What do you consider the greatest street car engines of all time?

[ramrod]

Good call/post. But these engines are too rare and most do not know they even exist.

Rare!

[andrew rs]

4cyl:
subie 2.5 boxer
honda f22
4g63
mopar 2.4 srt-4

6cyl:
2jz-gte
rb26dett
buick turbo 3.8

8cyl:
Ford 427 Big Block
LS7
426 Hemi
Ford 32 valve supercharged (aka 03-04 cobra)

[86 IROC-Z]

the LT1 was in the 93-97 fbodys, 94-96 ss impala and 92-96 vettes, i believe 86IROCZ has a LB9

Right you are... LB9... 45 CIs and 200 hp short of a real engine....

[Warbird]

4 cyl: Mitsubishi 4G63T, Honda B16, GM 2.0 Ecotec Turbo and 2.4 Ecotec, Nissan SR20DET.

6 cyl: E46 M3 I6, Buick LC2, GM 3.1, Toyota 2JZ, Nissan RB26DETT, Nissan VQ35.

8 cyl: GenI SBC, GenIII/IV SBC, SBF, Dodge 440, BBC.

[BULLET_WS6]

The turbo you may have used lags, not the engine itself. The whole motor is forged I havent heard of any breakage problems? Only the opposite, the engine being strong. Perhaps the tune was bad in your case? My friend had a red top in his 240 and the thing had hardly any boost lag at all, with the stock turbo cranked up it still put down 287 horses at the wheels and the car was very light, he removed most of the interior save for the 2 front seats. He kicked the snot out of that car on the regular and the engine always ran great! I guess theres always gonna be someone that blows something up. Heck people blow up 5 liters and ls1's but that doesnt make them shitty engines.

well i ran stock turbo and mine didnt hit full spool till like 4800 rpms, and that thing held its boost good.. but it detonates so easy... and i had mine fully stripped too..all the carpet, spare tire... all seats but mine and when i had to take someone id put there seat in... iuno maybe its just personal opinion but that engine sucked ass... and parts cost a buttload for it

[Marc 85Z28]

Oh come on now you newbies. Second page and no one has mentioned this...

LT5.

This is a street engine poll. Not only is the LT5 too expensive and complicated, but its DOHC architecture was ahead of its time and was NOT a good street engine. Locating parts, experienced technicians to work on them, and the task specific tools are a nightmare.

Who cares about ANY 4 or 6 cylinder engine at any time period or manufacturer. This poll can be answered with a simple acronym that simply cannot be logically argued: SBC

[derrinx]

This is a street engine poll. Not only is the LT5 too expensive and complicated, but its DOHC architecture was ahead of its time and was NOT a good street engine. Locating parts, experienced technicians to work on them, and the task specific tools are a nightmare.

Who cares about ANY 4 or 6 cylinder engine at any time period or manufacturer. This poll can be answered with a simple acronym that simply cannot be logically argued: SBC

small block chevy?...sorry never heard that before...

and also it would be ignorant to disregard 4's and 6's because 85% of cars on the road have either one

[andrew rs]

small block chevy?...sorry never heard that before...

and also it would be ignorant to disregard 4's and 6's because 85% of cars on the road have either one

very true, and some of those 4cyl and 6cyl can blow some of the V8's off the street.

[Jerry01ss]

any of the LS engines..

[310stanger]

This is a street engine poll. Not only is the LT5 too expensive and complicated, but its DOHC architecture was ahead of its time and was NOT a good street engine. Locating parts, experienced technicians to work on them, and the task specific tools are a nightmare.

Who cares about ANY 4 or 6 cylinder engine at any time period or manufacturer. This poll can be answered with a simple acronym that simply cannot be logically argued: SBC

Dohc ahead of its time? No, not really. Not a good street engine? I disagree there too. What I will agree on is that technicians trained on the zr1 were hard to find and the special tools that were required making servicing them a pain in the ass. The engine itself I'm sure can be a mild pita to service but the power and driveability of the engine makes a great street engine. They are reliable too, but like any engine require servicing. I dont even wanna know what the cost of parts is on that engine. A zr1 is an expensive car to own I'm sure. But the lt5 definitely deserves to be considered a fantastic engine. I love reading about the details and its inception. As far as not caring about 4 and 6 cyls? The title of the post doesnt exclude 4 and 6 cyls. So you are outnumbered buddy. About 20 other people besides yourself care.

[94z28l]

Right you are... LB9... 45 CIs and 200 hp short of a real engine....

wouldnt say that, for its time it wasnt bad things have just changed rapidly

[secondgearscratch]

This is a street engine poll. Not only is the LT5 too expensive and complicated, but its DOHC architecture was ahead of its time and was NOT a good street engine. Locating parts, experienced technicians to work on them, and the task specific tools are a nightmare.

