Best engine you've ever owned?

bear1

Got the idea from the psa threw and it got me thinking what are the best engines you've ever had? Be it diesel, petrol or just a hybrid.
For me the best petrol engine I've ever owned was an efi 1.3 corolla.
Would never let me down, started in a second, you could rev the balls off of it all day and wouldn't show signs of annoyance.
As for diesel it would have to be 5 cylinder jtd I had in the 156.
Bulletproof is all I can say.
Planning on getting a busso in my life at some stage so for now my choices are probably a bit weird

smash

You can not beat the sound of an Alfa 3.0 v6 with a custom exhaust.

eringobragh

Toyota 3SGE 2 Litre in a mk2 MR2 NA, but also seen in celica, etc bombproof

YbFocus

M50B25, 6 cylinder and only 170bhp.
But the sound and reliability was unbelievable.

I did kill it but now it's coming back as a M50B25/28 hybrid and it'll be turboed.

A massively fun and versatile engine that loves being messed with!

Cosmo K

Alfa Romeo 75, 3.0 V6...thinking about the sound that thing made gives me goosebumps!

Wibbs

Hands down the Honda B18c in "R" spec. 1.8 litres of hand assembled engine, gas flowed head(again by hand in the early days), full weighted crank, molybdenum coated forged pistons with oil cooling and fully balanced con rods, sodium filled valves with doubled valve springs, variable valve timing, one of the highest piston speeds of any engine(long stroke engines revving to 8700 RPM will do that), from factory. That's a pretty cool spec today, it was crazy in the mid nineties*. And one of the most reliable engines you could find to boot.







*the 1.6 version as found in the EK Civic type R was even madder.

eringobragh

Wibbs wrote: »

Hands down the Honda B18c in "R" spec. 1.8 litres of hand assembled engine, gas flowed head(again by hand in the early days), full weighted crank, molybdenum coated forged pistons with oil cooling and fully balanced con rods, sodium filled valves with doubled valve springs, variable valve timing, one of the highest piston speeds of any engine(long stroke engines revving to 8700 RPM will do that), from factory. That's a pretty cool spec today, it was crazy in the mid nineties*. And one of the most reliable engines you could find to boot.

Drove one - but never owned one different animal altogether :eek:

CrowdedHouse

The one in my Honda lawnmower keeps going year after year - bullet proof

Voodoomelon

YbFocus wrote: »

M50B25, 6 cylinder and only 170bhp.
But the sound and reliability was unbelievable.

I did kill it but now it's coming back as a M50B25/28 hybrid and it'll be turboed.

A massively fun and versatile engine that loves being messed with!

Building on the same block, the 328i, 528i, 728i etc M52 straight 6 is also incredibly refined and reliable. I never had to do anything on mine in 6 years other than oil changes.
Well deserved of the engine of the year award, whenever it was (1998 or similar).

CiniO

bear1 wrote: »

Got the idea from the psa threw and it got me thinking what are the best engines you've ever had?

1108 ccm in Cinquecento Sporting.
And 1242 ccm in Fiat Bravo.

Both extremeley reliable, and fun to drive at high revs.

My current 2.2 i-CTDi in Honda is possibly even more reliable, more refined, more powerful, but it sounds like sh1t, and doesn't give so much fun for driver.

_Kaiser_

I'd have to say my current 3.0 TDI V6 in my A6.. pulls like a train, nice sound when you press the loud pedal, accelerates rapidly when you need it to, and economical enough to use as a daily driver even when doing 1500km a week.

I'll be truly sorry to see it go in the next year or two but thanks to punitive and arbitrary insurance measures, it probably won't be worth keeping once she passes 12 years old in January. The motor tax bill is bad enough

colm_mcm

I love the 6A12 Mitsubishi MIVEC V6 as fitted to the FTO. loads of torque for relaxed driving then you have the high RPM craziness with the cam changeover. lovely exhaust note and very reliable.

in terms of reliability and ease of servicing, the 1.8 ivtec in the civic is probably the best I've had

bear1

CrowdedHouse wrote: »

The one in my Honda lawnmower keeps going year after year - bullet proof

You were hoping for a few thanks to that post weren't ya.

AndyBoBandy

Volvo Penta 2002 (marine diesel)

What an engine.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

Gavman84

T5 Volvo engine it's class! Lovely noise from 5 cyclinders and easy to get more out of! The torque also makes it a pleasure to drive.

Stallingrad

M50 straight 6, 2 litre 24 valve. Turbine smooth is much overused but that engine was sublime.

jimgoose

Wibbs wrote: »

Hands down the Honda B18c in "R" spec...

Tres cool. What's the bore x stroke on that?

fancy pigeon

Petrol: Mercedes M111.940: that was an engine that spent a lot of its life bapping off the limiter and kept going strong, even to this day. Nearly 10k miles of sheer abuse

Diesel: XUD DHX/D8A block. Better than any other diesel available at the time. Easily turned up to double its output reliably and still returns a modest 45mpg :cool:

Every car I've had was serviced and routinely maintained. None of this never changed the oil/never serviced bolloxology that a lot of mean miserable c*nts seem to be at

Gavman84

LIGHTNING wrote: »

Lovely noise but horrifically thirsty though!

