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BMW Wins Two 2014 International Engine of the Year Awards

BMW’s 3-liter 6-cylinder inline petrol engine and the 1.6-liter 4-cylinder plant used by MINI won two more awards in the 2014 Engine of the Year contest, adding to the already impressive pile the company has.
BMW N55 engine 1 photo
Photo: BMW
For the MINI powerplant, this was the eight success in its category. Used on the Cooper S Countryman and Paceman models, the soon to be retired engine is still running hard, keeping its competition at bay.

The 3-liter N55 engine’s performance and efficiency was also recognized for the fourth time, the trademark inline architecture setting it apart from the competition.

These two new awards underline the progress that has been recorded in engineering at BMW since the Efficient Dynamics division was started. Launched in 1999, the International Engine of the Year award went to Bavarian engines 63 times so far, the Munich-based company being the manufacturer with the most wins in this competition, by far. Actually, BMW won at least one award every year.

Choosing the best engine in a variety of categories was the job of a jury made up of specialists, including 74 journalists from 35 countries. The winners will be getting their awards at Engine Expo, today, in Stuttgart, during a special gala.

The N55 unit was praised for its instantaneous pedal response (despite being turbocharged), its high revving character and its refinement alongside the economy it’s capable of. Thanks to the TwinTurbo technology developed by BMW and the VANOS and Valvetronic systems, the units are capable of developing 306 or 320 HP while also returning decent mpg numbers.

As for the MINI engine, it managed to win the 1.4- to 1.8-liter capacity category, due to its latest technology that sees its power raised from 184 HP to 190 HP and the CO2 emissions lowered to 139 grams per kilometer. Here, a system similar to the Valvetronic found on BMWs was used to offer the British cars a perfect mix of efficiency and high revs.

In the same category, the 1.5-liter 3-cylinder turbocharged engine used on the new Cooper S won the second place being followed by Audi's 1.8-liter TFSI engine. In the electric and green category, the BMW i3's electric engine was only overshadowed by Tesla's unit while and the 650 cc ICE unit used on the Range Extended version.
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