Toyota grabs top engine gong

JAPANESE and German designs have dominated the international engine of the year awards, with the petrol-electric hybrid powerplant from the Toyota Prius winning the top gong.

The international engine of the year is selected by a 56-member jury of motoring journalists from 24 countries, including Australia and New Zealand.

Toyota's 'Hybrid Synergy Drive' also won two of the subsidiary prizes, including best new engine of 2004.

Other hybrids on the class winners list were the 'Integrated Motor Assist' systems in the Honda Insight and Civic.

Petrol engines given the nod in their respective categories were the Mercedes-Benz AMG 65 V12, the Honda S2000, the BMW 2.5-litre and 3.2-litre (from the M3), the Volkswagen 5.0-litre V10 turbo-diesel fitted to the Touareg and Phaeton, and the Mazda rotary from the RX-8.

In the six-year history of the competition, organised by the independent UK & International Press Automotive Magazines group, BMW still heads the list of winners with 20 awards, and Volkswagen is second with 19.