Ah you learn to live with that problem! I don't notice anymore now. If I ever go back to something sensible again I'll be wondering why I'm not filling up so often!:pac:

PADRAIC.M

The terminator! The 4eFe Toyota engine has to be one of the most bulletproof engines ever built, I still have a 93 xli Corolla in my garage, I started in the trade back in 1997 working on these android this day I still service a couple for customers who had them from new!

Joe 90

VHPD in the Exige I had. 190 bhp from 1800cc, N/A. Wonderfully responsive and what a beautiful sound.

Wibbs

jimgoose wrote: »

Tres cool. What's the bore x stroke on that?

81 X 88 IIRC and to be fair it's rare IRC.

fancy pigeon wrote: »

Every car I've had was serviced and routinely maintained. None of this never changed the oil/never serviced bolloxology that a lot of mean miserable c*nts seem to be at

Same. I'm nigh on obsessive about changing oil. Oil and filter(and air filter) very 3000kms(or every six months whichever comes first).

Special Circumstances

LIGHTNING wrote: »

That 1242 the 8v FIRE Engine? If so it gets my vote too, in my Punto it never let me down. Loved to Rev and sounded quite nice too.

It's 16v in the old bravo. The 12v 1.4 it replaced would probably be the worst engine I ever owned.

Have had a few engines that impressed me but not in a Clarkson kinda way. Solid donkeys of engines that did their thing without much recognition. Nissan 1.4 twincam in the sunny and the Honda b20 in the crv. Low tech but good. Anything else has been a bit too finicky for my liking.

conzy

The M54B25 sounded bananas with a custom exhaust, always gave me a tingle in my pants.

The 13B-MSP wankel in the RX8 is so much fun to rev the nuts off and has been unbelievably reliable for me other than ancillary parts.

Wibbs

conzy wrote: »

The 13B-MSP wankel in the RX8

Another one of the iconic engines IMH.

VW 2.0 TFSI.

Titzon Toast

Joe 90 wrote: »

VHPD in the Exige I had. 190 bhp from 1800cc, N/A. Wonderfully responsive and what a beautiful sound.

I had that engine in a Celica, great power plant.

jca

I never owned one but I sure love the sound of the GM V8 in the irish GM locomotive from the 70's. Now that's a bulletproof engine!!

Sheep Lover

1.9 TDi (red i)

Pure power.

jimgoose

Wibbs wrote: »

81 X 88...

Mmm, that's interesting. People who make it their business to thoroughly understand these matters tell me that a mean piston speed of 25m/s is the point at which things tend to go all to buggery. A bore of 88mm at 8,500RPM gives a MPS of 24.999m/s. Those slightly exotic engine internals are starting to make sense...

H3llR4iser

The 2.0 Twin Spark 16v in the 155 for the performance and solidity (as I posted before, I literally drove it like a racecar EVERY SINGLE DAY, routinely changing near the redline, for YEARS); The 1.8 fed by 4 Weber carburetors on the 75 for sheer brutality and sound - very, very, very few non-tuned 4 cylinders can boast the same level of aural pleasure (especially the tone change above 4k rpm!).

Easca Peasca

I've been lucky so far in my limited experience of motoring the engine in my '00 Micra was utterly reliable (unlike much of the rest of it ) and the 1.4D4D I'm currently driven by has been equally bulletproof! Possibly the two most boring engines on the go, but they didn't fail me at least

CiniO

LIGHTNING wrote: »

That 1242 the 8v FIRE Engine? If so it gets my vote too, in my Punto it never let me down. Loved to Rev and sounded quite nice too.

Not really. In bravo it was 16v version, so slightly different engine.

1.2 8v was known for premature head gasket failure, so even though it was great nippy engine, i wouldn't put it on the list of best engines.

16v, on top of being more reliable (no head gasket problem) was also much more powerful at higher revs.

EazyD

In terms of reliability and modability, Mazda's B6. Takes very well to forced induction and never skips a beat. I've always been fascinated with the Renesis (231) though. Likewise the 13B.

jimgoose

Ford 2.0l Pinto in a 1977 Mk. I Granada. It drank petrol and locked itself in the bathroom if you missed an oil-change by ten miles, but it pulled like a Caterpillar D8 - it actually did pull one, briefly IIRC - and could be killed by neither fire nor water. And it got a share of both. Unbelievable fcukan thing!

Car99

BMW S14 or M88 BMW beautiful high reving NA engines with good reliability if serviced correctly.

jimgoose

fancy pigeon wrote: »

...Every car I've had was serviced and routinely maintained. None of this never changed the oil/never serviced bolloxology that a lot of mean miserable c*nts seem to be at

He who understands oil and makes judicious use of it will live long and prosper, yea, even as will his sh1theaps. He who does not will live in perdition, misery and spun bearings, yea, even as Never-Changed-Oil man down the pub speaketh through the rectum. This is the Word of the Goose. Amen.

