Best engine ever made? And why?

[440Magnum]

Originally Posted By: 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.


The Buick/Rover v8 was a great engine, and a couple orders of magnitude more than "15" were sent "back across the pond" to the US. Buick actually sold a shload of them over a 3-year period, but they were considered "too expensive" to keep building. GM idiocy. I think they tried to get it back, around the same time they were getting the Dauntless v6 design back from AMC in the mid/late 70s (They did get the rights to the AMC Dauntless back, and it became the 3800 eventually- interesting that both of the engines GM let go and then wanted back were Buicks). Now, its true that very few Rover v8's came back to the US in obscene overkill vehicles like the TR-8, so of course those are even cooler

 

[morris]

to: slcraig. course you know the 1955 300 had imperial grill, NOT a new yorker grill. and i think the first 3 years came only red, white, blue. it looks a lot like the early 50s parade cars, i think those were duel cowl.

 

[Clevy]

Originally Posted By: 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.


I've got both. Mind you my mod 2v spit out spark plugs like they were free to fix.
The ford 2v 5.4 is a better engine as far as power where you need it in a truck. The 5.4 has insane torque just off idle,whereas my 5.3 needs some rpm to make some power.
Of those 2 the 5.4 is more motor however just 1 spit spark plug would change a persons mind really quickly. My 5.3 hasn't had a single issue at all and I'm not knocking it,its just the ford is capable of more in stock trim.
My 4.6 4V is just something awesome. I'm in love with it in my mustang.

 

[Ben99GT]

Originally Posted By: jimbrewer
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.


The 4.6/5.4 Modular basic architecture is still on the road, they call them 5.0 Coyote/Road Runner and 5.8 Trinity these days.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Originally Posted By: Clevy
Originally Posted By: 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.


I've got both. Mind you my mod 2v spit out spark plugs like they were free to fix.
The ford 2v 5.4 is a better engine as far as power where you need it in a truck.



The 5.4 has insane torque just off idle,whereas my 5.3 needs some rpm to make some power.



Of those 2 the 5.4 is more motor however just 1 spit spark plug would change a persons mind really quickly. My 5.3 hasn't had a single issue at all and I'm not knocking it,its just the ford is capable of more in stock trim.
My 4.6 4V is just something awesome. I'm in love with it in my mustang.


I agree about the 5.3, the few we own (most are 6.0) are very reliable and extremely quiet mechanically. But they are gutless at low revs. I have one with 3.73 gears and a better stall torque converter that is much better. With tall gears and a heavy load that engine just doesn't get it.


I also believe the 4.6 may be one of the best for sure. My son used to collect Town Cars and they run to ridiculous mileage and are very well balanced if a little weak in the knees. Never had a DOHC version, it has to be better...

As for BEST that means longest lasting to us. And that would be our 04 GMC 6.0. It has NEVER been driven under 9000 pounds and yet has run almost half a million miles and still has no smoke or oil consumption at all!

 

[WiskyBadger]

Chevy 350 and GM 3.8 v6

 

[pbm]

I agree with many of the choices like the Ford 4.9 and 4.6, GM 3.8 and SBC, Dodge 318 and 225 Slant 6.
The Nissan SR20DE in my 1993 Sentra SER was a great motor and so is the 1ZZFE in my 2008 Corolla.

 

[Cujet]

Originally Posted By: 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.


I think you mean only certain years of the 5.4 3V engines. The other 5.4L's are fantastic too. My personal vehicle is a 2009 5.4L 3V WITHOUT the spark plug problems. It's showing signs of being every bit as good as my 4.6L modular.

Yes, I'd much rather be driving an LS engine, much more fun. However, I am not at all convinced the LS is in any way better. After the problems we've had with the LS truck engines at work, we switched to ford.

 

[Ben99GT]

Originally Posted By: Cujet
Yes, I'd much rather be driving an LS engine, much more fun.


Primarily because a 2009 F150 4x4 5.4 Supercrew Lariat weighs 6,040 lbs while a 2009 Silverado 4x4 5.3 Crewcab LTZ weighs 5,520 lbs.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Originally Posted By: Ben99GT
Originally Posted By: Cujet
Yes, I'd much rather be driving an LS engine, much more fun.


Primarily because a 2009 F150 4x4 5.4 Supercrew Lariat weighs 6,040 lbs while a 2009 Silverado 4x4 5.3 Crewcab LTZ weighs 5,520 lbs.


Absolutely. I don't know why the Fords are so heavy but they show their weight every time you stop, turn, or accelerate. The payoff is they are quieter and ride better.

I still like the driving dynamics of the Silverado's better. My favorite fleet truck is my old 05 extended cab model that weighs in at about 4900 pounds. It feels downright sporty when compared to a similarly loaded Ford.

