What size engine?
 

Its a personal preference thing to many, for plenty different reasons. I was just curious what the general consensus was here.

What do you want under your hood, in the vehicle you drive daily? V8 torque, 4 cylinder revs, 6 cylinder medium, 4 cylinder gas mileage? I realize some people could care less about being fast....

I would like to say I prefer a V8, having always loved domestic muscle cars, but I've found myself wanting turbo 6's here lately. I've got a Grand National and a Typhoon, and wouldn't mind picking up a nice Supra. Its just something about them. You can make plenty top end power thanks to the turbo, but still have some low end since you're not dealing with the small displacement of a 4 cylinder. And to top it off you can still manage 20+ MPG.

What do you want under the hood?

-Will

I like I4s 2.5L or smaller so long as they have forced induction, preferably a turbo. Naturally aspirated cars are boring. They manage to be really perfect for smaller cars, and they still get pretty decent mileage. In my opinion, they're the most efficient way to enjoy driving a car. Subaru boxer engines have impressed me a lot, as they remind me a lot of Porsche I6s. Can you imagine pushing 250 hp and still managing to get 28 mpg if you don't drive your car like a track car? Good deal.

I wish my NSX was a V8 with another 100 horsepower. It's not that I'm unhappy with what it has, but I think it would have been an even better car with more grunt.

n/a 4-bangers cars can be fun...but you gotta rev the snot outta them to do it.

I prefer turbo'd 4 bangers around 2 litres. Large enough to make good power, small enough to have a high redline.

The new WRX STI info has been released. 304 hp from a 16v 2.0L boxer engine with a twin-scroll turbo mated to a 6-speed manual. Still one of the ugliest cars ever built. Why can't Subaru make good looking cars?

http://www.autoblog.com/2007/10/09/o...preza-wrx-sti/

1.5L 4-cyl is perfect for my daily.

Keep in mind, thats the JDM version, the US has the 2.5L.

"There is no replacement for discplacement."

That being said, I no longer have a V8 :(
Regular RX8 (1.3L rotary) and MazdaSpeed 3 (2.3L DISI Turbo 4)

But given the choice, I'll take a V8 (depending on which)

3L I5
6.9L V8

Diesel Power

Nice variety, and I've seen a coule answers that resemble the traits of another car I enjoy. I've got a 90 Talon, 4g63. Decent sized 4 with a turbo :)

-Will

I love my 06 wrx turbo 2.5 !

'94 Chevrolet S10 lowrider with a C5 Z06 in it.

My last 3 cars have been older I6 BMWs a 2.0, a 2.3 & the latest a 3.5, all manual gearboxes, all fun :)

The 3.5 gets reasonable economy on the highway but is horrible in the city, maybe it has something to do with the driver ;)

Cheers,
OMS

Personally I like all different kinds of engines. My choice of engine would be based on the particular vehicle. I have a jeep cherokee with the 4.0 I-6 that I wouldnt swap out for ANYTHING because that engine has nice torque, and is near bullet-proof. We have a Chrysler Town and Country with a small 3.3 V-6 and I am happy with it as well. Now I am looking for a classic Mustang to restore, and there is no way I would pick one that didnt come original with a 428 V-8!.... Guess it just depends on the vehicle.

It's not a Chevy lowrider, but my buddy has an RX-7, the '93 FD, but with a worked LS1 motor in it. That thing hauls ass ...weight is under 2800lbs and that V8 motor only weighs about 60lbs more than the original rotary, and with the motor sitting back a bit due to the custom subframe assembly the weight distribution is better than original, with the chassis maintaining its otherwise excellent handling characteristics on a road course and it'll run in the 10's at the drags.

Yesterday he and I were both at Pocono for a track day, he got second place in the time trial, I got third in my Supra. So as mentioned by the OP, a Supra is an awesome vehicle ...I have a perhaps biased opinion that the 4th gen "MkIV" is by far the best but they still cost more than many people are willing to pay for that old of a car.

