What is the "best" 4 cylinder engine ever made?

What is the "best" 4 cylinder engine ever made?

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Discussion

white_goodman

Original Poster:

4,042 posts

190 months

Monday 27th March 2017
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The humble 4-pot. A lot of us would prefer an I6/V6/V8 but many of us drive 4-pots because they tend to be cheap and provide the best compromise between performance and economy for our useage. However, maybe this is selling the 4-pot short, as it does have some advantages, namely relatively low weight and compact design.

For me, (although I'm sure someone else will be along shortly to tell me that someone else was doing it in the 70s), the Japanese are largely responsible for making 4 cylinder engines "sexier", as they made stuff like twin camshafts and 4 valves per cylinder more mainstream. Also stuff like VTEC helped people to take 4 cylinder engines more seriously in performance applications. Am I right in thinking that VAG were the only company to go 5 valves per cylinder with the prolific 1.8T unit? I wonder why this never really caught on and 16 valves have become the norm?

For me, the greatest 4-pot engines are the NA Type-R/S2000 engines which sound really good and rev like crazy and the Subaru Flat 4 engine when turbocharged. I've never driven one but I also hear that the Vauxhall "Red Top" engine as fitted to the mk2 Astra GTE 16v and various mk3 Cavaliers is also one of the greats.

So what in your opinion, is the best 4-cylinder engine ever made?

MitchT

15,788 posts

208 months

Monday 27th March 2017
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I was once a passenger in an enthusiastically driven Integra Type R. That sounded pretty savage!

Krikkit

26,500 posts

180 months

Monday 27th March 2017
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I'm sure someone will be along with some crazy-revving BDA, and the Hondas are definitely wonderful things, but for me it's either the Subaru flat 4 or the Volumex-charged 4 in the 037.

Lots of great NA I4's, but those two stand out for me.

MorganP104

2,605 posts

129 months

Monday 27th March 2017
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I was very taken with the SR20DE 4-pot in my P10 Nissan Primera eGT. I seem to remember it had a very high redline, and loved to rev. biggrin

Christmassss

650 posts

88 months

Monday 27th March 2017
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MorganP104 said:
I was very taken with the SR20DE 4-pot in my P10 Nissan Primera eGT. I seem to remember it had a very high redline, and loved to rev. biggrin
Great engines!

I had the SR20DET in my 200sx. Chain driven and (nearly) indestructible!

Mr2Mike

20,143 posts

254 months

Monday 27th March 2017
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white_goodman said:
Am I right in thinking that VAG were the only company to go 5 valves per cylinder with the prolific 1.8T unit? I wonder why this never really caught on and 16 valves have become the norm?
Yamaha made 5 valve per cylinder bike engines as far back as 1984. The complexity and expense compared to a 4v/cylinder design and the relatively small performance improvement have most likely limited it's use.

Riley Blue

20,915 posts

225 months

Monday 27th March 2017
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'Best' in what respect; most powerful, highest revving, most tuneable, most widely used. I bet the answer is different for each one.

kambites

67,461 posts

220 months

Monday 27th March 2017
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The "best" (as in most interesting) 4-cylinder car engine I've experienced was probably the one in the Honda S600.

Rat_Fink_67

2,309 posts

205 months

Monday 27th March 2017
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I guess it depends on how to define "best", but for me it'd probably be Ford's iconic YBT/P Cosworth.

TROOPER88

1,767 posts

178 months

Monday 27th March 2017
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4age AE82

Alex

9,975 posts

283 months

Monday 27th March 2017
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My favourites:

Honda B18C
Alfa Romeo Twin-Cam


C7 JFW

1,205 posts

218 months

Monday 27th March 2017
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Honda S2000 F20C engine
Honda K20
Mistubishi Evo 4G63
Cosworth YB Engine
Subaru Boxer Engine
Vauxhall Red Top?
Ford/Mazda Duratec 2.3

QuartzDad

2,230 posts

121 months

Monday 27th March 2017
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BMW M12/13? 1500bhp has to be up there.

Markbarry1977

4,027 posts

102 months

Monday 27th March 2017
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Ducati MotoGP 800cc screamer. Best sounding engine I have ever heard v4.

Johnny 89

824 posts

151 months

Monday 27th March 2017
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'The Beast of Turin'

Probably not the best, but possibly the coolest biggrin

lucido grigio

44,044 posts

162 months

Monday 27th March 2017
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Johnny 89 said:
'The Beast of Turin'

Probably not the best, but possibly the coolest biggrin
Very much this,28 litres of madness....nuts

TonyRPH

12,963 posts

167 months

Monday 27th March 2017
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white_goodman said:
<snip>
the Japanese are largely responsible for making 4 cylinder engines "sexier", as they made stuff like twin camshafts and 4 valves per cylinder more mainstream.
<snip>
I suspect the Italians* got there first with twin cams at least, as every Alfa I remember since back in the 70's had a twin cam engine.

The earliest Japanese twin cam I remember seeing was sometime in the 80's although I'm sure they must have produced something before that.

However, Japanese motorbikes had twin cams long before that so I guess they qualify as they are 4 cylinder engines.

  • With general everyday road going cars I mean.

crosseyedlion

2,170 posts

197 months

Monday 27th March 2017
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I always loved the Alfa 2.0 16v Twin Spark. So revvy, smooth and actually sounds italian!

VladD

7,853 posts

264 months

Monday 27th March 2017
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Mr2Mike said:
white_goodman said:
Am I right in thinking that VAG were the only company to go 5 valves per cylinder with the prolific 1.8T unit? I wonder why this never really caught on and 16 valves have become the norm?
Yamaha made 5 valve per cylinder bike engines as far back as 1984. The complexity and expense compared to a 4v/cylinder design and the relatively small performance improvement have most likely limited it's use.
I had a VW Sanatana many years ago. 2 litre, 5 cylinder non-turbo IIRC. Must have been an early 80s car as I bought it at auction for £200 in the early 90s.

kambites

67,461 posts

220 months

Monday 27th March 2017
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TonyRPH said:
I suspect the Italians got there first with twin cams at least, as every Alfa I remember since back in the 70's had a twin cam engine.
There were quite a few DOHC engines in the 60s. Lotus had one in '62 and I'm sure they weren't the first. Honda had one in a car in '63 (in the S500).

ETA: Apparently the first DOHC four-pot car engine was a Peugeot in 1912. smile


Edited by kambites on Monday 27th March 16:03