Gallery: Ferrari wins International Engine of the Year award

Ferrari has won the International Engine of the Year award for its 3.9-litre, twin-turbocharged V8 unit, currently doing mighty - and slidey - service in the new 488 GTB.

It means that for the first time in many years, a performance engine has taken the top honours for the award. Previous winners of course, include BMW's 1.5-litre three-pot, Ford's three-cylinder EcoBoost, Fiat's 875cc TwinAir, and the VW Group's 1.4-litre TSI.

The engine not only won the top category, but also the Performance Engine, New Engine, and 3.0-litre to 4.0-litre category too. That's four awards.

The fifth? Ferrari's 6.3-litre, naturally-aspirated unit seen in the F12 Berlinetta and F12tdf, which got the Above 4.0-litre award.

The 3.9-litre of course, is used across the 488 GTB, 488 Spider and (in a revised form) in the California T. So to celebrate Ferrari's win, here are some pictures of the engines in service.

"The way it picks up and responds is nothing short of stunning. There is no appreciable lag at all, and nor does it feel artificially forced. The response is pure, linear, exhilarating and packs an enormous punch. It’s a bit like the hit of electric you get from the Porsche 918 Spyder, where the instant torque pick-up comes as such a surprise and delight that you find yourself slowing down again and again just to see what happens when you brush the throttle at 2,000rpm..."

Read the Top Gear review here

"It’s different to a 458 Italia, and definitively not as visceral. But you really would have to be a tedious wonk to grumble about it. By any objective measure, it makes a ruddy fabulous noise, it’ll peel the paint off tunnel walls, and it’s obviously louder with the roof stashed..."

Read the Top Gear review here

"The small, twin-scroll turbos all but eliminate lag, leaving you with an engine that delivers huge lunges of acceleration whenever you require it. Yes, the torque is limited early-on in the first three gears to give the engine a more natural, zingy feel, but that doesn’t mean there’s a lack of it. Put the gearbox into auto mode and the speed with which the computer shuffles you into the higher ratios, even at low speeds, is proof that the torque is there, in any gear, whenever you need it..."

Read the Top Gear review here

"The engine is the F12’s 6.2-litre V12, whose entirely unshabby 730bhp power output has been hiked to 770bhp. It can now rev to 8900rpm, and shovels out 520 torques at 6750rpm. The dual-clutch ’box has new tdf-specific ratios; upshifts are 30 per cent faster, downshifts 40 per cent quicker. It accelerates to 62mph in 2.9 seconds (sub-3.0secs is when elite supercars get to join the SAS), 124mph in 7.9 seconds, and it’ll keep going until 211mph..."

Read the Top Gear review here