I've always loved big American V8's but maybe just to be different, I ended up going down a different road as my buddies all got their muscle cars back in the late 1960's when we were all 17 to 20 years old. They got 440 R/T Chargers, Hemi GTX, Road Runners, Corvette's, GTO's, Chevelle's, etc. I got a '67 XKE Jag ...very smooth inline 6, 4.2L, great balance, under 2500lbs; we also built a stripped out drag car out of a HenryJ and used a 6cyl Chevy truck motor, home-made manifold with Rochester trips (carbs), headers, etc. ran H-gas and G-gas at the drags. As I got older now I have the Supra ...super smooth inline 6, 3L, twin sequential turbos until recently when I did some more mods with a higher flow single turbo; in track trim/boost like I drove yesterday (~24psi boost) it has well over 500rwhp and it's very responsive since it's a relatively small turbo compared to what most guys throw on Supras. The car has super build quality and is bullet proof even with the mods I have. I think it still looks very good especially considering it's a 1995 car.

Normally cruising down the highway at 80mph+, I'm out of boost and will get at least mid 20's mpg; at Pocono yesterday I burned up almost 20 gallons of racegas at over $8/gal.

Still getting mixed answers w00t....Now I'll post up what I've got lol. I've got a 70 mustang with a mild 302 and a 99 TransAm with a built 347 in it, currently going back together now with 2 hefty N2O kits, a 92 Typhoon, an 87 Grand National, a 99 Accord, and a 90 Talon TSi. So, I really mean it when I say I like a variety ;). I'm a big fan of tuning to be honest, because in many cases, a performance based vehicle, when tuned right, should still be able to pull decent MPG's and still be fun to drive :)

-Will

I'd never drive a V8. I don't like the weight.

I4 2.0s are fine for my daily driver, but a V6 would be (and is) nice, also.

I honestly have no idea how big my engine is. The car I picked was the size I wanted with useful storage capacity, AWD, 4 doors, and had good gas mileage. And when I drove it around, it had sufficient power for what I wanted.

A high tech 4 cyl for a daily driver and a low tech large horse v8 for the weekends works for me. I really like the vtech honda engines and if I could find/afford it my fun ride would would have a flathead v8.

Subaru?

That was my first guess.

Weight huh...what about the LS1...barely weighs more than a 1.3 liter rotary engine because it is all aluminum. Or how about the new M3s v8...it will be the lightest V8 ever.

Weight isnt always a problem, weight distribution is importantl.

V8s can often not only be more heavy, but require heavier support. Heaftier tranny, axel, etc.

The LS1 is an amazing engine.

Heavier parts to handle the added torque, but that it to be expected from any performance engine.

-Will

There's nothing like the sound of an Olds v8, loved the power of the 2 I had. Gave lots of thought to actually getting a Cutlass Cruiser as a daily driver about 6 or 7 years ago. I know how to do most of the work on those beasts, but the mpgs would have been hard to take. Took the opposite tact and now own a 99 Jetta TDI. 1.9L displacement, 48 mpg, and with very little work, just as much torque as a v8. I love running stop light to stop light with ricers and trucks, and merging on the highway is a blast. Dual mass flywheel weight means slower shifting, so outright racing won't happen, but from anything above a slow crawl my sleeper surprises a lot of people.168k and still running strong too, just like an Olds Rocket with soot.

diesels can be nice as well, almost forgot about em ;)

-Will

I'll take a V8 please. Yes they're inefficient, but I dont like having to wring the shit out of an engine to get it to move. I'll never drive a vehicle that doesnt have 8 cylinders, unless its diesel in which case Ill settle for 6.

I dont have a car, just a truck. Prolly never will have a car, its a welder thing. We all drive huge domestic trucks :lol:

Has anyone ever seen a CHevy Luv with a 350 in it? Omfg they're a hoot.

Yes very ugly. I still like the 2002 wrx look the best. It took along time to grow on me tho.

I am a I4 kind of guy. Turbo would make it nicer.

I've got a Pontiac Grand Prix GTP, a turbo-charged V-6. I've very happy with its performance, has a butt load of torque. And I can get 24+ mpg on the highway.

Pontiac Vibe - actually, I guess it has 5 doors. (My wife has the Subaru Legacy sedan, however, no you aren't far off.)

