I'd like to know what everyone's favorite engine is. Pick just one if you can. It doesn't have to be the biggest or the most powerful, just what you like or what you think is the most significant.

Mine is, without question the : 350 cubic inch Chevrolet!

Ford 302

I'll just go with what I've actually driven...

LS1

Northstar a close second

For me overhead cams all the way. I'd say the 306 hp 3.5 liter V-6 in the IS350 and GS350 for its combination of smooth power and efficiency.

C30A

350.

A 454 always makes me smile, especially an LS6. :AH-HA_wink:

Even so, the small block Chevy in all of its iterations (including the LSx engines) has to be the most significant automotive engine of all time.

When I was 17 I would have said something like

twin-turbo H-6 out of a 996 Porsche, or perhaps

the Small Block Chevrolet.

When I was 22 I would have absolutly said SBC!

Now I'm 27 & while I recognize the tremendously

broad appeal of the 265/289/327/350/400.... etc.

I can not pick it as my favorite engine of all time.

It's by far the best bang for the buck in all of

automotive history, no contest, go home it's over.

But here's my favorite top three engines of all time.

1. Cadillac's 452 cu. in. 45* V-16 (1930-1937)

2. This modern "4-8-16" V-16 (2003 SIXTEEN concept car) is not in

production yet but needs to be ASAP to show the world GM is back!

3. Pratt & Whitney Double Wasp R2800 aircraft motor

18-cylinders (two rows of 9) radial, air-cooled 2,804 cu. in. [46 liters!!!]

It powered many aircraft in WWII including the Grumman F6F

Hellcat, P-47 Thunderbolt, B26 Marauder, B-61 Black Widow

& one of the greatest aircraft ever, F4U "bent-wing" Corsair.

Edited November 24, 200618 yr by Sixty8panther

I think all of us are more or less in agreement that modern man's three most significant inventions have been fire, the wheel, and the small block Chevrolet, so there's no need to pick that. I like the Cadillac 429/472/500 V8 family. Great smooth-running motors with endless torque. The 368's and 425's have sack too, but they can't match the grunt of their predecessors which are stump pullers all the way.

4 cylinder: Any Honda B or K series. Incredibly smooth, powerful, fuel efficient, and modifiable.

6 cylinder: While GM does have some nice 6 cylinders these days, they have yet to really wow me with one that is completely satisfying. Nissan's (specifically VQ) engines are undeniably excellent, Toyota's new 3.5 is impressive, and all of Honda's are probably the smoothest and most fun to drive V6's ever. I really just don't really like V6's that much unfortunately, so I can't say I have a favorite.

8 cylinder: I have always had a thing for the Ford 302. It's so simple, powerful, has infinite potential, and is one of the best sounding V8's I've ever heard excluding exotics. Deep down though, the first generation Northstar is definitely my favorite. When it debuted in '93, it was simply unmatched in terms of power and operation. I also LOVE the sound, and despite it's sometimes stained reputation, my family has owned 3, all used, and none have had any serious problems including one that currently has ~130k miles and counting.

No love for the Iron Duke?

350, and all small block iterations, but that goes without saying.

One engine that I've never been able to wrap my head around was the Honda F20 Series engines, especially the ones in the S2000. So much power out of such a tiny engine. Cool.

4 cylinder: Any Honda B or K series. Incredibly smooth, powerful, fuel efficient, and modifiable.

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Don't forget the F-series

The F20C and F22C1 in particular (S2000 engines), although they are very similar to the K-series (the heads are actually swappable) and not so similar to the earlier F-series used in the Accords and such.

M26221BBC FK-series RT1LS7800 28A 17V

M26221BBC FK-series RT1LS7800 28A 17V 

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I Googled that, and I got no hits...

Is that like some nuke-u-lar fishin' engine or something

If I had to pick one engine, I'd say either an Olds Rocket V8 or BMW's S54-B32 inline 6.

But our 350 Chevy SBC, the Northstar, the LS family, the Atlas LL8, Vortec V6, and R-R's RB211 aren't far behind.

very easy... i have 2

1. ZL-1, basically a racing engine in a street car, over 600 gross hp and easily the most powerful engine prouced by GM until the LS7

2. L88, a slightly lesser version of the ZL-1, 580 gross hp (about 464 SAE net) and it was packaged in the most beautiful car ever to roll off an assembly line... a C3 corvette

Myself I like something I can get my hands on....become one with....feel the power...get intense...have that rush run through my veins.

something about holding 5.5 hp in my hands spinnin between 9000 & 12,500 rpms and spitting the occasional loose chip back at it...........gets me kinda..........woody

The 3.8L engine in my 1987 buick century very peppy and durable. And it had decent mpg. I love the idle of my olds 307 and for the four cylinder category I say the 2.2L thats in my 2000 Saturn LS. Good mpg yet has plenty of power for everyday driving and the acceleration is pretty good for a 4 banger

I'm biased, do I have to answer?

