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Ferrari’s 3.9-Litre V8 Breaks a Four-Year Run at the International Engine of the Year Awards

Ferrari’s 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8 in the 488 GTB won the 2016 International Engine of the Year award, ending four consecutive overall wins by Ford or BMW. The V8 then began its own four-year overall run, from 2016 to 2019.
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Ferrari’s 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8, fitted to the 488 GTB and 488 Spider, won the 2016 International Engine of the Year award in Stuttgart. It ended four consecutive years in which Ford or BMW had taken the overall title—not a four-year run by one Toyota engine. The Ferrari V8 went on to win the overall award again through 2019.

What Ferrari won in 2016

The awards were announced at Engine Expo in Stuttgart on June 1, 2016. Ferrari’s 3.9-litre biturbo V8 won the overall International Engine of the Year award, as well as Best New Engine, Best Performance Engine, and its 3-litre-to-4-litre displacement class. Ferrari’s naturally aspirated 6.3-litre V12 won the Above 4-litre category. The jury comprised 63 judges from more than 30 countries, according to Ferrari’s event announcement. This was an international journalists’ vote, not a laboratory certification or a consumer reliability test.

Contemporary reporting put the overall vote at 331 points for Ferrari, ahead of BMW’s 1.5-litre three-cylinder hybrid at 278 and Porsche’s 3.0-litre turbocharged flat-six at 267. Those point totals are reported by contemporary coverage, rather than shown in the current official awards archive.

What the four-year sequence actually was

The wording “breaking a four-year reign” can be misleading if it suggests that a single engine held the overall title for four straight years. The archive shows a sequence of four overall wins by Ford or BMW, followed by Ferrari in 2016:

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2013 Ford 999cc three-cylinder turbo
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2016 Ferrari 3.9-litre biturbo V8

Ford’s 1.0-litre engine continued to win its sub-1-litre class in 2016, but that is separate from the overall award. Keeping the class result distinct avoids conflating two different records.

The 488 GTB’s twin-turbo V8

Ferrari lists the 488 GTB’s engine as a 3,902cc, 90-degree V8 with twin turbochargers and dry-sump lubrication. Its published maximum output is 670 CV at 8,000 rpm, with maximum torque of 760 Nm at 3,000 rpm in seventh gear. Ferrari also gives a top speed of 330 km/h and 0–200 km/h acceleration in 8.3 seconds.

Specification Ferrari 488 GTB
Engine 3,902cc, 90-degree V8, twin turbochargers
Lubrication Dry sump
Maximum output 670 CV at 8,000 rpm
Maximum torque 760 Nm at 3,000 rpm in seventh gear
Top speed 330 km/h
0–200 km/h 8.3 seconds

Ferrari presented turbo response, progressive torque delivery, efficiency, sound, and driver involvement as strengths of the engine. Those are the manufacturer’s stated rationale and positioning, not independent findings from a controlled test. Ferrari’s technical history describes variable boost management as providing a rising torque curve and what it calls near-zero-lag response; that promotional wording should not be mistaken for a universal measured result.

The engine marked a significant change for Ferrari’s mid-engined V8 strategy: displacement fell to 3.9 litres while output rose to 670 CV, and twin turbochargers provided a stronger mid-range than the preceding naturally aspirated architecture. Ferrari identifies the 488 GTB as a two-seat berlinetta with a mid-rear-mounted V8.

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A varied field of combustion, hybrid, and electric powertrains

The 2016 results were not simply a contest between conventional petrol engines. BMW’s hybrid i8 powertrain placed second overall, Porsche’s turbocharged flat-six placed third, and Tesla won the Green Engine category with its electric powertrain. BMW also won the 1.4-to-1.8-litre class with the i8-related hybrid system; Porsche won the 2.5-to-3-litre class, and Audi won the 2-to-2.5-litre class.

The award program included displacement classes as well as Green Engine, New Engine, and Performance Engine categories before selecting an overall winner. The diverse results show the range of powertrains being considered, but they do not establish that one technology is objectively best on every measure.

From ending a streak to building one

Ferrari’s 2016 victory began a remarkable run for the 3.9-litre V8. Ferrari’s annual and financial reports record the engine winning the overall title again in 2017, 2018, and 2019, for four consecutive overall wins from 2016 through 2019.

That makes the award story a handoff between two different streaks: four consecutive overall titles won by Ford or BMW from 2012 to 2015, followed by Ferrari’s four-year run from 2016 to 2019. The 2016 result was the jury’s choice among the engines and powertrains entered that year, not proof of an objectively best engine under every possible metric.

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FAQ

Which engine won the 2016 International Engine of the Year award?

Ferrari’s 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8, used in the 488 GTB and 488 Spider, won the overall 2016 award.

Did one engine hold the overall award for four years before Ferrari won?

No. Ford’s 999cc three-cylinder turbo won in 2012, 2013, and 2014; BMW’s 1.5-litre three-cylinder hybrid won in 2015. Ferrari’s 2016 win ended four consecutive overall awards going to Ford or BMW.

What were the Ferrari V8’s published specifications?

Ferrari lists 3,902cc displacement, 670 CV at 8,000 rpm, and 760 Nm at 3,000 rpm in seventh gear for the 488 GTB. Ferrari also publishes a 330 km/h top speed and 0–200 km/h time of 8.3 seconds.

How many times did Ferrari’s 3.9-litre V8 win the overall award?

It won four consecutive times, from 2016 through 2019, according to Ferrari’s annual and financial reports.

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