What's your Favorite Automobile Engine?

[SnakeOil]

Name the engine and manufacturer, and tell us why you like it.

I nominate 2 engines:


Jeep/AMC 4.0L Inline-6

Super reliable, cheap to repair and maintain. Powerful for it's time period. Easy enough to work on without being a full fledged mechanic. And no special tools required.


Honda 1.6L Inline-4 (B-Series)

Overbuilt for what it is. High reving 10,000+ rpm operation. Will run forever as long as you change the timing belt when it's due and don't over tune it.

 

[Nyquist]

GM's 3.8L and the LZ4 3.5L are two of my favorites that I have had plenty of drive time in. My fiance's Ecotec 2.2L seems pretty good so far too.

 

[simple_gifts]

ford 300in^3 I6; commercial grade engine in a regular guy's vehicle.

 

[hate2work]

Here's a couple for you...

Ford 300 CID inline 6. Used in UPS trucks for years.

Toyota 22R and 22RE 4 cyl. Wonderful, easy to work on, super dependable engines.

 

[TallPaul]

Ford 4.9L I6 because it is a beast of a big block inline six.

Ford 3.0L Vulcan pushrod V6 because it is bulletproof.

There are many others, most pushrod engines rate well in my book.

 

[Audi Junkie]

http://www.leftlanenews.com/audi-tt-rs.html

"The TT RS will use a turbocharged 2.5-liter in-line five-cylinder motor, Audi’s first five-cylinder engine in ten years. Despite its modest displacement, the five-cylinder mill will crank out 340 horsepower and 330 lb-ft of torque, which should translate into a 0-60 time of about 4.5 seconds."

 

[Quest]

Honda CVCC designs,
Honda VTEC/i-VTEC
Mazda Wankels
Mazda B-series block (not da pickup)
Mitsu 4G63
Toyota 4A-GE

 

[Fester]

Ford 302/5.0L one of the finest American motors ever, I had one and the mustang fell apart, the motor remained.

Jeep 4.0L I have one, and its sad that I cant buy a new jeep with it.
It's pure torque, mine is 16 years old, and its had a water pump and thermostat thats all, and I never replaced the antifreeze in the first 10 years, so it's my fault.

 

[HawkeyeScott]

Since the Jeep 4.0L was already taken, I say the Chevy 350 (a classic) and the Ford 4.6L (good in a lot of applications, long running).

 

[aquariuscsm]

GM 3800 and anything Nissan.

 

[d00df00d]

The engine from the TVR Speed 12/Cerbera Speed 12. 7.7L, naturally aspirated V-12 with individual throttle bodies.

As the story goes, the initial version it broke the main shaft of TVR's 1000+ hp engine dyno at 5700 RPM, with about 1800 to go before fuel cut and the power still climbing. The final version was detuned to 800 hp and 650 lb-ft -- that's >100 hp/L from a 7.7L engine, naturally aspirated, on pump gas, in the mid-to-late 90s. Racing versions had to run restrictors that kept power down to about 670 hp, but apparently the torque delivery was so vicious that even they had trouble staying on the track.

It actually made the Cerbera Speed 12 a bad car in the end. TVR insisted on RWD, but the whole car only weighed 2400 lbs and could only accommodate 285-section rear tires. And apparently, the engine required a sump heater that took 20 minutes to prepare the oil for a cold start.

For the longest time, TVR used to refuse to include ABS, traction control, and even bumpers and inertial reel seatbelts on their cars. The most they did for you when you bought their >300 bhp-per-ton cars was to give you a long-travel gas pedal. They operated on the premise that if you're not man enough to drive their cars without crashing, you shouldn't buy one. I love this engine because it's the only thing of which I'm aware that actually made them feel like they had gone too far.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BuhOMmhEIQ

 

[SnakeOil]

I'm going to have to contest the Ford Vulcan 3.0L V6.

I have NEVER had one NOT have head gasket issues. Purchased new or otherwise.

 

[labman]

That HO Quad 4 in my 1992 Grand Am. That thing could run away and hide from any 6 or 8 I ever had and get much better millage too. Maybe the Ecotec in my Cavalier is quieter and gets even better millage, but it won't lay rubber in third gear.

 

[Chris142]

I had a 1978 Toyota pickup when I was in Hiskool and I just couldn't kill it. I was into drag racing and I would wind that 20R up to 7800 rpm at the starting line!

I got it with 90K on it, I put another 100K on it before I sold it. The guy that bought it said it dropped a valve @312K.

It ran great, beat V8's all night and still made 300k.

The 345 in my Scout was a torque monster. It's in it's 3rd Scout body now and still running. Infact a few weeks ago the guy that has it in his Scout called to tell me that it twisted the pinon gear right off one night.

Jeep 4.0L is 3rd.

 

[rg200amp]

I really like the Ford Modulars, The jeep 4.0, but one I am really fond of is the one in my LS.
The Jaguar AJ-V8 3.9L V8. It is a very small, high compression V8 that puts out a nice 280 Horsepower and still gets 25+ MPG on the highway. That and it has a great growl under WOT.

 

[Ibrahim]

Audi/VW 1.8L/2.0L Turbo Engine
Chevrolet Cobalt "SS" Turbo Engine
Nissan 350Z/Infiniti G35/G37 Coupe Engine
Toyota 1.8L VVTI
Mercedes Benz C230 (Discontinued) 1.8L Turbo Engine

MY FAVS!

 

[MarkC]

Another vote for the Jeep 4.0.

 

[scudpilot]

1. Chevy LS-6 454/450hp in a 70' Chevelle SS 550lb.ft. torque
2.Chevy 409/425Horse
3.Chevy L72 427/425 Horse
4.Pontiac 389 Tri Power. 360Horse/with 3x2's

In that order for me!! Owned #1 and it was an absolute beast. Wish I still owned it. It would be worth at least $100,000.

 

[nthach]

In no order:
Toyota UZ/UR series V8s and JZ/M/MZ/GR series 6s
Honda J3x series V6s
The Ford Modulars and the Power Stroke
GM's 5.3/6.0L truck V8s, honorable mention to the 350/383/LSx

 

[peterdaniel]

Toyota 20R motor. All the reliability of the 22R with double roller timing chain and none of the head gasket issues.

Nissan KA24E. A bulletproof motor if there ever was one. Beat on it, abuse it and try to kill it.. If my friend couldn't do it, I seriously doubt you could..

Chrysler Slant 6. A classic motor, smooth, and has bearings the width of your palm. Another bulletproof motor

Renesis Mazda Rotary. Where else can you find a motor that actually has its RPM redline limited by its ancillary components.. 9K redline?? Nah.... actual is more like 13K and it LOVES to redline all day long.. 180 hp per liter makes it the most efficient motor insofar as power to size ratio. Just 3 moving parts and its all assembled by hand.


VW aircooled 1300/1500 single port. Perhaps one of the worlds most durable motors.. So simple you wonder how it could actually still run when we have all this junk on todays motor.

Toyota 3.4L V6.. a sweetheart of an engine.. smooth and at 250K miles, it runs like new.. Its why Toyotas command what they do.

Mazda 2.3L a very nice potent engine with excellent economy and it can be built into a rocket as seen in the mazdaspeed3 and mazdaspeed6.