Which company do you think produce the best petrol engines?

[TDilover]

Hi all,

Just interested to hear your thoughts on this subject in regards to more every day companies like Ford, Mercedes, toyota/lexus not Ferrari for example.
We can divide it into sections. i.e best petrol turbo engine 1.2 and below, 1.3-1.6,1.7-2.0. I'm thinking engines in these ranges as most every day companies produce engines upto 2.0. I'm not really looking for answers beyond that.

[mrbarnett]

Produced today or at any point in history?

[Dubmaster77]

BMW M10
Rover Kseries
Vauxhall Redtop
VW ABF 16V
Mercedes 2.3 Cosworth........
Alfa........

[Dubmaster77]

All of the above also made some horrible 4 cylinders also!

[Leon R]

BMW wins a lot of awards with their engines.

[Dubmaster77]

Leon R said:

BMW wins a lot of awards with their engines.

Agreed M50 series 6 cylinders are particularly special!

[zedx19]

I think the 5 pot Volvo lump in my Focus is pretty damn good, makes noises which give me a twitch on. It is horrifically poor on fuel though and is prone to cracking a liner if not block modded. In terms of great engines in everyday motors that petrol heads like, it's superb.

[Blanchimont]

Honda's K20 isn't a bad engine.

8k RPM, can take a fk tonne of abuse. Breathing Mods can do 250hp, and boosted can take double the standard output (and then some) on standard internals and still take a bashing and not break.

They like a drink, and need regular oil top ups.

[TurboHatchback]

From mainstream brands I would have to say BMW or VAG. Toyota used to be up there but they seem to have given up on producing interesting cars or engines so not any more.

Then again how you define best is fairly important, is it performance, efficiency, driveability or reliability? I certainly wouldn't rate BMW or VAG as best if reliability is the metric.

[alfie2244]

Honda B series.............end of

[caelite]

Ford Sigma/duratec motors are widely respected in the kit car/tuning world. When you see the people who could pick pretty much any engine they want picking them, that is an indicator of quality to me.

[TDilover]

mrbarnett said:

Produced today or at any point in history?

I suppose within the last 5 years.

[300bhp/ton]

TDilover said:

Hi all,

Just interested to hear your thoughts on this subject in regards to more every day companies like Ford, Mercedes, toyota/lexus not Ferrari for example.
We can divide it into sections. i.e best petrol turbo engine 1.2 and below, 1.3-1.6,1.7-2.0. I'm thinking engines in these ranges as most every day companies produce engines upto 2.0. I'm not really looking for answers beyond that.

Depends entirely on what the engine is for tbh. All companies have ability to make good or less good engines. Plus many are shared across brands and even car makers.


However for mass market engine production you probably have a long way to go to look past the Chevy or Chrysler V8 ranges. Small, compact, powerful, efficient, low cost, reliable, durable. Really what isn't there to love about them?

Both engine ranges are also used in a wide array of vehicles, different displacements and power outputs.

[Dannbodge]

It's got to be VAG/BMW

[DazzaSport]

The Japanese - no more to be said.

[ElectricPics]

Dannbodge said:

It's got to be VAG/BMW

Perhaps 20 years ago, and I'd include Mercedes in that.

If you want reliability, power and longevity you can't go past the Japanese, particularly Toyota/Lexus and Honda.

[anonymous-user]

Dannbodge said:

It's got to be VAG/BMW

No, it really doesn’t. VAG in particular make some of the worst 4 cylinder engines in history and most of those in past 20 years have been diesels. W12 notwithstanding. Anyone remember the BMW vanos disaster or the unreliable V10 bearings?

I put forward the GM LS series V8 as a proper engine. Powerful, fuel efficient, simple, cheap, reliable and very, very tuneable. Most will make 700hp with a bolt on supercharger and that’s without the fabulous V8 noise. You can also swap one for another as they are all the same basic architecture.

Not like the usual German whip fanboy rubbish!

Edited by anonymous-user on Wednesday 12th December 15:42

[TwinExit]

Bit of a pointless topic, all you will get are answers that nominate engines that just happen to come from the actual cars that posters' like the most.

[viggyp]

Fiat 1.4 Multiair is a pretty decent engine. Saying that, years ago they made some great engines (single and twin cams)

[TwinExit]

wormus said:

No, it really doesn’t. VAG in particular make some of the worst 4 cylinder engines in history and most of those in past 20 years have been diesels. W12 notwithstanding. Anyone remember the BMW vanos disaster or the unreliable V10 bearings?

I put forward the GM LS series V8 as a proper engine. Powerful, fuel efficient, simple, cheap, reliable and very, very tuneable. Most will make 700hp with a bolt on supercharger and that’s without the fabulous V8 noise. You can also swap one for another as they are all the same basic architecture.

Not like the usual German whip fanboy rubbish!

Edited by wormus on Wednesday 12th December 15:42

Exactly.

Too many PH'ers are limited to the Ford/Vauxhall/French -> BMW/VAG upgrade path, and stay there. Never to venture anywhere else to form a well rounded opinion on what makes a great petrol engine.

No one in their right mind who has driven cars with N/A or forced induction V6s, V8s, V10s, V12 would decide to pick a poxy motor from a remapped 335i or a Golf GTi over these.