Wow, I didn't think anybody drove the Vibe.

That and that ugly ass Aztek.

Vibes aren't bad. They get decent mileage and have decent interior room.

Azteks, on the other hand, exist in defiance of god's will. They're a freak of nature. They took all the worst part of animals, like that one Twilight Zone episode, but instead of it ironically being man, it was a beast of the most hideous variety. It was a golem or grotesque monster. A hellion of pure evil and bad taste.

Retarded inbred-gone-abortion horror story domestic vehicles that give Americans a bad name:

Chevy Avalanche / Cadillac Escalade -> 8.1 L 325 hp V8
Pontiac Aztek / Buick Rendezvous -> 3.4 L V6 @ 4043 lbs

I'd rather have anal sex with an African black rhino than drive one of those.

I mean, seriously...

DON'T BUY THESE VEHICLES. KILL YOURSELF FIRST.

I'm so insulted by them simply existing in the same reality as me that I'm going NEAR another species in a sexual manner.

The first pair get like .8 MPG with their American Ignorance engines (gas'll never run out, n'yuck!).

The second pair have less balls (power-to-weight) than Lance Armstrong (putt-putt-putt-cough-oh-fuck-it).

Hatch / trunk isn't a door.

Did you turbo it? Because GTP's come with a roots style supercharger

-Will

Hondas on ITBs tbh :)

I love the feeling of revving a car really hard to get its potential.

BMW 535D
Honda Accord Type R
BMW m3 (e30) -> best car ever imo (not so much power, but race bred precision).
Renault 5 GT Turbo

All the kinda cars I'm into..

Sorry, I meant superchraged.

Oddly enough, in 1989, Pontiac teamed up with ASC/McLaren to build a turbocharged version of the Grand Prix, that they produced for two years.

2.0L Supercharged Ion Redline here. 245 horsepower and 29mpg if you can stay off the gas is not a bad combo. I am digging the subies lately, awd sounds like fun in the winters.

Oh, still nice. I got excited, was hoping you turbo'd it, was gonna ask for pics lol:thumbsup:


-Will

I drive a 2.4L 4-cylinder turbo Dodge Neon SRT-4. I test drove an LS2 GTO and I wasn't impressed. N/A V8s aren't as fun as turbo 4-cylinders if you ask me...they don't have the push-you-back effect that makes driving fast cars fun. The gas mileage sucks ass if you put out its 5.3 second 0 to 60 MPH often but if you drive it without using the turbo then the mileage is in the mid twenties.

If I didn't have a fast car, I would definitely go for a huge ass V8 though. Caprice Classics, Towncars, Crown Vics, etc. are my cup of tea when driving a car that is supposed to haul you around instead of slaughtering people at stop lights. :thumbsup:

I have a 1985 635csi 5 speed with the 3.5 big six, 18.6 MPG city
~25 highway :cool: Took it up to 140 MPH the other day. Can't wait to put a turbo in it :oogle:. It's just so smooth and fun to drive, not to mention elegant as hell.

I seem to remember an oldschool version (late 80's?) was turbocharged. Ran high 14's, which for back in that time was pretty damn quick.

That's the one I was thinking of! Googling it now :)

I'm into lightweight platforms stuffed with turbo 4 cyl mills. They're a lot of fun :thumbsup:

^ my neighbor across the street has a factory original turbocharged Firebird, which is why I happen to know a little about it. The 1980 Pontiac Firebird came out with a turbocharged 301ci V8 motor option.

The thing that pushes you back is torque....I'd think an LS2 has more than an SRT-4. Also, LS2 GTO's get like 27 MPG highway, and 21 in town, good friend of mine has one.

-Will

4.7L v8 here. It's an '04 Dodge Dakota 4x4.

My next vehicle (which won't be until the wheels fall off of this one) will probably be a diesel. Mostly for the longevity, and for tree-hugging environmentalist reasons (ability to run on renewable bio-diesel).

400 ft/lb tq and it doesn't push you back in your seat?