Stovepipe

to whoever posted about oil cooled pistons and double valve springs in a car engine, they were standard issue in the Lycoming 0-540 aero engine; 8.8 litres; 250 hp at 2700 rpm.

jimgoose

Stovepipe wrote: »

to whoever posted about oil cooled pistons and double valve springs in a car engine, they were standard issue in the Lycoming 0-540 aero engine; 8.8 litres; 250 hp at 2700 rpm.

Marine two-stroke crosshead diesels have been at it for a while as well.

Supergurrier

Another vote for the 2.5t T5/duratec here.

Neilw

Titzon Toast wrote: »

I had that engine in a Celica, great power plant.

The VHPD engine was a K series Roger engine, you're thinking of the vvt Toyota lump.

Didn't own it but drove a merc with a 4.6 twin turbo V8 petrol engine, it was so nice. Huge torque and great top end power too.

The 300 bhp tfsi VW engine is a gem too.

smash

This thread makes me want to order a new exhaust for the 6 Series. The V8 needs a louder voice!

Wibbs

jimgoose wrote: »

Ford 2.0l Pinto in a 1977 Mk. I Granada. It drank petrol and locked itself in the bathroom if you missed an oil-change by ten miles, but it pulled like a Caterpillar D8 - it actually did pull one, briefly IIRC - and could be killed by neither fire nor water. And it got a share of both. Unbelievable fcukan thing!

Man I forgot about the Pinto. Had one in my Mk 3 Capri. Agricultural but to kill one required shooting silver bullet through its heart, or missing oil changes, or putting the wrong screw in the wrong hole of the cam oil spray bar… I had the cam belt let go once. Non interference engine so just line everything up and slip on a new one. The basis for the Cosworth turbo engine too. Funny enough mine was pretty frugal with the go juice, but was utterly gutless with it. civilisations would rise, prosper and fall in the time it would take to get to 60. I miss how easy it was to work on though. So much room and no plastic covers over the oily bits. Pure engine.

jimgoose wrote: »

Mmm, that's interesting. People who make it their business to thoroughly understand these matters tell me that a mean piston speed of 25m/s is the point at which things tend to go all to buggery. A bore of 88mm at 8,500RPM gives a MPS of 24.999m/s. Those slightly exotic engine internals are starting to make sense...

Yeah given the long stroke it was hardly the best base to build on you'd think. I remember reading a magazine article when the first Integra Type R's made it to these shores and they mentioned that it had a higher output per litre than the Ferrari 355 and a higher piston speed than F1 engines of the time. A friend of a friend bought the first Irish one registered, in black. I had one go in it and was hooked. Six years later I got one myself.

maddness

I'd a Golf VR6 in 1999 and that engine was awesome.
It wasn't very fast at all but what a noise and it was smooth as silk.

smash

OSI wrote: »

Was a great engine in the 90s when it made 250bhp+ as a 2.3. Emissions bollox strangled it though.

I was delighted the day The Green Party got what was coming to them!

s14driftking

M57 bmw 3 litre Diesel engines on my third one now. 5 series had over 240000miles on it 330 had 190000 and the x5 has 190000 too. Great power reliable and silky smooth with the auto gearbox.

galvo_clare

2.0 litre Vectra GSi. Cosworth did the heads so it was like a Sierra Cosworth without the turbo. Seemed to use less fuel the harder you drove it.
Honourable mention to 2.0 litre twin spark in Alfa 156 and 2.0 straight six in '93 320i.

bear1 wrote: »

Got the idea from the psa threw and it got me thinking what are the best engines you've ever had? Be it diesel, petrol or just a hybrid.
For me the best petrol engine I've ever owned was an efi 1.3 corolla.
Would never let me down, started in a second, you could rev the balls off of it all day and wouldn't show signs of annoyance.
As for diesel it would have to be 5 cylinder jtd I had in the 156.
Bulletproof is all I can say.
Planning on getting a busso in my life at some stage so for now my choices are probably a bit weird

Blue850

The little 1050cc screamer in the Fiat 127 Sport.

Cee-Jay-Cee

Wibbs wrote: »

Hands down the Honda B18c in "R" spec. 1.8 litres of hand assembled engine, gas flowed head(again by hand in the early days), full weighted crank, molybdenum coated forged pistons with oil cooling and fully balanced con rods, sodium filled valves with doubled valve springs, variable valve timing, one of the highest piston speeds of any engine(long stroke engines revving to 8700 RPM will do that), from factory. That's a pretty cool spec today, it was crazy in the mid nineties*. And one of the most reliable engines you could find to boot.







*the 1.6 version as found in the EK Civic type R was even madder.

Agreed. Had 3 X Integra SiR's with the 180bhp version and 2 X ITR's with the B18C-R and numerous Civics and CRX's with B16a motors.

Absolutely stonking engines.

wildefalcon

Owned?

Either the 6.2v8 bentley I once ran, or the volvo d5 I have at the mo. Both had endless torque, both sound great at full chat.

One drank like a fish, the other sips a drop every now and then.

Only problem with the D5 is that can't be fitted to anything else, as it would look great in a discovery.