BEST engines.....

[Lazy JW]

Sticking with auto engines, I feel that to qualify as "best" an engine needs to meet design expectations of providing reliable transportation (is anyone seeking UN-reliable?) and also be commercially successful on a wide scale. The first engine to do both was the Model T, the next was the air-cooled VW. Certainly the Small Block Chebbie qualifies, and taken as a group the Universal Japanese Four-Cylinders probably meet this criterion but really none of them will individually.

NONE of the modern American "Engine-of-the-Week" belly-button motors qualify (Everyone has one of Those).

Outside of auto engines, the little Briggs & Stratton single cylinder flathead stands head and shoulders above everything else. How many of THOSE have been built?
Joe

 

[slickf150]

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BMW M30, the "Big Six." Smooth, powerful, incredibly long-lived, advanced design (when first produced) but easy to service. The M10 four cylinder is a close second.

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I would put most of BMW's inliners in the same catagory, Germans know how to build an engine. My vote goes to Ford's 4.9l and VW's 1.8 (84-current) as I stated in another thread. Just for the heck of it I would throw the old Hemi engines in the mix (426cubes) for there ability to generate huge horsepower.

 

[caprice_2nv]

Agreed on the Briggs and Strattons. Have a 1981 3hp push mower that was used for years keeping the grass cut on a yard that was formerly part of a huge farm that got divided, so big it should have had at least a full size lawn tractor, not yet landscaped and littered with rocks everywhere. The grass always got way too deep for the underpowered 3hp, the mower constantly hit rocks and bottomed out on dirt piles, always being operated in either heavy dust or wet grass and the thing only got an oil change maybe once every several years on average and still never used any oil in the end. That has to be one of the most overbuilt engines ever, if only all car engines were that tough.

 

[XS650]

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Sticking with auto engines, I feel that to qualify as "best" an engine needs to meet design expectations of providing reliable transportation (is anyone seeking UN-reliable?) and also be commercially successful on a wide scale. The first engine to do both was the Model T, the next was the air-cooled VW. ...
Joe

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The Ford Model A engine was tough and reliable, but the T???

The T gets credit for being cheap to buy and easy to fix, the A is actually tough and reliable.

 

[NJC]

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I don't know the model number on the engine but, my friend had a 1985 Volvo Station wagon 4 cylinder. It had about 500,000 miles and still ran smooth. He rarely did any maintenence on it. He crashed it unfortunatly.

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That would be the B230 red block. I have the turbo charged version of that engine in my '89 wagon.

 

[Lazy JW]

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The Ford Model A engine was tough and reliable, but the T???

The T gets credit for being cheap to buy and easy to fix, the A is actually tough and reliable.

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You are, of course, correct. The Model A was a vastly better engine, thanks to the natural evolution from the pioneering work done with the Model T.

However, taken in the context of its TIME FRAME, the Model T stands alone. It succeded in being marketed to a generation that had never owned automobiles. It was simple enough to be maintained by the village blacksmith (and frequently was). It really was the "best" engine of its day; it put America, and subsequently, the world, on wheels. No other engine has so dominated its time.
Joe

 

[JHZR2]

Cummins b-series
MB OM617 series
GM 350, 262 engines
GM 3800
Volvo iron block NA engines
Toyota 2.4L engines
Honda 2.4L engines
GM Ecotec-family engines
Ford 300 I6
Jeep 4.0

 

[Patman]

I really like the Corvette's LSx series of engines a lot (LS1, LS2, LS6, LS7) For a high performance engine they are very reliable, and they take to modifications very well (it's not unheard of to get an extra 100 rwhp with a good set of heads matched with a bigger cam and headers)

There are a number of LS1s out there which have gone over 250k without a rebuild.

Some of them do have issues with piston slap and oil consumption mind you, but that doesn't seem to hurt their longevity, it's just more annoying than anything. Luckily the LS1 in my Corvette has neither of those issues. Hopefully I will be just as lucky when I eventually get an LS2 Corvette (in 2008-2009)

For 2008, they are coming out with an LS3, it's going to be 6.2L and make roughly 435hp. Like it's predecessors, it'll still manage to get over 30 MPG highway in the Corvette (or more, if it gets the rumored cylinder shutdown technology finally)

 

[Win]

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I really like the Corvette's LSx series of engines a lot (LS1, LS2, LS6, LS7) For a high performance engine they are very reliable, .....

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I would concur with that.

I have been fortunate enough to own some very fine and expensive engines, but I think the GM Powertrain LS1 in my GTO is hands down the best. It's compact, lightweight, and very powerful.

 

[Patman]

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I really like the Corvette's LSx series of engines a lot (LS1, LS2, LS6, LS7) For a high performance engine they are very reliable, .....

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I would concur with that.

I have been fortunate enough to own some very fine and expensive engines, but I think the GM Powertrain LS1 in my GTO is hands down the best. It's compact, lightweight, and very powerful.

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That's another good point, these engines are definitely compact and lightweight for a V8. The LS7 in the new Z06 is still a small block, but yet it's 7.0L in displacement. And the fact that these engines are aluminum block/heads makes them a lot lighter than the big blocks of the past. These engines are good candidates for swaps into other cars in fact. There are a number of guys rolling around with LS1s in the last generation of Mazda RX7s actually!

 

[Ray H]

Yugo.

 

[boxcartommie22]

lol

 

[GMBoy]

My best and favorite engines that I STILL own and operate:

Jeep 258 (4.2L) in my trust 78 CJ7
Jeep 4.0L in my 2000 Cherokee Limited
Buick 3.8SFI Turbo in my 87 Grand National
LT-1 V8 in my 94 Corvette

The above engines have not been any trouble to me and I consider them stout bullet-proof designs. The only troubles I can report are a rear main leak in the 4.0 and the Opti-Spark in the LT-1.

My current new Sierra Denali pickup has the 6.0L 345hp engine and seems to be a really nice engine so far at 10,000 miles BUT the gas milages is so so and I had to replace the water pump at 6,000 miles due to leak at the coupling.

If I had to pick one best engine (that is in my experiences) I'd go with the Jeep 4.0L. What a torquey and fun to drive little motor!

 

[JHZR2]

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The LS7 in the new Z06 is still a small block, but yet it's 7.0L in displacement. And the fact that these engines are aluminum block/heads makes them a lot lighter than the big blocks of the past.

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What a jewel... my next vehicle purchase will likely be a Z06... I saw two of them at a rest stop, and the owners were nice enough to give a detailed show of their cars... drool...

JMH

 

[obbop]

"both designated 4.9L and for sure 5.0 look much better on the fender of a Mustang than would 4.9."

She's real fine my four-point-nine

La la la la.

Yep

 

[doubleshockpower]

Mercury 'Classic 50' outboards

Tecumseh 5hp 'snow king'

Honda 4 cylinders, especially the 2.4..whoa!

 

[doubleshockpower]

Any feedback on Honda's first street turbo in the Acura?

 

[Russell]

BMW engines, especially the M30 and m50m52 6 cylinder in-line engines. Run forever, powerful and economical.

 

[outersquare]

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Any feedback on Honda's first street turbo in the Acura?

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engine hasn't been out long enough. Drives ok, very little turbo lag.

engine itself is a k series, same family as accord, crv, civic si, rsx, tsx engines.

you can visit k20a.org if you are interested in technical aspects of k series builds.

some guy there squeezed 650 WHP out of a stock CRV shortblock, stock rsx-s head before it broke.

 

[g20ooh]

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Most Toytoa owners will admit to the short comeings of a few designs with out any hesitation or fuss [ quote ] .