4 Cylinder Engines

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http://www.canadiandriver.com/articles/gw/4cylinder.htm

I was never a fan of 4 cylinder engines, but the Honda Accord 2.4L, along with many others, are more like 6 cylinder engines now. The Honda 2.4L in the TSX is extremely smooth and powerful. In my car, at 80 mph the car is very quiet and still has power left. On top of that, it gets 34 mpg. So for daily drivers, a 4 banger isn't all that bad anymore. They have improved them. My plan is to some day have a Corvette in the garage and an economical car like the Accord as my daily driver. Best of both worlds.
 
I think the 4's have been running ok for a few years now. I just want enough power to get around a car driving around the speed limit quickly if needed. I really don't see the need in having enough power to pass someone up going 120, but, if anyone else does that's ok with me.
 
When it comes to four cylinders I just feel like no matter how powerful they are I'm stressing them out. I just feel like when I'm going over seventy on one I'm killing it...
 
I have my "poor man's" BMW, a 1996 Ford Contour. It's a 5 speed manual tranny with a 4 cylinder and factory aluminum wheels and wide profile 205 60 15 tires. It's a blast to drive and it gets between 25-41 mpg, depending on how I drive. It's easy to tune up and maintain, except for the PCV valve. That was replaced by Ford under their 60,000 mile policy for PCV replacement for model year 1996 vehicles.

Four cylinders can be real good engines if you have a manual transmission. With automatic transmissions they can be "slaggards".

Whimsey
 
The engine I really don't like is a V6. Espcially the pushrod jobs. Heavy as a V8, almost as big as a V8 and power and MPG? Where is it? May as well just have a small OHC V8.

My 2.1 L Volvo turbo four does sound like it's gonna blow up....has since new
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, but at 257,000 miles it has never been under the knife! I do like the new big 4's - 2.5 or 2.6 liters, and great MPG to boot. Match well with auto trannies.
 
The problem with 4 cylinder engines is they don't have enough cubic inches. My dream inline 4 cylinder engine would be based on half a Ford 460 V8. That would make for 3.8 liters. Nice and torquey. This would be a good set up for a Ranger pickup. In the 60s Pontiac had a Tempest that came with an inline 4 cylinder that was half of their V8 (a slant 4). It was somewhere around 190 cid.
 
The Acura GSR 160bhp 1.6 four runs real nice, so does the 2.3liter 400bhp four in Mitsubishi Evo, I have dusted many V6 Euro and US with my 130,000 miles old Mazda Protege' LX, my trusted old 83 240D four cylinder diesel took me to college everyday albeit slowly but without fail with 35mpg on diesel, the engine lasted 450,000 miles before I sold it.
 
Yes, I drive a 2005 4-cylinder 2.4L Honda Accord from time to time as well. The only way you'd ever suspect it was a 4-cylinder was from the characteristic 4-cylinder 'shake' when the engine is at a very low power setting.

I was skeptical about the 4-cylinder when the Accord had 300 miles on it, and wasn't broken in, and was quite weak. But the power improved dramatically after a few thousand miles of driving -- you really shouldn't judge these engines in their un-broken-in state.

I imagine the 4-cylinder Honda TDI engine is even better. Too bad it hasn't washed up on the shores of North America quite yet.
 
quote:

Originally posted by TallPaul:
The problem with 4 cylinder engines is they don't have enough cubic inches. My dream inline 4 cylinder engine would be based on half a Ford 460 V8. That would make for 3.8 liters. Nice and torquey. This would be a good set up for a Ranger pickup. In the 60s Pontiac had a Tempest that came with an inline 4 cylinder that was half of their V8 (a slant 4). It was somewhere around 190 cid.

International Harvester had a "Half Eight" in the 70's.. half of a 348, IRRC. my cousin had one in a Scout, it was suprisingly torquey and tough mill... not something you could say about the biodegradable body.
 
The fours in Altimas, Camrys and Accords are excellent engines and will last hundreds of thousands of miles. I wouldn't hesitate to own any of them.

Beyond that, they have excellent power, not feeling gutless around town and on the highway.

In fact, the Camry engine is used in the RAV4 and the Highlander, and does very well in those SUVs, too. And the Accord engine is used in the CRV and the Element and does quite well in those.
 
I agree Big Dave. They have come along way. Don't get me wrong though, if I had the choice in most cases, I'd choose a nice, fast V8 like the LS1.
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But the current 4cylinders do a nice job for daily drivers and get great gas mileage. They are also very reliable.
 
34 mpg, yeah they're not like 4 cylinders in mileage either so what's the point? Why not buy a V6 Malibu and have more power?

-T
 
Camry 4 - 24/34 - 154hp
Galant 4 - 23/30 - 160hp
Accord 4 - 24/34 - 166hp

Malibu V6 - 22/32 - 201hp(211 with VVT)

What's the point of making more power when you make worse mileage? Looks like the pushrod V6 is the most efficient. Would you give up 40hp for 2mpg? If not there's the 4 cylinder malibu too.
 
quote:

Originally posted by T-Keith:
Camry 4 - 24/34 - 154hp
Galant 4 - 23/30 - 160hp
Accord 4 - 24/34 - 166hp

Malibu V6 - 22/32 - 201hp(211 with VVT)

What's the point of making more power when you make worse mileage? Looks like the pushrod V6 is the most efficient. Would you give up 40hp for 2mpg? If not there's the 4 cylinder malibu too.


Lets see how the Maliby does 5 years from now on resale value. Or better yet, I would love to see the malibu go 250k miles without major repairs.
 
I like the torque of my SE-R with 165 hp. The balance shaft keeps it from the shake. Its the same engine in the Altima. I saw a 1/4 mile time on some of the new cars and some of the 4 cyl. cars had a better 0-60 time than the V-6.Its has more to do with gearing and stuff but the VTEC & VVT engines are the way to go.
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quote:

Originally posted by '00obw:
I think the Subaru 2.5l boxer engine is very good. Wonder how it would react if it wasn't mate to AWD?

I absolutely love our Legacy 2.5 GT wagon's boxer 4 cylinder turbo-charged motor with a 5 speed manual.
 
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