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

[white_goodman]

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?

[white_goodman]

Riley Blue said:

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

Well on those criteria, you would maybe be looking at the Mitsubishi 4G63T, S2000 engine, Cosworth YB and Rover K-Series (or possibly one of VAGs engines). Personally, I would not consider any of these engines (apart from perhaps the S2000's) to be the greatest or a personal favourite, as for me, character, power delivery and aural quality are more important to me than the above criteria. So I guess, based on your personal preferences, which do you consider to be the greatest?