I'm a big fan of the Z32 TT engine. The 300ZX's were not the prettiest of the 90's japanese sports cars, but I find the twin turbo 300 to be one of the most street-friendly yet precise and powerful cars in the price range. At the time the engine was the hight of technology, and even today it's pretty hard to find a modern comparison. Great blend of low-RPM torque and revvy long legged horsies, with very little turbo lag.

I'm not a huge fan of fourbangers, but the Audi and VW 2.0T is an engine I have nothing but respect for. Definitely not a race car powerplant, but it does give you a great mix of economy and instant go that is sorely lacked in most entry level cars today.

I can't resist putting in a plug for the biggest ...as far as I know it's the biggest... and I'm waiting for Jay Leno to put one of these in a hot rod. How about 25,480 liters (1,556,002 cubic inches) so it's not a measly big block Chevy.

http://people.bath.ac.uk/ccsshb/12cyl/

The Wartsila-Sulzer RTA96-C turbocharged two-stroke diesel engine is the most powerful and most efficient prime-mover in the world today. The Aioi Works of Japan's Diesel United, Ltd built the first engines and is where some of these pictures were taken. It is available in 6 through 14 cylinder versions, all are inline engines. These engines were designed primarily for very large container ships. Ship owners like a single engine/single propeller design and the new generation of larger container ships needed a bigger engine to propel them.

The cylinder bore is just under 38" and the stroke is just over 98". Each cylinder displaces 111,143 cubic inches (1820 liters) and produces 7780 horsepower. Total displacement comes out to 1,556,002 cubic inches (25,480 liters) for the fourteen cylinder version.

Some facts on the 14 cylinder version:
Total engine weight: 2300 tons (The crankshaft alone weighs 300 tons.)
Length: 89 feet
Height: 44 feet
Maximum power: 108,920 hp at 102 rpm
Maximum torque: 5,608,312 lb/ft at 102rpm

To give a little perspective, here's the crankshaft:
http://people.bath.ac.uk/ccsshb/12cyl/rta96c_crank.jpg

While you ARE entitled to your own opinion, try and be a little more accurate on your data. Yes the 8.1 litre engine is not exactly fuel efficient, however it DOES get 19 MPG on the highway. not bad for such a large V-8.

Secondly, the common nomenclature for a car that is a hatchback (not truck, but actually vehicle access point from the rear) IS classified as a 5-door model. They started calling them by that name in the 70's to separate them from the sedan versions. But of course the common nomenclature of a "hatchback" became more common place.

touche :D

-Will

So what do I have, a 4.7L V-8 Dakota, a 360 V-8 in my avitar and a 258 inline 6 n/a in my AMC. The 6 in the AMC will soon be replaced by a 360 V-8

But I am w/ Tarzan on the boosted 6's. I had a Ranger back in high school that had the 4.0L V-6 w/ a Paxton supercharger. I think I had about 300 hp out of that little truck and loved whooping up on V-8 Mustang azz back in the early 90's.

What will my next truck be? A Dodge Ram w/ the 6.7 diesel b/c I love the torque.

Accurate data? I was being sarcastic. Data I did provide comes from GM.

...

You drive an Avalanche, huh? Good ride if you can afford the $100 fill-ups. :)

(joke)

1900cc diesel. (peugeot 405)

Just skimming through this I saw a quote for 19 MPG!

7.5 tonne Transit vans get better mileage than that!

V8's for me and in a light enough car you can mileage. I'd consider a turbo 2L 4 banger but only in a very light weight vehicle around 1500 lbs.

in the past I drove a '78 Olds Delta 88 V8 and a '79 Chrysler LeBaron V8. MOved quickly to a Chevette, Tercel (4cyls obviously) and then a Caravan (6 cyl).

I currently have a '97 Jetta GT (4 cyl) & a 2007 Rav4 (6 cyl) and can confidently say that the Rav4 has the most response, power (269 hp) and best gas consumption of all of these vehicles.

I can go around 130 on the highway and the tack is at 2100. And super quiet. I love it.

I also recently got an '07 RAV4 V6, like it a lot, and it surprised me how peppy it is. Before winter sets in I plan to take it to Atco Dragway to see what kind of et it can make ...high 14's is what I think they usually do.

