the best V-6 engines ever?

[Scimmia]

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Looks like the GM 3.8 V6 takes the cake. A lot of the engines people are naming haven't even been around for 10 years... where's the reliability test in that? Hasn't the 3.8 been around for 20 years now, since the 87 Buick GN? Or was the GN out a little sooner?

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It's been around for well over 20 years as a 3.8(87 was actually the LAST year for the GN, I think 82 was the first?), but it's been around in various forms even longer than that, since the early 60s or late 50s, IIRC.

 

[ekpolk]

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Looks like the GM 3.8 V6 takes the cake. A lot of the engines people are naming haven't even been around for 10 years... where's the reliability test in that? Hasn't the 3.8 been around for 20 years now, since the 87 Buick GN? Or was the GN out a little sooner?

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It's been around for well over 20 years as a 3.8(87 was actually the LAST year for the GN, I think 82 was the first?), but it's been around in various forms even longer than that, since the early 60s or late 50s, IIRC.

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Actually, the original production ancestor of what is today known as GM's 3800 Series III engine went into service in 1961!!! That would be 46 years ago. I know that off the top of my head, since I was also "initially produced" in 1961. It was a cast iron off-shoot from, of all things, an experimental all-aluminum V-8 from the late 50s (hence the non-optimum 90 degree cylinder bank angle).

Again, I owned a car with the supercharged version of the 3.8L. I see this engine as a very close contender, but not a winner, because GM has not, IMO, developed it as well or as far as they should have, especially given how long it has been around. Consider: at present, the S/C version of this 3.8L engine is good for ~260 hp and 280 ft-lb of torque; the N/A version is ~200 and 240 respectively. By contrast, the Toyota 2GR which I nominated, normally aspirated and with 0.3L less displacement, is making ~270 hp and ~250 ft-lb of torque. Subjectively, the 2GR sounds and feels smoother, especially at high rpms, than the 3800.

Without question, the GM 3800 is an absolutely superior engine, compared to most. Time is finally, however, leaving it behind. New ones installed in 2007 Buicks will undoubtedly give their owners many, many years and miles of trouble free, happy service. But, at least in my opinion, both the Nissan VQ and the 2GR V-6s have surpassed the 3800.

 

[ShiningArcanine]

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the biggest of the 60's GMC v6 was a 478ci monster!

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Here is a web page that has all the big block GM V6 engines, including the ..... 478 cid.

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I think it is absolutely criminal that a 7.8L gasoline engine should only produce 170hp!!!

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It is not that bad. Back then, horsepower measurement standards were such that if a vehicle with an engine that was made back then was tested today, it would give much lower horsepower. For example, my 1995 Toyota Avalon was rated to output 192 horsepower when it was made, but with the new horsepower testing standards that were enacted about a year ago, it only produces 170 horsepower. So, the 7.8L V8 that has you concerned does not output 170 horsepower; heck, it probably does not even reach 150 horsepower.