What Are The Best Engines You’ve Experienced? Autopian Asks

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What makes an engine great? Horsepower might be the first thing that comes to mind – no surprise there. Certainly a great engine is a reliable one – can’t discount that. And when it’s time for maintenance, those of you who do your own wrenching surely assign additional greatness points to engines that don’t make you remove a chassis crossmember to access the oil filter. And then there’s smoothness, throttle response, and sound. And what the heck, let’s add “looking cool” to the engine-greatness checklist. It’s not a box everyone is concerned about checking, but if you like looking at engines, cooler-looking ones are better. So let’s hear it:

What are the best engines you’ve experienced?

[Editor’s Note: Torque curve and ability to handle more power are also key. I’m going to say that the AMC straight six and, surprisingly, the VM 425 diesel in my Chrysler Voyager have been the best engines I’ve experienced. (I’ve also loved the Chrysler Slant-Six “Leaning Tower of Power” and the Australian “Hemi Six,” but I haven’t driven those as far. -DT]

Autopian Answers Transp

Last time around, we asked you what car you would never buy again. The answers included Mercury Monarchs and minivans, Explorers and Eagles and Elantras, BMWs and Buicks. But the heat a few of you had for Volkswagen really jumped out, especially as you were talking about newish and relatively low-mile cars. Most notably, here are Nsane In The Membrane and staffma with their Very Woeful tales:

Vws Aa Copy

Thanks in advance for your comments, we’ll do it again tomorrow!

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197 thoughts on “What Are The Best Engines You’ve Experienced? Autopian Asks

  1. Engines I’ve owned and enjoyed, in no particular order…
    Ford “Windsor” 350 V-8
    Ford 302/5.0 V-8
    Ford 300 I-6
    AMC/Jeep 4.0 I-6
    Chevy 350 small-block
    Chevy/GM GenII 3.1 60-degree aluminum V6
    Rover (Buick) aluminum V-8
    Cummins ISB 24v I-6 diesel

    And honorable mention to the 3.6 Pentastar 60-degree V6 in my wife’s Grand Caravan in R/T tune… It can definitely get up and go like hell, but it doesn’t quite make the wonderful intake howl and exhaust bark quite like the older Chevy 3.1 I’ve had.

  2. 1JZ-GTE. Overshadowed by the 2JZ, but an incredible engine. I flooded it accidentally, then lit it on fire accidentally, then filled the cylinders with water putting out the fire (spark plugs were out), somehow drove it 10 miles home the next day, and ran it at 400-450 hp for years after. I also street tuned it as a learning experience and it survived 31 psi with an HX35 on pump gas because I didn’t know what I was doing. I think it developed a little piston slap from my mistakes, but that’s the only issue it ever had with fully stock internals.

    It was also one of the best sounding straight piped engines above 3000 rpm. Below that it sounded like a broken diesel for some reason.

  3. Sigh – Toyota 4 cylinder engines. Zero sex appeal but 1000% reliability. Get you where you need to go when you need to be there with no drama.

  4. My 1.9 tdi 130hp (and the 100hp I have now), frugal on fuel, quick enough for the highway and dead reliable in my Passats (321.000km for the first, the one now sits at 298k). Strong enough to pull my dead Ford 2000 tractor out of the shed. For me the best diesel engine VW ever made.

  5. 2RZ-FE 4 cylinder used in my 1996 Tacoma. Lots of power, insanely reliable, easy to work on, only has a few sizes of bolts, everything accessible.

  6. Buick 430, in a ’68 Riviera. Stock except for a set of side pipes. It wasn’t fast, but the off-idle torque was like being gently but forcibly removed from a tree limb by an annoyed bear.

  7. Air-cooled VW Type 1 engine. Not very efficient or powerful but will take an insane amount of abuse and neglect, is easy to work on, and gives the visceral experience so many modern engines lack. Will start right up in 0F or 100F. My beetle just started right up after sitting for 6 years with some fresh gas. Won’t go 300,000 miles between rebuilds but you can do it in your kitchen with a standard set of tools.

    1. VW Type 1 was very good for all the reasons mentioned. Type 3 also good for much of the same (was much the same), but less common and slightly more difficult part availability.

  8. The Saab 16-valve, in-line 4 cylinder in my 1986 900 Turbo was the most reliable, trouble free engine I’ve ever experienced. Perfect blend of power and economy. Did I change the oil and filter every 3750 miles? You bet, used synthetic oil, too. Did I take it for all of its scheduled maintenance? Absolutely. The result: 30 years of unfailing service from a motor that was never apart, 500,000+ miles, 30 mpg. Engine still performed like a champ the day it was trucked away by the Kidney Foundation. I’d still be driving it today if the damn flooding in Charleston hadn’t left it floating in my work parking lot at least a half dozen times in the last 15 years of its life. Try as I might, I could not prevent the frame rot that eventually made her unsafe to drive.

