10 Scandalously Under-Appreciated Engines
We asked you which engines are too often overlooked - whether it's because of a more iconic engine available in the same car, or it's simply forgotten for no good reason - here are the best suggestions
1. All Volvo five-cylinder engines
Suggested by TurboToddler - Volvo's five-pots are legendary, and are even…
2. Toyota 2T-G
Suggested by Luqman Hakim - This engine preceded the much-loved 4A-GE.
3. Ford Barra
Suggested by Ethan Waked - A
4. Alfa Romeo Twin Spark
Suggested by Muaz Yusof -
5. Toyota 7M-GTE
Suggested by mstrcornelis -
6. Volkswagen Beetle engine
Suggested by On The Apex -
7. Volvo B4194T
Suggested by Julius -
8. Audi 3B
Suggested by Sarma lover - Placed in the Audi S2, it made an impressive…
9. Saab B234R
Suggested by Macez - It's
10. Toyota 3S-GE 'Beams'
Suggested by me -
Comments
Does the Alfa GT has the twin spark engine?
Depends on the model
Twinksparks are unreliable tho.
who cares? They sound awesome!
my 2.0 twinspark has 130.000km and 17 years of pretty much pure agressive driving and some track use and it runs perfectly, mechanically its pretty reliable, maybe its electronics tend to fail more than others.
Not really, only if they aren’t looked after. It’s just more sensitive to abuse.
No murican engines on this list
Who cares
Because the performance of most American engines from the past don’t come anywhere close to the performance of the engines of the rest of the world. The 3s-ge beams engine in this post made 200 hp from a 2.0l 4 cylinder, whereas the 5.7l v8 in the Camaro from the same time period only made 190 hp.
There are too many old American engines tgat are underrated. 70s V8s are really robust, they just need some tuning to unleash their true power.
The people that discount the 90 camaros and foxbody mustang engines are sorely mistaken. Yes from the factory they are poor. Very poor in performance. This is not due to poor engineering though but due to emissions standards. Either one the lt1 or 5.0 Ford engine can be powerhouses with miniscule little effort.
I’m sorry but when you can pull 250hp and almost 300 foot pounds out of a 2.2l and a vette the same year as my 1993 Audi S4 had 5.7l and had like 300hp you see how crappy american cars are for power ratings … Even today its laughable how many cubes / liters american engineers are given and they still come up short
Suggested by On The Apex - “That thing was so simple, it was produced for some 65 years. And you can change the timing belt while it runs!”
I’m sorry, but I don’t think you can change any timing belt while the engines running…
http://youtu.be/BQhfcdQf1QA
Enjoy
Yup. Talked about the wrong belt , my bad. It is in fact the alternator belt as you said. Mistranslation ftw. Thanks for pointing that out!
What about the BMW S38? I mean, it’s a 3.8L I6 and can put out over 1000 hp…
Theoretically you CAN make most engines make over 1000hp
S38, now that’s a real engine. How many other sedans in the 90’s were powered by an engine that in reality was a detuned race engine? Oh yeah, not many. S38 is love, S38 is life
The LS2. The most under appreciated small block V8. Its power can easily be doubled to 800HP by some simple tricks like Kooks headers, Mild Cam, Compressor or Turbo.
meh. Its too common and boring at this point, Suggested ones, are not so popular ones, which makes them great.
You gotta understand that most of CT doesn’t know there are variations of the LS. at the end of the day, and LS9, or and LS2 is no different to them.
Change TIMEINGbelt while it runs? I dont think so. I think you meant the v-belt?!:D
I meant the alternator band, I mistranslated it :P
Number 7!! Me gusta :) I don’t have that engine but I have the low pressure version for the states and it’s still awesome!
My thoughts: Twin spark isn’t that unique.. my ‘97 Ranger had two per cylinder for a total of 8 plugs. Thought the 7m had garbage head gaskets, Beetle engine is not under rated, it powers damn near every dune buggy forty minutes from my house on the Silver Lake Sand Dunes. The buggies not powered by Beetle air cooled flat fours are powered by turbocharged LS7s.
7m was plagued with head gasket issues, all motors have their weak spots, another engine that features twin spark is the Toyota 3t-gte also the la.e excuse for a motor that powers the Honda jazz/fit, it has the same by.bet of spark plugs as it does valves
There’s also the a-series…. Produced for over 50 years in various CC outputs from 850 up to 1275cc. Some people even bored and stroked them to 1430! Massively tuneable, with crossflow heads, turbo and supercharging and getting people in the classic minis with some impressive power. Mated to a gearbox fitted underneath it was a clever little package. And a loud twin webber setup coupled to a straightcut gearbox and drop gears is just bloody awesome!