Best engine ever made? And why?

[Clevy]

Fords 4.9 inline 6 was used in everything from dump trucks to wood chippers and everything in between.Ford 5.0,Fords modular engines and of course the sohc 429. The 3.8/3.9 was V6 was also very durable.
Chev's 427,454,396,327,350,3.8,4.3 and the 2.2 was nearly indestructible. The 5.7 dohc was awesome and was in a zr-1 at one point,had they put a northstar in a performance car it would also be on my list.
Chryslers slant 6,318 and of course the 426 hemi
I'm not familiar with imports however I'm sure Honda has a vtec engine or 2 that deserve to be on the best ever engine list,as well as Toyota,Acura.
The Nissan skyline has one heckuva sixxer moving it down the road.
Pontiac had a turbo engine in the late 70s in a trans am that was pretty cool,and of course the 6.6 or 6.8(I forget what it was. 401 cubes or something.
Then Buick had the grand national that is still one of my favorites.
Well that's all I've got for now. I know there were many European engines that were just stellar in service and of course in the diesel arena there is cummins. Have they ever built a bad engine? And of course the duramax is becoming legendary. Fords old 7.3 was low tech and lasted forever however I won't mention the fiasco their diesels have been since the 7.3 was retired.

 

[jrustles]

Originally Posted By: tig1
Another very durable Ford engine is the 3.0 Vulcan. We had one in a 91 Ranger that had 354K when it was sold. The valve covers were never removed. As my habit is, we did 10K OCIs and the engine ran as good as when it was first purchased.


yeah, but Mobil 1 was totally different, as in Fully Synthetic, back then

 

[mobilaltima]

7.3 Powerstroke, 12 valve Cummins (6BT), mercedes benz diesels, ford 300 I6, 4.3 vortec, 350 SBC, the list goes on and on, cant forget the "Deuce" 2-71 Detroit, they just run, and run, and run

 

[Anduril]

22RE. My dad had over 500k on one in an early '80s Toyota Pickup. Still ran perfectly the day he got rid of it, just wouldn't pass smog anymore and too expensive to fix.

 

[TFB1]

Originally Posted By: morris
the first american engine to make 300 hp. the 1955 chrysler 300 , 331 ci hemi. the 1958 300 392 ci 375 hp


Yeah but the triple carbed '58 Mercury Super Marauder 430 was rated at 400Hp...

 

[440Magnum]

Too many options, and very hard to compare an engine made in the 30s to one made today. No way in hades I could pick ONE.

But my short list would be:

Dusenberg DOHC 32-valve straight-8 (SO FAR ahead of its time its unbelievable!)
Packard V12 ("Twin Six")
the 3 Chrysler Hemis from the 1950s (331, 354, 392- some of best factory machining ever on American mass-production engines)
Hudson "Twin-H Power" flathead six
The slant-six (duh- probably would be the one if I had to pick ONE)
Ford FE and Chrysler B/RB big blocks- kings of the 1960s power wars
Smallblock Chevy (283 and 327 in particular, NOT the 400!)
Chrysler LA series
Buick nailhead
Cadillac 472
Buick-then-Rover aluminum V8 (despite quirks)
Buick-then-AMC Dauntless-Then Buick 3800 v6
Olds Rocket v8s
Toyota 22R
AMC 390 (shut up, its MY list!)
AMC 258 straight six
AMC/Chrysler 4.0 straight six
Toyota 2JZ-GE and GTE
Nissan VG and VQ families
Ford Modular
GM LSx series
Chrysler Pentastar
Modern Hemi's (5.7 Eagle in particular)

Quite a few European engines should be on there, but I'm just not familiar with them.

 

[hattaresguy]

Originally Posted By: morris
" it was the Duesenburg I8 back in 1927" but who could afford one? the Duesy was not an V8. it was a straight 8. and was SOHC, DOHC. at 420 ci. the chrysler 331 ci was a push rod engine. my point is at that time chrysler was the first available american engine in the 50s to make 300 hp. the duessy is in a totally different class. the 55 300 sold 1,725. the dussy model A-650, model X-13, Y-1. if you had a duesy next to a 55 300 and told me i could have one of them, ill take the Deusy. like i said BEST in the eye of the beholder.


You said first, to make over 300hp which the Duesenburg was, you mentioned nothing about price or sales volume, nor did you restrict it to the 1950's.

