Ward’s 10 Best Engines for 2010

18th December 2009

Every year, Ward’s Auto has published its 10 Best Engines list. Considered the most prestigious award for powertrain excellence, the 10 Best Engines award is highly coveted by automakers. The criteria include many objective and subjective factors. They all must be available in a regular production model priced no higher than $54,000 by early 2010. There were 34 nominees this year. 2009 winners and any all-new or significantly changed engines are eligible. Lest you think Ward’s only includes high-powered, sports car engines, this year’s list is highly diversified, with engines of every major type and geography represented.

The list includes engines from German (4), US (3), Japanese (2) and Korean (1) automakers. The engines have 4-cylinders (6), 6-cylinders (3) and 8-cylinders (1) and are powered by gas (6), Diesel (2) and hybrid (2) power. They use natural aspiration (4) and turbo (5), and 1 supercharged. 5 winners are repeats from last year and 5 are new on this year’s list.

The engines have a huge range of horsepower (98 - 375) and an even larger torque range of 105 - 425 lb.-ft. Specific output, or horsepower per liter, is considered a measure of how well the engineers have wrung power out of the engine. A few years ago, 60-70 hp/L was considered excellent. The lowest figure on this year’s list (54) is a hybrid, whose horsepower figure does not include the extra power provided by the battery. The highest non-forced induction engine is 82. The forced induction engines range from 88 - 111.

Enough of the stats! Here are the winners this year:

Manufacturer	Vehicle	Size & Type	Horsepower	Torque	HP/L	MPG
Audi	A4	2.0L Turbo I-4	211	258	106	23/30
Audi	S4	3.0L Supercharged V6	333	325	111	18/28
BMW	335d	3.0L Turbodiesel I-6	265	425	88	23/36
Ford	Taurus SHO	3.5L Turbo V6	365	350	104	18/27
Ford	Fusion Hybrid	2.5L I-4 Hybrid	191	136	76	41/36
GM	Chevy Equinox	2.4L I-4	182	172	76	22/32
Hyundai	Genesis	4.6L V-8	375	333	82	17/25
Subaru	Legacy GT	2.5L Turbo I-4	265	258	106	23/31
Toyota	Prius	1.8L I-4 Hybrid	98	105	54	51/48
Volkswagen	Jetta TDI	2.0L Turbodiesel I-4	140	236	70	30/42