 

[lovcom]

Originally Posted By: A_Harman
Rolls-Royce Merlin
It saved England in WW2.


No, wrong! The US Army saved England!

 

[jdawg89]

Small and big block chevy
ANY i-6 ever made, chevy ford amc anything.
Chrysler a & la enigines (318, 360 etc)
Basicaly my top enignes right there. Powerful and reliable.

 

[Pitbull]

Toyota 4.7 V8, very dependable!! Regular service with owners seeing 500k+ miles and no problems. Find these in 100 series Landcruisers/Lexus LX470's that are one of the very few modern vehicles that are designed for a 25 year life cycle in third world country's.

 

[KD0AXS]

Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
Originally Posted By: Ben99GT
Originally Posted By: Cujet
Yes, I'd much rather be driving an LS engine, much more fun.


Primarily because a 2009 F150 4x4 5.4 Supercrew Lariat weighs 6,040 lbs while a 2009 Silverado 4x4 5.3 Crewcab LTZ weighs 5,520 lbs.


Absolutely. I don't know why the Fords are so heavy but they show their weight every time you stop, turn, or accelerate. The payoff is they are quieter and ride better.

I still like the driving dynamics of the Silverado's better. My favorite fleet truck is my old 05 extended cab model that weighs in at about 4900 pounds. It feels downright sporty when compared to a similarly loaded Ford.


If you think the F-150s are heavy, here's a weight slip from my F-350. This is with the 5.4, extended cab, and short bed. Crew cab and a diesel would probably add another 1000 lbs.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: KD0AXS
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
Originally Posted By: Ben99GT
Originally Posted By: Cujet
Yes, I'd much rather be driving an LS engine, much more fun.


Primarily because a 2009 F150 4x4 5.4 Supercrew Lariat weighs 6,040 lbs while a 2009 Silverado 4x4 5.3 Crewcab LTZ weighs 5,520 lbs.


Absolutely. I don't know why the Fords are so heavy but they show their weight every time you stop, turn, or accelerate. The payoff is they are quieter and ride better.

I still like the driving dynamics of the Silverado's better. My favorite fleet truck is my old 05 extended cab model that weighs in at about 4900 pounds. It feels downright sporty when compared to a similarly loaded Ford.


If you think the F-150s are heavy, here's a weight slip from my F-350. This is with the 5.4, extended cab, and short bed. Crew cab and a diesel would probably add another 1000 lbs.

I'll tell you right now that it does. My buddy on here (slammds15) had his 2005 F-250 4x4 diesel on the scales and it was over 8,000lbs.

 

[hattaresguy]

Originally Posted By: lovcom
Originally Posted By: A_Harman
Rolls-Royce Merlin
It saved England in WW2.


No, wrong! The US Army saved England!


Incorrect, it was the Russian Army.

 

[hattaresguy]

Originally Posted By: OVERKILL


I'll tell you right now that it does. My buddy on here (slammds15) had his 2005 F-250 4x4 diesel on the scales and it was over 8,000lbs.


Trucks are getting way to porky, GM is just as guilty. Between the current body style and the old one just about every model gained around 500 pounds.

My 2005 feels like a sports car compared to my uncles 2011 and we have the same options, motor, transmission, and rear end in the trucks. The only difference is the body style and mass that the newer one adds.

I'll be very interested in what the 2014's weigh in at, supposedly GM has addressed the pork.

 

[donnyj08]

Originally Posted By: 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.



this issue is way blown out of proportion. the 3V 5.4l only needs plug changes every 100k miles. using the extractor tool if they break works great.

also champion makes a one piece platinum plug that will not break like the factory motorcraft plugs do. after the first plug change switching to the one piece plugs every change after that is childs play. super easy.

i own a 200+k mile 3v with no issues. i broke all 8 original plugs on it at 130k miles. i used the removal tool and had them all changed in less than 2 hours. its not as bad as many lead on. once i get them all out i like to disconnect the injectors and crank the motor over with the plug holes open to blow any debris that may have fell. the compression will blow any dust/debris out.
install 8 new one piece champion plugs with a dab of anti-seize and they are a piece of cake the next time around.

the ford modular gets my vote for best engine ever made. 4.6/5.4/6.8, 2V/3V/4V they are all excellent engines.

 

[morris]

was there ANY engine that was NOT listed on this thread? iam so glad there are so many great engines. LOL

 

[artificialist]

Originally Posted By: morris
was there ANY engine that was NOT listed on this thread? iam so glad there are so many great engines. LOL

Well, there is no mention of the Oldsmobile diesel engines, hahaha

Good engine designs outnumber bad engine designs. That is why the last time a "Greatest engines thread" was started, I suggested that a "Problematic engines thread" would be a better idea.