 

[Spazdog]

At the other end of the spectrum, the lowly Honda horizontal single.

It powers the most produced motor vehicle in history. They still make the [darn] thing!

In certain 3rd world countries, it is the family car and pickup truck:

It's not powerful, but it is durable.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Originally Posted By: Spazdog
At the other end of the spectrum, the lowly Honda horizontal single.

It powers the most produced motor vehicle in history. They still make the [darn] thing!

In certain 3rd world countries, it is the family car and pickup truck:

It's not powerful, but it is durable.

 

[Lampare]

68-72 Cadillac engine 472 cuin

 

[Nephets]

ford modular gets my vote...

 

[Cujet]

Ford Modular, without question. Especially the 4.6L 2V in the F150. Full floating piston pins, heavy duty pistons, extra head bolts, tougher bearings, etc. Proper maintenance results in excessively long life, regardless of how hard the engine is used.

 

[FXjohn]

Chevy Vortec 4.3 V6

 

[artificialist]

Originally Posted By: FXjohn
Chevy Vortec 4.3 V6

I never liked the fuel injection system used on certain models, and many had terrible intake manifold gaskets.

 

[FXjohn]

Originally Posted By: artificialist
Originally Posted By: FXjohn
Chevy Vortec 4.3 V6

I never liked the fuel injection system used on certain models, and many had terrible intake manifold gaskets.


I've had really good luck on the 96+ versions

 

[jimbrewer]

Originally Posted By: bigjl
The 1.6 and 1.8 Vauxhall 8v engines circa the 80's and early 90's.

Bottom ends were nigh on indestructible and they were non interference so you could just drive it till the belt snapped.

The 1.6 would do 40mpg easily in the Cavalier of the day with the 1.8 not far behind.

Pity Vauxhall engines since then haven't been as reliable or economical.

Close second is the Rover V8, an all alloy Buick lump that was unpopular in the US so the rights were bought.

3.5, 3.9 and 4.0 versions were also made.

Has been in almost everything from vans to sportcars to GT 40 kitcars.


Rover V-8! you gotta be kidding! At least 15 of them were imported into the US. I happen to have driven one. I remember driving it about 100 miles and the check oil light came on. I had checked the oil before leaving and being a dumb kid I just figured it was Lucas electrics. Turned out it had a leaky seal and had lost about all its oil. When you got up above about 45 mph, it would leak oil like crazy.

I'd say the small block Chevy V-8 in its decades of different iterations. Also, the 3.8 GM. A very durable and useable engine, although I've never owned a GM car in my life,. The 4.6 Ford was a contender, but for whatever reason it wasn't developed that much. Just a good solid design that finally ran out of steam.

 

[SLCraig]

Originally Posted By: morris
" it was the Duesenburg I8 back in 1927" but who could afford one? the Duesy was not an V8. it was a straight 8. and was SOHC, DOHC. at 420 ci. the chrysler 331 ci was a push rod engine. my point is at that time chrysler was the first available american engine in the 50s to make 300 hp. the duessy is in a totally different class. the 55 300 sold 1,725. the dussy model A-650, model X-13, Y-1. if you had a duesy next to a 55 300 and told me i could have one of them, ill take the Deusy. like i said BEST in the eye of the beholder.


The 1955 300 is also one of the nicest looking American cars ever I think. (From that time period)
I really just love that car.

 

[browning300wsm]

best motors GM 283 and the 350 ..ford 289 worst motor GM 5CYL. 3.5 COLORADO

 

[Peted]

Originally Posted By: Cujet
Ford Modular, without question. Especially the 4.6L 2V in the F150. Full floating piston pins, heavy duty pistons, extra head bolts, tougher bearings, etc. Proper maintenance results in excessively long life, regardless of how hard the engine is used.


Except the 5.4L where the spark plugs break if you try to change them...

Have had the Modular and the LS, rather have an LS series motor.

 

[Peted]

Originally Posted By: jimbrewer

Rover V-8! you gotta be kidding! At least 15 of them were imported into the US. I happen to have driven one. I remember driving it about 100 miles and the check oil light came on. I had checked the oil before leaving and being a dumb kid I just figured it was Lucas electrics. Turned out it had a leaky seal and had lost about all its oil. When you got up above about 45 mph, it would leak oil like crazy.


Way more than 15.. and It's called keeping up with your maintenance. The Rover v8 is a stout engine.