    Second best engine was the AMC straight six in my ‘82 CJ8 Scrambler.

    1. I’m also a fan of those Saab engines, but I learned late on that I really prefer the later versions with the Mitsubishi turbo versus the Garrett T-3. I had a 1994 convertible (last year of the of the old platform) with a manual transmission, and it was SO much more enjoyable because the boost came on-line so much sooner.

  9. Audi AAN 20v I5 Turbo. WRC battle tested. Currently still holds record for world’s fastest production bodied sedan. Stock at 220hp, simple chip to 280-300ish, same exact engine came in the RS2 with a different snail, exhaust manifold, injectors, and ECU. 360hp. 400hp is easily doable but then you need rods. Upper limit is…. unknown. People have made over 1000hp with these engines, and they’re just so damn durable, with the most amazing group B inspired noises. Definitely my favorite engine of all time.

    Oh and to those who are only familiar with Audis made in the late 90s to now, yeah, this thing is dead nuts reliable, and easy to work on, plenty of room everywhere. Absolutely blows my mind that Audi spend untold millions developing a spirital successor and only keeps it in the RS3 and TTRS; the fact that engine isn’t available in the A4 avant is just idiotic.

  10. Ford Taurus SHO, had a 1994 with a 5 speed manual. Sexiest looking engine ever w/a redline to the moon (I had underdrive pulleys and a rev limit delete). Yes, I performed my own timing belt change and valve shimming.

    1. First time I ever saw one in person, I was completely shocked…looks like something out of an Italian mid-engine sportscar. In a Ford!

  11. interesting,

    the criteria for a great engine to me is adequate power from the factory, easy to access standard wear items(aka water pump, spark plugs filters and so on.) availability and price of repair parts, and how often they are required.

    I have see the 4.0 AMC motor mentioned a few times, they definitely have their good and bad years, but overall seem to fit most of my check marks.

    Certainly the 2000-2006 LS motors without AFM/DFM are in this category and the 275K mile 06 Silverado in front of the house is testament to this. I also have the 5.3 in a 2008 H2 Alpha, it is pretty much the last of the non AFM/DFM motors GM made and it all aluminum, that motor will get a new life in a different vehicle before I ever decide to sell the beast.

    I do recall many of Gramps old D100 Farm trucks had the 225 slant six, those seemed to run forever and at least to gramps they had enough power to do what needed done.

    I have a non-MDS, manual backed 6.4 Hemi, that is pretty eye opening to an old gear head. it gets 24 MPG on the highway with AC on at 75 mph. the fact that is puts out nearly 500 hp and has been reliable for the past 10 years with basic maintenance and the fact I could change the water pump without taking apart the timing system or even removing the radiator has me thinking it will qualify here. I know the joke is they explode at 80K miles on the clock, guess we will see, this one has 76 and change.

    the NA 3.8 that was in my wife’s old 99 monte carlo when I met her was a bit of a peach. she was not the best about maintenance I found out, but that sucker went almost 200K before we sold it, I imagine it is still rolling around somewhere.

    Outside of the PP01 computer code, we did have an LHS Chrysler that was a hand me down. that was definitely where the B52 Big as a whale thing must have come from, but honestly that boat was dead reliable while we owned it. the PP01 was even livable with, but I would still have changed the computer to avoid the annoyance of the long occasional start. the width of the thing probably made it less popular in other applications, but I could do most maintenance under that hood acceptably.

    I had a 2.5 NA 5 cylinder Passat, it was actually quite easy to work on, but rarely needed work, it was adequately powered, and got good gas mileage. the only issue I had was covered under warranty and it was a crank position sensor. I would likely still be driving it except it was silver and apparently silver is invisible to the dolt drivers on the road around me. it was rear ended twice and the last time it was t-boned by some dunce in a corolla. Insurance finally Coparted her, I assume so they could get more money than they paid me for it from that sale. VW did not have any newer Passat’s and the TSi turbo 4’s were much unloved by that time, also the same year 5 cylinders for the money given could not be had.

    1. Chevy LS3 (6.2L V8) – so much torque (Also LT1, similar, but a little higher tech)
    2. Chevy LSA (Supercharged V8) – launch like a rocket ship – scary fast
    3. Porsche flat 6 of some sort – smooth, buttery, fun
  12. I’d rather have a 2JZ in my car than Jay Z (but he’s cool too). The 2JZ block can easily handle 500+ hp all day long when done right.