Who cares about ANY 4 or 6 cylinder engine at any time period or manufacturer. This poll can be answered with a simple acronym that simply cannot be logically argued: SBC

wow.....

first of all. its still an engine. task specific tools? its an overhead cam motor, not a p9 missile launching flux capacitor....

it was released in the mid 90s after the zr1 vette with the lt4. not sure, but i think in 1996 the 4.6 liter v8 in the mustang gt was in well...mustang gts. that was the third year of that particular ohc engine, and that was just one company...one american company. now im not sure but i think my piece of shit dsm had a 2.0 liter dohc turbo 4 and it was a 1990.

and not caring about 6 cylinders...

have you ever heard of the LC2? thats what they call a turbo 6 3.8 liter in the grand national. they have been know to go 10's on the stock block. you are showing your ignorance further by claiming that the sbc is the end all be all in terms of v8s.

news flash...

in the muscle car era, the name GM and the name ford only really came up when you talked about very limited production big block monsters such as the 428 cj or the 427 or even the 455. they werent in ALOT of cars. and to be quite honest, they still had nothing on MOPAR.

440. you could find it in trucks for christ sakes....

HEMIspherical heads? anything yet?

i LOVE GM but lets not act like GM owns the name V8 and muscle here, it wouldnt be right.

[310stanger]

wow.....

first of all. its still an engine. task specific tools? its an overhead cam motor, not a p9 missile launching flux capacitor....

it was released in the mid 90s after the zr1 vette with the lt4. not sure, but i think in 1996 the 4.6 liter v8 in the mustang gt was in well...mustang gts. that was the third year of that particular ohc engine, and that was just one company...one american company. now im not sure but i think my piece of shit dsm had a 2.0 liter dohc turbo 4 and it was a 1990.

and not caring about 6 cylinders...

have you ever heard of the LC2? thats what they call a turbo 6 3.8 liter in the grand national. they have been know to go 10's on the stock block. you are showing your ignorance further by claiming that the sbc is the end all be all in terms of v8s.

news flash...

in the muscle car era, the name GM and the name ford only really came up when you talked about very limited production big block monsters such as the 428 cj or the 427 or even the 455. they werent in ALOT of cars. and to be quite honest, they still had nothing on MOPAR.

440. you could find it in trucks for christ sakes....

HEMIspherical heads? anything yet?

i LOVE GM but lets not act like GM owns the name V8 and muscle here, it wouldnt be right.

I agree with the bulk of what you said except for your apparent slight misinfo on the LT5 being discussed. The LT5 was in fact the heart of the zr1. This engine came before the LT4 which was a pushrod engine which came out in 1996.

[secondgearscratch]

I agree with the bulk of what you said except for your apparent slight misinfo on the LT5 being discussed. The LT5 was in fact the heart of the zr1. This engine came before the LT4 which was a pushrod engine which came out in 1996.

oh i thought the zr1...wait god damnit...that was the grand sport...shit...im sorry.
my mistake.

[Marc 85Z28]

Alright, here we go...

Nowhere in the original post or title was a "fantastic" requirement. It said street motor. Sure the LT5 made good power, for its day, but like I said the DOHC WAS AHEAD OF ITS TIME! Back when that engine was conceived they did the best with what they had, and the EFI technology and components back then just were not capable of supporting that engine architecture. I don't care what anyone says, but a high compression high technology super expensive DOHC 350ci should make more power than it did. Had that engine been released today with no long block changes (just PCM hardware/software tuning and injector technology with the intake runner improvements to utilize them) that engine would really impress! Good race oriented engine? Sure... street motor...

And this ought to really piss a lot of people off: Turbos and superchargers are used as band-aid to fix what the engine could not achieve on its own: power. Show me one streetable 4 or 6 cylinder engine that doesn't use any band-aids that could be considered one of the "greatest engines of all time"

Finally, I wouldn't expect to find much sympathy for disrespecting the "missing cylinders" crowd. This is after all LS1.com

The gen I and gen III SBCs certainly belong on the list, as does the SBF, the BBC and Hemi powerplants. I would not include a single 4 cylinder from any manufacturer for obvious reasons. They only 6 cylinder I could consider would be the turbo Buick stuff. If the Iron Duke and slant 6 made any power they would be on the list...

Edit: secondgearscratch - the SOHC 4.6L Ford motor had been out for more than just 3 years before the 96 Mustang intro... And why, why bring that boat anchor into this thread!? NEVER use any of Fords OHC offerings as an example as to what can be done with OHC technology - use it as an example of what can't be done!

[andrew rs]

Alright, here we go...

