What is the "best" 4 cylinder engine ever made?
Discussion
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?
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?
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.white_goodman said:
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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.
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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 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>
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.
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.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.
Edited by kambites on Monday 27th March 16:03
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