what is the best v6 ever made?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Originally Posted By: Spazdog
Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
Originally Posted By: G-MAN
Originally Posted By: CROWNVIC4LIFE


I agree..My friend had a 72 Dart with the slant 6 and could not kill it.


The story behind how the Slant Six came to be is interesting.

Back on topic, when history finally answers this question, I believe the Chrysler Pentastar V6 will be on top.


No. Will always be the Buick 3800. Powerful, economical (30MPG highway in 2-ton cars!), smooth, silent, and clean (ULEV), not to mention bulletproof, it saw use in everything from luxury cars, to economy cars, to Jeeps (as the Dauntless 225), to a pair of absolute rocket-ship muscle cars (the GNX and Turbo Trans Am).


Powerful?
Certainly on the GNX. But the current Camry V6 falls right between the Omni GLHS and the GNX in the 1/4 mile. (stock of course)


And the G-body Regal is a 2-ton car! (My wife has one.)

Quote:
Drive an early '80s Buick Electra with the 4.1 variant and a 4bbl and it feels at least as powerful as the Olds 307, but then drive a Maxima with a VG30 or Cressida with a 5M I6 and all the sudden the 4.1 4bbl V6 feels completely gutless. Even BMW's 528e feels stronger and it's out of steam around 4000 rpm. (to be fair, the eta gets a lot better fuel economy)


Hang a land yacht on one of those Maxima motors...see how well that works! You're comparing a 4500+lb car (my Olds wagon was 4650 on the scale at work) to cars an easy 1000lbs lighter!

Quote:
So we go to the 3800 series. If you are going after the smaller Chrysler 3.5, you had better have the supercharged 3800. Anything less and the 250 hp Chrysler will run away.


Direct comparison: 3.5 Concorde and N/A 3800 Grand Prix: from a stop to about 75MPH, they were even. Bonus: in about 800 miles (some of them on the highway at 85MPH), the GP got a bit more than 29MPG! (And unlike the 3.5, it calls for 87 octane.)

Quote:
Compared to GM's own D/I 3.6? I doubt I would use the term "powerful" to describe the 3800.


They made 300HP right off the showroom floor...probably more in the GNX and TTA.

Quote:
I'll give the 3800 credit for it's longevity and overlook several years of car fires on 3800 equipped vehicles and gasket woes. Credit where credit is due to the GNX for it's power at that time in history. But overall I wouldn't class the 3800 as "powerful".


Then you have no clue.
 
Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
Originally Posted By: Spazdog


Powerful?
Certainly on the GNX. But the current Camry V6 falls right between the Omni GLHS and the GNX in the 1/4 mile. (stock of course)


And the G-body Regal is a 2-ton car! (My wife has one.)

Quote:
Drive an early '80s Buick Electra with the 4.1 variant and a 4bbl and it feels at least as powerful as the Olds 307, but then drive a Maxima with a VG30 or Cressida with a 5M I6 and all the sudden the 4.1 4bbl V6 feels completely gutless. Even BMW's 528e feels stronger and it's out of steam around 4000 rpm. (to be fair, the eta gets a lot better fuel economy)


Hang a land yacht on one of those Maxima motors...see how well that works! You're comparing a 4500+lb car (my Olds wagon was 4650 on the scale at work) to cars an easy 1000lbs lighter!

Quote:
So we go to the 3800 series. If you are going after the smaller Chrysler 3.5, you had better have the supercharged 3800. Anything less and the 250 hp Chrysler will run away.


Direct comparison: 3.5 Concorde and N/A 3800 Grand Prix: from a stop to about 75MPH, they were even. Bonus: in about 800 miles (some of them on the highway at 85MPH), the GP got a bit more than 29MPG! (And unlike the 3.5, it calls for 87 octane.)

Quote:
Compared to GM's own D/I 3.6? I doubt I would use the term "powerful" to describe the 3800.


They made 300HP right off the showroom floor...probably more in the GNX and TTA.

Quote:
I'll give the 3800 credit for it's longevity and overlook several years of car fires on 3800 equipped vehicles and gasket woes. Credit where credit is due to the GNX for it's power at that time in history. But overall I wouldn't class the 3800 as "powerful".


Then you have no clue.


What is powerful then?

My Mazda6 gives up 800ccs to the 3800. I could run with a friend's 2000 Camaro and will flat outaccelerate a coworker's 2004 Grand Prix GT. The 3.5 V6 in the Altima will outrun the Camaro.

