The International Engine of the Year Awards has declared the naturally aspirated 4.5-liter V-8 in Ferrari 458 Italia the Best Performance Engine of 2011. The 4499cc V-8 had to compete against the 3.8-liter flat-six from the Porsche GT3, 6.2-liter V-8 from AMG, 3.8-liter V-8 from the McLaren MP4-12C, and other engineering marvels. Some of the judge’s comments can be found below:

“Super response and extreme power,” remarked Yasuhiko Kawamura, a Japanese freelancer.

“The battle between Ferrari and McLaren comes from the F1 circus to the production cars: two explosive engines, with the Italian V-8 offering just a bit of smoothness more,” said Massimo Nascimbene from La Repubblica.

“One of the best sounding engines out there,” noted Dean Slavnich, co-chairman of the awards.

Provided by duPont REGISTRY