Your personal "thumbs up" engine?

[thunderfog]

Very subjective. Noted from the start.

But I was curious, and did some web searching on what was considered to be great (production) engines that may or may not have got the love they deserved. Maybe it's because they were in a terrible car and never got recognized for longevity because of that...or other reasons of the like. Now to me, I'm more looking at it from a durability standpoint as opposed to things like output or even efficiency, but feel free to add those to your equation. So, for example, two (three) that I would choose are:

1. Ford 4.9L I6. Total workhorse even if it seemed like it may have not have been enough for the F-150 back in the day. I have a friend that is one of those people that you can't say beats on their vehicles; they are just naturally hard on them. He couldn't kill it in 6 years of ownership, used, with the CEL on as long as I could remember.

2. Toyota 3.4L V6 from the Toyota Tacoma in the '98-'04 time frame (it may have gone earlier than that... don't know). You could weld the hood shut on that if it wasn't for oil changes. My personal favorite that I've driven.

2b. Gotta add the Nissan VQ40 from the 2nd gen. Xterra, but a touch too thirsty. Again, very reliable.

Any others?

 

[tstep]

Of all that I've owned, I'd say Chevy 4.3 V6 from 90s and 5.3 V8 from 00s along with the VW 1.6 Diesel NA from the 80s. Thinking about it now, I do not recall anything but plugs and oil changes over 200,000ish miles in the Chevys and SAE 30 every 3000 miles in the VW for 200,000is. Engines were solid reliable.

Many others have been very good over 200,000 mile runs, but alternators, waterpump, etc had to be changed along the way.

 

[eljefino]

Olds 3300 found in cieras. Torque monster, very fun.

 

[spasm3]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
Olds 3300 found in cieras. Torque monster, very fun.


I second that, they seem to last a long time. They did'nt make them that many years like the 3.8 so you don't hear about them, but they last. I have a glass back on mine and shorter tires, its pretty quick from 30 to 100mph.

 

[mattwithcats]

Chevy straight six,
Made from 1929 to 1990.

Also Dodge/Chrysler slant six

Smooth, long running, and durable...

 

[JDW]

Used to have a friend in the mid 80s that had a Dodge Slant 6 in his truck. That thing would not hardy pull itself out of its on way. Other friend had a FORD 300 CI 6 that would blow it away just by cranking

lol

 

[mattwithcats]

Old style Chrysler Hemi from the 60's

Monster engine....

 

[Russ300H]

There are just so many. Chrysler Hemi in the early days. Later slant 6, 318 383 426 and 440. Jeep 4.0. Ford 300 - 6 and the newer 4.6. GM the later 2nd gen Olds and Buick v8's. The new 4.8, 5.3 and 6.0 Chevy/GMC v-8's

 

[Chris Meutsch]

Honda 2.4L since 2002.

 

[bullwinkle]

Cummins B series, #1 in light duty pickups (& elsewhere) since 1989!

 

[topbliss]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
Olds 3300 found in cieras. Torque monster, very fun.


I had a 90 Ciera XC with a 3300 Buick motor. It was a beast. Ran like new never one issue.. ever in 140k miles. One of the lowest warranty issued motors GM ever made too told to me by a GM power train engineer from back in that era.

 

[Kira]

Historically based answer. I don't work on 'em or know 'em as well as you guys.

Both Chrysler 383's in the family 1966 & 1970.
The 8-RC (and 20-R) and the 2-TC in our Toyotas were solid
The 5 cylinder Volvo engines (2.435L) I've owned were GREAT. NOTE TO VOLVO RE: DISCONTINUANCE DUMB-DUMB-DUMB-DUMB-DUMB.
My 250 cu. in. Chevy 6 in a 1976 Nova ran like a watch.
The 4 Saab 2.3L 4 cyl. we've had were/are great. Those were OTHER PEOPLE'S SLUDGE ENGINES not ours (BITOG).
My brother's 3.1L GM V-6 (1991 Lumina) was "friction free"-that plain Jane was FAST and SMOOTH.
His 2.4L 4 cyl. Volvo (red engine) 1993 was pokey but solid.
Both 300 cu. in. Ford 6 1bbls. (1970 Supervan & 1976 E-100) were super. Kira

 

[Bud]

In 1964 I got my first car a 63 Plymouth Valiant with the Slant 6.
I list this one because as a 16 year old I beat the living daylights out of it and the 3 speed push-button trans, and never had one problem with it.

 

[chad8]

93-97 1.6 or 1.8 corolla motor. I have had 4 of them. Never had to do much of anything.
lots of torque ,especially with manual trans.
329000 and still going
227000 sold it
234000 sold it
116000 and still going

 

[Mykl]

I don't think Chrysler's Hemi engines "never got the praise they deserved."

It's hard to come up with anything with the internet. Because it doesn't take much effort to find a group of people who are fans of any given power plant.

I'm going to nominate the Toyota 2GR-FE 3.5 V-6. It's smooth enough to put in a Lexus, cheap enough to put in a Camry, and powerful enough to be chosen by Lotus to put in their top sports car. When I was researching these to figure out if I wanted one I couldn't find any consistent issues, they seem to be as reliable as anything else ever built, the main complaints had to do with the transmissions they were hooked up to.

There are a lot of engines I would nominate for similar reasons, but the most obvious ones are American (Ford 4.6/5.0, Chrysler Hemi, GM LSX) that are consistently praised by pretty much everybody. The Toyota is a great one that doesn't get half the praise, which probably has everything to do with Toyota not putting it in a popular performance coupe (like the Mustang, Challenger, or Camaro); it's really hard to get excited about a Camry.

 

[Zaedock]

Jeep 2.5L

Durable, nice low end torque, and simple EFI.

 

[DBMaster]

Honda 2.0L 12V (A20 series). Honda's CVCC is basically the same thing as "hemi" without the cache. This was the last Accord engine with a cast iron block. Tinkerers had to be creative since there has been relatively little aftermarket performance support. There are guys out there boosting these engines at 200,000+ miles with no internal modification.

This is one of the truly bulletproof engines I have owned.

 

[Phishin]

4 Cylinder: Nissan KA24DE. 16 Valve DOHC.
Smooth, powerful, reliable, and able to handle big power add on's.

6 Cylinder: Jeep 4.0
Powerful, simple to work on, just shy away from a few years, and these engines remind me of a "tractor" engine. Tough.

8 Cylinder: Hard to beat a Chevy 350. This engine can and will do it all. Super simple, super reliable. Runs for a LONG time.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

I had over 60 cars: Dodge/Plymouth fury with a 90-deg 318V8 and 3 on the tree (in the 70's); the 2.8L carb'd( Vari-Jet) 60-deg V6 in my '81 Chevy S10 SB/WT with a 4speed MT; The 2.5L V6 in a '95 Contour/Mondeo 5speed MT, The 60-degree V8 Yamaha/ford in a SHO (wrong car and trans but would be the right engine for a small SVO mustang!). Of course SB chevy with some cam and head work and long tube headers - but they are a bit crude. FAV chassis was an early X-11 Citation stick car - when we were hard up for any performance coming out of the late 70's detuned smog era.

I don't think I had a really nice 4cylinder - I'll have to think harder if there was really a nice one.... ... The 2azfe was good in the 05 rav with a stick until the tappets/followers wore out early at 55K - the real reason I joined this forum

Ohh, My fathers 83 Porsche 944 had a nice running 4 IIRC.

 

[Zaedock]

Most of the engines listed have received plenty of love.