The 4.1 4bbl was just an example of something I could relate to a car that I owned. An '83 98 Regency. The 2bbl Cutlass Supreme 3.8 probably weighs in near the Cressida and it won't fare much better.

The second time the rental agency was going to give me an "upgrade" to a Park Avenue, I asked them if they could downgrade me to another car or find me a G6. I never could get the magical 30mpg freeway out of the Park Avenue rentals.

If GM were to turbocharge the D/I 3.6, it would probably be well over 400 hp.

I'm just saying that the lion's share of the 231/3800s were not that special. V8s with two cylinders cut off. There are exceptions of course, but I'm just not that impressed with the regular models. Don't take it personally. I'm not that impressed with any of the 90° V6es. Of them, the 3800 is arguably better than the Magnum 3.9 and Ford Essex.
 
Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
GM 3800 and Nissan VG.


Why VG over VQ, i've heard of nothing making the VG that much better other then being in the 300ZX-TT. And that motor seems to be a pain to wrench on due to clearance. Its one of those SHOEHORNED motors, like the W8 in a B5 or 6 Passat.
 
Originally Posted By: Spazdog
Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
Originally Posted By: Spazdog


Powerful?
Certainly on the GNX. But the current Camry V6 falls right between the Omni GLHS and the GNX in the 1/4 mile. (stock of course)


And the G-body Regal is a 2-ton car! (My wife has one.)

Quote:
Drive an early '80s Buick Electra with the 4.1 variant and a 4bbl and it feels at least as powerful as the Olds 307, but then drive a Maxima with a VG30 or Cressida with a 5M I6 and all the sudden the 4.1 4bbl V6 feels completely gutless. Even BMW's 528e feels stronger and it's out of steam around 4000 rpm. (to be fair, the eta gets a lot better fuel economy)


Hang a land yacht on one of those Maxima motors...see how well that works! You're comparing a 4500+lb car (my Olds wagon was 4650 on the scale at work) to cars an easy 1000lbs lighter!

Quote:
So we go to the 3800 series. If you are going after the smaller Chrysler 3.5, you had better have the supercharged 3800. Anything less and the 250 hp Chrysler will run away.


Direct comparison: 3.5 Concorde and N/A 3800 Grand Prix: from a stop to about 75MPH, they were even. Bonus: in about 800 miles (some of them on the highway at 85MPH), the GP got a bit more than 29MPG! (And unlike the 3.5, it calls for 87 octane.)

Quote:
Compared to GM's own D/I 3.6? I doubt I would use the term "powerful" to describe the 3800.


They made 300HP right off the showroom floor...probably more in the GNX and TTA.

Quote:
I'll give the 3800 credit for it's longevity and overlook several years of car fires on 3800 equipped vehicles and gasket woes. Credit where credit is due to the GNX for it's power at that time in history. But overall I wouldn't class the 3800 as "powerful".


Then you have no clue.


What is powerful then?

My Mazda6 gives up 800ccs to the 3800. I could run with a friend's 2000 Camaro and will flat outaccelerate a coworker's 2004 Grand Prix GT. The 3.5 V6 in the Altima will outrun the Camaro.

The 4.1 4bbl was just an example of something I could relate to a car that I owned. An '83 98 Regency. The 2bbl Cutlass Supreme 3.8 probably weighs in near the Cressida and it won't fare much better.

If GM were to turbocharge the D/I 3.6, it would probably be well over 400 hp.

I'm just saying that the lion's share of the 231/3800s were not that special. V8s with two cylinders cut off. There are exceptions of course, but I'm just not that impressed with the regular models. Don't take it personally. I'm not that impressed with any of the 90° V6es. Of them, the 3800 is arguably better than the Magnum 3.9 and Ford Essex.


I hope you are talking 3800 Camaro.
 
Originally Posted By: ls1mike
Originally Posted By: Spazdog
Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
Originally Posted By: Spazdog


Powerful?
Certainly on the GNX. But the current Camry V6 falls right between the Omni GLHS and the GNX in the 1/4 mile. (stock of course)


And the G-body Regal is a 2-ton car! (My wife has one.)

Quote:
Drive an early '80s Buick Electra with the 4.1 variant and a 4bbl and it feels at least as powerful as the Olds 307, but then drive a Maxima with a VG30 or Cressida with a 5M I6 and all the sudden the 4.1 4bbl V6 feels completely gutless. Even BMW's 528e feels stronger and it's out of steam around 4000 rpm. (to be fair, the eta gets a lot better fuel economy)


Hang a land yacht on one of those Maxima motors...see how well that works! You're comparing a 4500+lb car (my Olds wagon was 4650 on the scale at work) to cars an easy 1000lbs lighter!