  13. 90° V4 in the Honda VFR800. Good torque above 3,500 RPM excellent power up to the ~12,000 RPM cutoff. Most importantly though, the noise of the thing. Down low, it’s got a lopey grumble reminiscent of a little V8. Keep revving and you get a beautiful howl. Combine that with the characteristic gear whine from the gear-driven cams (2001 and earlier), and you’ve got yourself an aural smorgasbord.

    1. Friend of mine had a VFR. He loved the cam gear sounds, I hated them. Conversely I loved the sound of my GT550 and he hated it, so to each their own

  14. Nissan VQ35HR in our FX35. Nice high reving engine that has been very reliable.

    I also loved the 1.5L EM CVCC 4 that was in my 1981 Civic. It was not very powerful, but it did have a nice little power curve and got great gas mileage, especially for the time. It was dead simple to work on also.

  15. I have two: the 1.6 liter DOHC engine in my 1986 Acura Integra – a righteous 113 horsepower from a mere 97 cubic inches…. but wow. The redline was 7,000 rpm, and I lived there…touched it at EVERY shift for 125,000 miles. Never missed a beat, never used a drop of oil – it was the greatest little mill ever; it literally SCREAMED “Oh Daddy, beat me harder!” every time I drove it.

    The next was the 750 Kawasaki Z2 I had in Japan. Heavy bike at 500 pounds and didn’t really handle very well, but I loved that engine – it pulled HARD to infinity the redline and beyond. The specs say 9K; I remember it as 10K, but I pulled that engine to (an indicated) 12K all the time. Like a lot of the Kawasakis of the day, it felt a lot like it wanted to kill you and was just waiting for the chance.

    At other times, I had a CB 750 and Suzuki GS 750 and while both were better bikes, neither of them could do that Warp Drive “down two (gears) and GONE” pull like the Z2.

  16. I will always vote for the tiny 2.3L supercharged V6 (KJ-ZEM) that Mazda put into its relatively unassuming Millenia. Not only was it a tiny displacement V6 (though not the smallest, Mazda also made a 1.8L V6), IIRC it’s the only factory supercharged Mazda, and was the first production Miller Cycle engine. On the road, it definitely catches glances from even casual car people who don’t expect that supercharger whine to come out of a conservative mid size 90s sedan, and even though it’s only 210HP, it was a fantastic engine to make the relaxed sub-luxury sedan into a very fun passing and merging highway cruiser.

  17. I’ve owned or relied on quite a few vehicles with various engines over the years: a lot of Subaru H4s, a lot of air cooled VW bugs, water cooled VW 4 cylinders, Toyota 22R’s, 4 cylinder Hondas, a Honda V-6, an AMC 360, Volvo B20, Isuzu 4 cylinder, Mitsubishi 4 cylinder, Ford Windsor, and a Jaguar V12, that I can recall.

    The most powerful and torquiest one that I have never had to touch other than oil changes is the Honda J35 V6 (crap I probably just jinxed myself). It never shows any sign of being hot. It goes and goes all day all night at 80 mph.

    While not powerful by any means, in terms of lack of maintenance and reliability, my Volvo B20 is runner up. It had 250,000 miles on the original, untouched engine and was still running strong when I sold it.

    Folks rave about the Toyota 22R. My father got over 400,000 miles out of his Toyota 22R, but mine blew a head gasket right after buying it.

  18. Mazda ND2 2.0. It’s by far the most responsive motor I’ve driven with power everywhere. I’d say its even more responsive than my LS3 manual car which has a little bit of cam lope (stock) around 2000 rpm.

  19. Favorite 4:

    Chevy 5.3 V8. Solid, reliable engine.3.8 Flat 6 in my 911S. This engine at full song is something everyone should experience.Marine 351 Ford. Mine is 43 years old. Hadn’t been started in 3 years. Put fresh fuel & battery in it, check ed the fluids, and it fired right up. It’ll pull me waterskiing in a couple of weeks.3 cyl OMC (Evinrude) / Yamaha outboard. Originally released in 1966 as a 55hp engine and pretty much unchanged since. 3 cylinders, 3 carbs. Design bought from OMC by Yamaha when OMC went belly up. Still made today in powers up to 90.
    Honorable mention to the BMW inline 6. Possibly the smoothest engine ever.

      1. Smooth to me doesn’t just mean silent. It’s more of a rhythm thing. If silence were the goal then electric would be a better answer.

  20. Recently? The supercharged 5.0-liter in the Range Rover Sport. Plant right foot, giggle maniacally, repeat. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Stop for fuel. Totally worth it.

    Overall? The 1981 Kawasaki GPz550. She’s air- and oil-cooled, so she’s a visceral mechanical thing, and the vintage 4-into-1 exhaust sounds amazing.

    Honorable mention: the 1835cc I had in the Super Beetle. Hot cam (294 degrees duration, .435″ lift), straight-cut cam gears, and two large Weber 2-bbls.

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