Honestly, there isn't any specific engine that pops out as being a favorite as mine. If it's DOHC, inline, efficient, reliable, and loves to rev... I probably like that. Even then, I'm not that picky.

There are a lot I like for various reasons, but as far as 'hands-on' admiration: PMD 389 and BMD 455.

I haven't driven many different engines, but the 2.9L Turbo 6 in my dad's Volvo is pretty smooth, and the LX9 in my car isn't that bad either.

I'm biased, do I have to answer?

Honestly, there isn't any specific engine that pops out as being a favorite as mine. If it's DOHC, inline, efficient, reliable, and loves to rev... I probably like that. Even then, I'm not that picky.

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Quad4?

Im gonna go ask my Sthil "do you like to rev?"

If it's DOHC, inline, efficient, reliable, and loves to rev... I probably like that.

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I totally hear you man, and I, too, am a fan of the Duesenberg Eight

I totally hear you man, and I, too, am a fan of the Duesenberg Eight 

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Supercharging is nice but there's no replacement

for displacement... I'll just take sixteen natrually

aspirated cylinders thank you.

Duesenberg is the official "High Rev Tuner" of the

T!GH+ W#1P$ car club. DOHC, high HP/weight

ratio thank to supercharging and some early '30s

Duesenbergs were said to be capable of 160pmh.

That's like 250mph today! Most 1930s cars could

not even come close to reaching tripple digits.

Edited November 25, 200618 yr by Sixty8panther

You're absolutely right in that there's no replacement for displacement. But why do you need so many cylinders? What about the big sixes from Simplex?

This 564 cubic inch inline six can be found between the rails of a 1916 Crane-Simplex Torpedo Runabout. Y'know, their little sports car. The really big Simplexes had engines upwards of 800 cubic inches! I was fortunate enough to see a stunning Brewster-bodied 1915 Crane-Simplex roadster in person a few years ago at one of the last Concours d'Elegances held at the Crane estate in Ipswich, Massachusetts. This car, too, had the 564 cubic inch inline six in it, and let me tell you, when the owner was driving it up to the show field, it sounded like a f@#king bulldozer was coming up the hill! Unbelievable!

And also, if you want sixteen naturally aspirated cylinders, then why wouldn't you go for the better Marmon V-16? It's bigger (491 cubic inches), it's made of aluminum, it has overhead valves, and it had way more sack than a Cadillac V-16 ever did. It had an extremely high compression ratio for the day (6:1) and was second in horsepower (200) only to the previously-discussed Duesenberg Eight (265).

Duesenberg - 152 mph in '35 at Utah

Napier-Railton - John Cobb's mighty 1933, 168 mph, 24 litre Napier aero-engined, Reid Railton designed car, holds the Brooklands Track outer circuit lap record at 143.44 mph in perpetuity - thats a 1463 ci 24 litre supercharged W12 502 hp @ 2200

good looking racer too

I have a couple:

GM 3800 V6 (powerful yet durable)

GM Vortec 5.3L V8 (very powerful, sounds very nice in our Tahoe)

GM 572 V8 (its self-explanatory)

GM 454 V8 (self-explanatory)

GM 409 V8

Dodge 3.3L Turbo V6

Dodge 392 HEMI and 6.1L HEMI

Ford 302

Ecotec 2.2L

GM 3.1L V-6

GM 427 V8

Edited November 25, 200618 yr by american_revolution_2005

Quad4?

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I said reliable...

Im gonna go ask my Sthil "do you like to rev?"

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Don't mock me.

4.3L Vortec V-6

LSx Small Block Engines

454

Since we're posting pictures.

My favorite v8:

And my favorite v10:

4cyl: Ecotec family (F*** Honda!!) j/k

6 cyl: Nissan 3.5 VQ (come on, you know Z's are hot cars inside and out!)

8 cyl: either the '67-'69 L-88 or the '06-present LS7

10 cyinder: If you think I'll say Viper, you're out of your mind...not while the Lamborghini Gallardo's around!

12 Cylinder: the 599 GTB's 6.0L V12 (sure it's 5.99 liters, but it makes more sennse to round up; 5.9 is selling it .09L too short. )

(funny, the engine bay is more attractive than the rest of the car)

Edited November 26, 200618 yr by Turbojett