4 bangers- Love'em or Hate'm?

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I said I'll never own another, yet I'm driving one now. LOL. Not my first choice as I would have rather had the Accord V6, but to be honest, I don't think some of the modern 4 cylinder engines are all that bad. My car is not fast at all, but it's very smooth, even at 90mph. I attribute most of that to good Honda Engineering.
 
If it's Japanese gasser, by all means. As long as you remember that they like to rev. I rev mine to 8400rpm any chance I get.
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But of course you need to consider the hp/lb ration of the vehicle too. I wouldn't have a 120hp 4 banger in the current Accord.
 
I don't know why any of you guys would want a Japanese 4-banger, when you could have the reliability of a German-engineered VW like mine.
 
4 cylinders seem to be very reliable also...at least the few I have owned.
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Back in '92, I vowed to never own another 4 cyl. My wife had one in her VW Cabriolet, and it was pathetic.
I know have an Elantra with a 2.0 and am very satisfied, but I still like the V-6 in the wife's van.
 
quote:

don't know why any of you guys would want a Japanese 4-banger, when you could have the reliability of a German-engineered VW like mine

You MUST be kidding right?
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The only way that the Germans can achieve similar hp/liter ratios compared to Honda is with turbos.
When was the last time Germans produced a 200hp NATURALLY aspirated 4 banger? The first gen M3?
You can probably count the number of VTEC failures on one hand.. Honda might not do everything very well but the one thing they can do well is 4 bangers.
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They are really doing some amazing things with 4 cylinders nowadays. One 4 cylinder which impresses the heck out of me is the engine which comes in the base model Altima. I rented one once, and had to pop the hood to double check which engine it had in it, since I could've sworn it was the 6 cylinder, but in fact it was the 4. But with 180hp, that is right in the power range of some 6 cylinder engines.
 
I grudgingly like them. They're normally small, light, inexpensive to maintain: 4 spark plugs instead of 6, 8, or 10, often/usually smaller sumps w/o issues, etc. BUT, I love the sound of a good 6...
 
I like my Mazda 2.3L. It's smooth enough even at 7000rpm and it has decent power for a 2800lb car and good-enough fuel economy.
 
I chose the 1.8T in my GTI over the VR6.

One thing that a turbo VW 4-cylinder has, that a Honda 4-cylinder lacks, is torque.

Of course, torque has no bearing on things like reliability...so far the GTI has been a champ

/knocks on wood
//roadside-assist number is programmed in my phone
 
Yeah I agree, Honda's don't have the torque. I wish my car had more. Definitely have to bring the rpms up to get the power out of them.
 
I don't know why any of you guys would want a Japanese 4-banger, when you could have the reliability of a German-engineered VW like mine.

Sorry guys, as great as an engine as the 1.8T is, having owned one for roughly 3 years, I must say that regardless of how good the engine is, their car is unreliable and their service suck (besides the German MADE Passat)! And THAT is why I'd rather have a Japanese 4-banger (well, mine is a 6 cylinder, but....).

Anyhow, nothing wrong with 4 bangers, the 1.8T was awesome when other parts of the car holds up. They consume less gas, and in some cases can provide lots of power as well.
 
The VW TDI with DSG is looking very nice. Interesting how they integrate the engine management and transmission management functions for utilizing the diesel's low rpm torque for optimum fuel efficiency combined with decent acceleration.

I've heard the things a blast to drive particularly in an urban/suburban setting.
 
I owned a 4x4 1986 4Runner with an I4. A 1986 4Runner is not that much lighter then a full size Chevy K-Blazer. It was gutless with the 116HP 22RE 4 cylinder. This application really made me hate 4 cylinders!!!! I think the engineer that thought of putting this little enginew in this heavy beast should be drawn and quatered.

A 4 cylinder engine in the right application is fine though. The 4 cylinder in my Camry is just fine as is the 4 cylinder in the old Ford Fiesta and Festiva. The 4 cylinder in the Carolla is also fine. I think it is really stupid though when OEM's even offer a 4 cyinder in a 4x4 truck even if it is a compact truck. The same can be said of mini-vans!!!! I4's and heavy large capacity vechiles is mind numbingly stupid!!!!

In closeing I will say that today's I4's are about as good as they have ever been. Most of them have variable valve timeing and are almost as powerful as 3.0-3.1 V6's of just a few years ago!
 
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