I can not imagine driving anything under 8 cylinders. My daily is an '81 Corvette. Thinking of swapping the 350 small block for a 454 big block.

I'd say the weight isn't worth it....you should be able to get the power you want out of a well built 350 :)

-Will

i've owned cars with everything from n/a 4's up to small V8's. my favorite was an '02 WRX. that little turbo 2.0L was fast and the car stuck to the road like glue. the next would be the V6 in an '04 Accord. very smooth power for city driving and had some oomph when needed. got decent mileage too.
my least favorite was a n/a 4 in an old Escort. 0-60 in a week to 10 days.

I like a good old inline 6...like my 5.9 Cummins Turbo Diesel :cool: just dynoed at 457 HP/993 TQ :D...but then my alternate choice would be the old V-twin configuration...My Springer (Twin-Cam) dynoed at 104 HP/112 TQ :thumbsup:

Did you manage to take your Rav out to the Dragway?

-- I'm still loving mine.

Still loving mine, too. But no drag strip yet, now it'll have to wait until Spring.

I was reading posts on a Toyota forum, other RAV4 owners discussing their et's, and some were talking about experiencing a delay between stomping on the gas and the initial acceleration which was adversely effecting their 60 ft. times. Mine doesn't do that, it really jumps out of the hole when I stomp on it. How's yours in that regard?

damn, those turbo diesels are torque monsters to the max!

Nope. It was a fast car, yeah, but it most definitely didn't have the wow effect that forced induction yields.

I'm in the same boat as you. I've had to train myself to feather the throttle to avoid jackrabbit starts. My other car is a jetta GT, but it requires some fairly heavy stomping in comparison just to get it moving.

They must be having some unrelated problems. The speed that I "jump out of the hole" sometimes has me looking at the gas guage, but even in this regard I am constantly pleasantly surprised.

The recent snow (Friday 30 cm or 12 inches, today another dump that size) has shown that the traction and stability on the Rav4 is exceptional. Yup, still loving it. Plus, I had my MP3 player plugged in the other day, and had some 70's Prog (Focus) blasting on the JBL sound system. :thumbsup:

Love the 302 V8 in my Cougar.
Hate the 10-12 mpg in town I get with it. :grumpy:

I miss the beauty of the 4.0 I6 in my old Cherokee, that thing rocked whatever test you put it to.

The little 4 banger in my Tacoma hauls the truck around well enough but gets pretty poor mileage when I run it down the freeway to work. Looking to get something more fun and mileage friendly for the next daily driver. Either a '99 or so Subie with the 2.5 I think? Or like a '99 civic that I would most definitely have to turbo the crap out of. Any suggestions?

none.

i have a thing for rotary engines.

Care to explain why?


-Will

all my current rides are v8, ls 400, 67 ford pu,and my daily driver 93 Cobra mustang :) I'd pimp a turbo 4 tho, got a 41 dodge pu, and if I ever manage to get it together, I'd go for a srt4 engine with upgraded turbo, not much room in those enging bays!

my friend kris has a rx-7, and i was just amazed at the space under the hood. it looks as if you could add alot to beef up the performance.

thats all.

and plus, i love the noise it makes..sounds like a street bike on steroids.

go ahead..smash my opinions, im ready :p

LOL.

I love the noise they make, too. You can hear them easily from the pits, which is nice. Lets me know that somebody is running a rotary, so I've got plenty of time to tune while they clean up the iminent oildown :D

As big as a 7.0L Olds as small to a 1.8 turbo VW. it depends what kind of vehicle you are trying to move. Personally I prefer a smaller engine that likes to rev and returns better mileage.

My most fun vehicle only has 650cc's and it will get me to 60mph in 4 seconds flat and gets 50mpg. Although, it also only has 2 wheels so it's tough in the snow.:uhh:

The rotary is a neat design, but they just don't top regular engines IMHO, thats all....I'd love to have an RX-7 lol



ride there,

What kinda bike you got?

-Will

Just a Suzuki Vstrom 650.
Fun inexpensive bike that is kind of a jack of all trades. Great way to get around out of the city.
http://RideThere.smugmug.com/photos/...60_firnn-L.jpg