompted Awards judge
Frank Markus to dub it, “The little engine that could
make four cylinders aspirational in terms of performance and
fuel economy.” |
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points |
| 1. Volkswagen/Audi 2-litre Turbo FSI (A3,
A4 Cabrio, A6, TT, Eos, Jetta, Golf GTi, Škoda Octavia, Seat
Altea, Leon) |
256 |
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| 2. BMW Diesel 2-litre Twin Turbo (123d) |
254 |
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| 3. Subaru Diesel 2-litre flat four Turbo (Outback) |
196 |
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| 4. Mitsubishi 2-litre four-cylinder Turbo
(Evo X) |
105 |
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| 5. Honda 2-litre four-cylinder i-VTEC (Civic
Type R) |
97 |
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| 6. Honda 2-litre four-cylinder (S2000 (Europe/Asia)) |
67 |
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