Quote:
So we go to the 3800 series. If you are going after the smaller Chrysler 3.5, you had better have the supercharged 3800. Anything less and the 250 hp Chrysler will run away.


Direct comparison: 3.5 Concorde and N/A 3800 Grand Prix: from a stop to about 75MPH, they were even. Bonus: in about 800 miles (some of them on the highway at 85MPH), the GP got a bit more than 29MPG! (And unlike the 3.5, it calls for 87 octane.)

Quote:
Compared to GM's own D/I 3.6? I doubt I would use the term "powerful" to describe the 3800.


They made 300HP right off the showroom floor...probably more in the GNX and TTA.

Quote:
I'll give the 3800 credit for it's longevity and overlook several years of car fires on 3800 equipped vehicles and gasket woes. Credit where credit is due to the GNX for it's power at that time in history. But overall I wouldn't class the 3800 as "powerful".


Then you have no clue.


What is powerful then?

My Mazda6 gives up 800ccs to the 3800. I could run with a friend's 2000 Camaro and will flat outaccelerate a coworker's 2004 Grand Prix GT. The 3.5 V6 in the Altima will outrun the Camaro.

The 4.1 4bbl was just an example of something I could relate to a car that I owned. An '83 98 Regency. The 2bbl Cutlass Supreme 3.8 probably weighs in near the Cressida and it won't fare much better.

If GM were to turbocharge the D/I 3.6, it would probably be well over 400 hp.

I'm just saying that the lion's share of the 231/3800s were not that special. V8s with two cylinders cut off. There are exceptions of course, but I'm just not that impressed with the regular models. Don't take it personally. I'm not that impressed with any of the 90° V6es. Of them, the 3800 is arguably better than the Magnum 3.9 and Ford Essex.


I hope you are talking 3800 Camaro.

Most definitely. I could kill an earlier 3400 Camaro and would be slaughtered by an LS1
 
Hyundai Lambda 3.3 ...... lol. It has been good to me.

Overall I'd day GM 3800. Managed a fleet of lumina cargo vans years ago and everything else broke on them except the engines.
Sold them at auction and still see a few around town every now and then. They have to be pushing 400k miles by now.
 
It's a tossup. V-6 I'd say either the APB From the 97-2003 Audi s4 or VR38DETT FROM the new skyline. Inline 6, hmm I'd go with RB26DETT, N54/55, or 2jzgte.
 
Nissan VG and VQ30.

The VG simply because they are bomb proof engines, and the VQ because not only are they bomb proof, but they are incredibly smooth and good performing engines.

The VQ30 is hard to not like, there have been a few in my family, they are gems, no doubt about it. I have only owned VQ35's, but for longevity and overall ownership experience the VQ30 dominates. Honestly for the era the VQ30 was actually out and in production it was the best V6 engine in its class by an enormous margin.
 
Originally Posted By: SLCraig
Nissan VG and VQ30.

The VG simply because they are bomb proof engines, and the VQ because not only are they bomb proof, but they are incredibly smooth and good performing engines.

The VQ30 is hard to not like, there have been a few in my family, they are gems, no doubt about it. I have only owned VQ35's, but for longevity and overall ownership experience the VQ30 dominates. Honestly for the era the VQ30 was actually out and in production it was the best V6 engine in its class by an enormous margin.


Nissan Maximas, right? Which year was best? (Year 2000?)
 
In my opinion, Honda's J-series and Nissans VQ-series engines are among the best out there. I'll add Chrysler's Pentastar engines to the list once they rack up hundreds of thousands of miles. Not saying that they won't; there's simply not a long history of these engines yet. But they meet the other metrics for being one of the best V-6 engines ever made.
 
Originally Posted By: GearheadTool
Originally Posted By: SLCraig
Nissan VG and VQ30.

The VG simply because they are bomb proof engines, and the VQ because not only are they bomb proof, but they are incredibly smooth and good performing engines.

The VQ30 is hard to not like, there have been a few in my family, they are gems, no doubt about it. I have only owned VQ35's, but for longevity and overall ownership experience the VQ30 dominates. Honestly for the era the VQ30 was actually out and in production it was the best V6 engine in its class by an enormous margin.


Nissan Maximas, right? Which year was best? (Year 2000?)


Yeah, Maximas. 95-99 VQ30DE, 00-01 VQ30DE-K
Outputs changed a bit in those years, but they were all the same smooth as glass VQ30.
I like 4th gens myself (95-99) but I also really like 5th gens, especially the 2001 anniversary edition.
 
