Top 10 Six Cylinder Cars (Best of V6, Straight-Six, VR6)

For decades already, we had been told by brainiacs and some hippies who don’t shower, that soon we will have to give up on our big engines or the ability to breathe. Not an easy choice for sure, which is why the government had to step in and make one for us. And so, the V12s and V8s are about to become extinct, which spells doom for us petrolheads that will have to make do with 6 cylinders only; At the most!
But is that really so bad? Because here are the top 10 cars with 6 cylinders that might prove us wrong.

10 - Golf V VR6

Volkswagen had a few notable cars with the VR6 engine, but none as extreme as the Golf R32.
With the naturally aspirated 3.2 engine and a four wheel drive, it got dangerously close to then untouchable rallying machines from Mitsubishi and Subaru. Add to that a full practicality of a hot hatch, sleeper exterior a great noise, and you get a true blue gem on wheels.
Since then, EVO and WRX have slowly withered out, but the hatches are getting crazier than ever before; as if they got a cow madness disease or something. And it’s all thanks to this: the patient zero, Golf R32.

9 - Lotus Evora

You wouldn’t think much of this small British car handmade by a company that is introducing more new CEOs than car models, but you’d be wrong… because Evora is simply brilliant! When it came out, it beat the 911 GT3 as the best performance car, and since then, it got even better!
Lotus added some more lightness to the mix and now that Camry sourced V6 comes supercharged and develops around 430hp. Plus, the ride has always been laser sharp but still as smooooth as a toddlers but-cheek.

However, the most surprising thing is that despite such small body, it’s the last and only 4-seater, mid-engine car available today. Honey, don’t worry; it’s a perfect family car.

8 - BMW M3 CSL

There have only ever been two BMW CSL models. First one was a homologated special road version of the Batmobile, and the other one is the M3 CSL. With the later BMW took all their experience from Formula 1 and went all in on the M3.
Aside from more power and the racing bits, it was put on a serious diet which means: no sound insulation, no radio, no air-con, thinner glass and a body made of carbon fiber, plastics, and reinforced polymers.
The end result is the most ferocious, visceral, raw, wonderful… simply, the best BMW ever made! And it’s so rare; you won’t see the usual BMW douchebags driving it. Good!

7 - Nissan GTR R35

There is a reason why they call it the Godzilla – which by the way, is the coolest car nickname ever. This Japanese monster on wheels dominated much more powerful and expensive cars and established itself as a performance benchmark for years to come. Why? Because it is an absolute geek-fest of engineering. They filled the tires with nitrogen because it’s more stable than normal air, so you can imagine how nerdy everything else is.
But the crown jewel must be that bulletproof V6 engine which in stock form develops 545hp and does a quarter mile in 11 seconds. Pump up the boost, and it will go up to 2500hp and do a run in under 7 seconds – while still being street legal.

6 - Ford GT

No one saw this coming, quite literally, because Ford was hiding the development of a new GT better than Caitlyn Jenner is hiding her Excalibur, and then BAM! – the new GT is futuristic and has a boosted V6! WHAAT?! The best American supercar, the symbol of how Henry stuck it to Enzo is now offered with an engine most Americans feel unworthy of their cars. It even has the word ‘Eco’ writing on it.

But actually, the new GT is brilliant !; partly because it looks like an Enterprise spaceship, and partly because it goes like one. It may have lost two pistons, but it hasn’t lost THE piston. If you know what I mean…

5 - Buick Regal GNX

Can you imagine this car being faster than the Ferrari F40? Yeah! Heavier, less powerful, fewer cylinders and still, it covers the Quarter mile ahead of the best that Ferrari had to offer. I can’t work that out either, but it’s quite simple really – this car has been developed in partnership with McLaren. Like, the ‘Formula 1’ McLaren, the ‘P1’ McLaren, the ‘better than Ferrari’ McLaren… those guys.

What they did was created a muscle-car of the dark side. Its boosted V6 was enough to conquer all the good old V8s, and the fact that it was all black, with black grill, earned it the nickname of Darth Vader’s car.

4 - Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio

If you are a Methuselah, you might remember the days when Alfa Romeo was a dominant force in motorsport. Well, those glory days were long forgotten, and the recent Alfas prove it: Still beautiful, but somewhat… front wheel drive.

Well not anymore, because in case of Giulia the back wheels are smoking again, the weight distribution is 50:50 and the whole project was overseen by a technical director from Ferrari. Even the 500hp engine is just a V6 variant of their Twin Turbo V8 form California T.
The result, of course, is dramatic and today, Giulia is the fastest 4-door salon around the track. That is until the electrics fail on lap 3.

3 - Classic JDM Heroes

It’s hard to place one above the other so here goes, three of the 90s JDM Legends, the top tier big boys. They were all limited by Japanese gentlemen’s agreement on maximum horsepower, so they had to improvise.

The NSX, for example, was developed by arguably the best Formula 1 Driver, Ayrton Senna, to handle like a dream and to look like a wet one.
Skyline used science and advanced four-wheel drive just to cope with the RB26 engine that would double the power output just by poking it with a stick,
and as for Supra, the 2JZ straight six could drive a tanker, but inside a car, it makes it the drag strip dominator.

We are still waiting for the second coming of this holly trio.

2 - Jaguar XJ220

The XJ220 was first shown off as a four-wheel drive V12 concept, and the preorders just started pouring. When it was revealed that due to engineering problems the production model was cut down to twin turbo V6 and only rear wheel drive, many people pulled the order as if the car had AIDS, and even sued Jaguar.
But the joke is on them, because the XJ220 was the fastest production car ever, quickest around the Nürburgring ever, and fittingly, the most expensive car ever.
With such street cred and only 275 units sold, just barely, one of these today is more sought after than a fountain of youth, or that one lost sock.

1 - Porsche 911

After more than one million cars sold, I dare you to name a more iconic sports car! I double dare you because for over 50 years a 911 has been the staple of speed, practicality, and usability all wrapped in one. And as for the racing, it won everything form rallying, to LeMans.

Not bad for a car that started of as a VW beetle and still has an engine in the wrong place. But remember, this is half of century of the(ze) German engineering, of-course it will dominate the world.

Today, 911 is offered in more than 20 different flavours, from targas, cabriolets, track-day weapons to a monstrous Turbo S that even your grandma can catapult from 0-60 in 2.5 seconds. And if she’s already wearing diapers, that’s a good thing in Turbo S.

Agree with the picks? Let me know in the comments!

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