Originally Posted By: SLCraig
Originally Posted By: GearheadTool
Originally Posted By: SLCraig
Nissan VG and VQ30.

The VG simply because they are bomb proof engines, and the VQ because not only are they bomb proof, but they are incredibly smooth and good performing engines.

The VQ30 is hard to not like, there have been a few in my family, they are gems, no doubt about it. I have only owned VQ35's, but for longevity and overall ownership experience the VQ30 dominates. Honestly for the era the VQ30 was actually out and in production it was the best V6 engine in its class by an enormous margin.


Nissan Maximas, right? Which year was best? (Year 2000?)


Yeah, Maximas. 95-99 VQ30DE, 00-01 VQ30DE-K
Outputs changed a bit in those years, but they were all the same smooth as glass VQ30.
I like 4th gens myself (95-99) but I also really like 5th gens, especially the 2001 anniversary edition.


Ahh, as I suspected. I know the 2000 Maxima is supposed to be the "Fastest" Maxima; However, I saw a 1996 I really liked. And what do you think of the rebadge, the Infiniti I30 and I35?

Also, intrigued as to the VQ30DE-K.

This sounds like the engine in the 300ZX! At least the displacement was the same...

I only had a LA24E, so my Nissan experience doesn't count. And even that "Truck motor," I liked.
 
The amount of torque in the VQ's is awesome and they scream to redline when i had my vqed swapped sentra i had jim wolf cams i used to rev that [censored] to 7500 RPM i miss it, Till it tossed its cookies.
15.gif
 
Originally Posted By: GearheadTool
Originally Posted By: SLCraig
Originally Posted By: GearheadTool
Originally Posted By: SLCraig
Nissan VG and VQ30.

The VG simply because they are bomb proof engines, and the VQ because not only are they bomb proof, but they are incredibly smooth and good performing engines.

The VQ30 is hard to not like, there have been a few in my family, they are gems, no doubt about it. I have only owned VQ35's, but for longevity and overall ownership experience the VQ30 dominates. Honestly for the era the VQ30 was actually out and in production it was the best V6 engine in its class by an enormous margin.


Nissan Maximas, right? Which year was best? (Year 2000?)


Yeah, Maximas. 95-99 VQ30DE, 00-01 VQ30DE-K
Outputs changed a bit in those years, but they were all the same smooth as glass VQ30.
I like 4th gens myself (95-99) but I also really like 5th gens, especially the 2001 anniversary edition.


Ahh, as I suspected. I know the 2000 Maxima is supposed to be the "Fastest" Maxima; However, I saw a 1996 I really liked. And what do you think of the rebadge, the Infiniti I30 and I35?

Also, intrigued as to the VQ30DE-K.

This sounds like the engine in the 300ZX! At least the displacement was the same...

I only had a LA24E, so my Nissan experience doesn't count. And even that "Truck motor," I liked.


The 2000 generation would have been the fastest of the 3 liter's, but the 2002 with 6 speed manual is easily faster. Having driven both myself the 3.5L feels like you have 50 more HP under the hood (rated more like 30) but I still have much love for the slightly slower 3 liter.

I also really love the I30 and I35, I think the I35 is an exceptionally good looking car and in the end its just an outer skin and a few options that make it different than the Maxima. You could get the I35 until 2004, whereas the Maxima by then had changed body styles for 2004.
 
Originally Posted By: 97prizm
It's a tossup. V-6 I'd say either the APB From the 97-2003 Audi s4 or VR38DETT FROM the new skyline. Inline 6, hmm I'd go with RB26DETT, N54/55, or 2jzgte.


I like the way you think! But the APB was only up to mid MY 2002, then it was the BEL. They were about equal, I think.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

SammyChevelleTypeS3
NEW Vehicle Advice / Recommendations: Anyone? Subaru or Toyota? What says the gang?
3 4 5
Replies
84
Views
2K
mikeduf
Y
Filter Opinions? RP vs Amsoil - Worth using larger filter?
Replies
5
Views
1K
yashi
P
2025 Lexus RX 350 Loaner Review
Replies
13
Views
1K
raaizin
A
  • Locked
14 Honda J35 V6 3.5L 122k VCM Enabled - VRP 0W20 - 3500 miles approx - HIGH Chromium
Replies
16
Views
1K
dnewton3
B
Looking for the most experienced oil filter expert (or moderator) to answer one question.
6 7 8
Replies
146
Views
9K
garageman402
Back
Top Bottom