Nowhere in the original post or title was a "fantastic" requirement. It said street motor. Sure the LT5 made good power, for its day, but like I said the DOHC WAS AHEAD OF ITS TIME! Back when that engine was conceived they did the best with what they had, and the EFI technology and components back then just were not capable of supporting that engine architecture. I don't care what anyone says, but a high compression high technology super expensive DOHC 350ci should make more power than it did. Had that engine been released today with no long block changes (just PCM hardware/software tuning and injector technology with the intake runner improvements to utilize them) that engine would really impress! Good race oriented engine? Sure... street motor...

And this ought to really piss a lot of people off: Turbos and superchargers are used as band-aid to fix what the engine could not achieve on its own: power. Show me one streetable 4 or 6 cylinder engine that doesn't use any band-aids that could be considered one of the "greatest engines of all time"

Finally, I wouldn't expect to find much sympathy for disrespecting the "missing cylinders" crowd. This is after all LS1.com

The gen I and gen III SBCs certainly belong on the list, as does the SBF, the BBC and Hemi powerplants. I would not include a single 4 cylinder from any manufacturer for obvious reasons. They only 6 cylinder I could consider would be the turbo Buick stuff. If the Iron Duke and slant 6 made any power they would be on the list...

Edit: secondgearscratch - the SOHC 4.6L Ford motor had been out for more than just 3 years before the 96 Mustang intro... And why, why bring that boat anchor into this thread!? NEVER use any of Fords OHC offerings as an example as to what can be done with OHC technology - use it as an example of what can't be done!

Why would you not include turbo fours or supercharged sixes? Thats just like a four cylinder driver saying you only won the race because you have double the engine they do. They are lacking in displacement but make it up with forced induction. A V8 is lacking in forced induction so they make it up in displacement. So I dont quite understand your arguement.

Yes the SBC is an extreamly well engineered motor but its not the end all be all of engines.

[secondgearscratch]

ok...the lt5 was not ahead of its time....why do you keep saying that? just because one engine puts out more power than another doesnt make it revolutionary.

you eluded to the points of the ford and the mitubishi and the toyota and blah blah ohc engines that were produced WAY before '96. guess you dont wanna admit that the lt5, while a shift for the GM 8 cylinder...wasnt a new thing after all.

an example of what not to do is what an ohv ford v8 is? really? because i thought that a 4.6 dohc engine in an n/a setup...a la mach 1, pretty much kept even with an ls1 f body. hmmm. 320 crank rated horses...youre right, weak for sure....
i would say thats pretty decent for a modular engine that is a full liter smaller and an ohc setup. just a thought. the single ohc is still an achievement in and of itsself, just no where near the power of a pushrod GM engine.

and a turbo is a band aid? i am fairly certain that ANY factory forced induced motor has the same n/a counterpart, so how can you say it does work and is a band aid? the 4.3l v6 in the s10 hauls good ass with ALOT of torque, but i guess since it doesnt have 8 cylinders its less of an engine in your view.

what about the honda f20 engine i sited in my first post in this thread. thats a longitudal 4 cylinder, naturally aspirated 2.2 liter that makes around 240 hp at the crank. yes there isnt much torque, but it still produces alot of power for a 4 banger and can rev safely to 9k. i hate honda, but a bit of respect is due.

you are changing your story around now to include the lc2. change of heart? or just maybe you realized that a properly set up lc2 could blow the doors off of ALOT of sbc.

look man, the GM 4.3 liter can easily be called one of the greatest engines ever. they just keep going.

the japanese car companies have made due with what they had and have done a decent job considering. I love GM, i have an LS1, but that doesnt mean i think i cant be touched.

give respect where its due.

[310stanger]

The LT5 made 405 horses n/a at its peak back in the day. Thats not good power? The ls6 z06 engine made the same, and you consider that a great engine dont you? I dont see how the LT5 is a bad street engine, a bad street engine would be an engine that has zero torque and all peak power. The zr1 is very driveable. I also dont get how the valve actuation of an engine makes a difference with the fuel systems. Fuel injectors dont recognize ohv or dohc, they only squirt fuel into the intake tract based on throttle openings read and interrupted by the maf sensor and computer. The valve actuation is completely irrrelevant. Dohc engines in 1990 were not a new technology either. The engine itself could be a pain in the ass to service in the fact that it had an intake manilfold with a ton of runners and probably a ton of intake gaskets that can leak, and 32 valves are in fact more complex then a simple 2 valve per cyl engine. But this is only relevant when there's a failure. The fact that mercruiser made the blocks and had engineering input could also complicate things. But other then that, the LT5 is/was a gem of an engine and reasons I wouldnt want a zr1 are because of the rattle box c4 chassis not that engine. I kinda understand what you are thinking mark i jus dont agree.

[Spaz]

What about the V10 from Dodge used in Vipers and the SRT trucks?

chevy had a prototype v-10 that was going to be used in thier trucks... jerky ass bastages never put it in to production...

[310stanger]

Also while the sohc 4.6 fords do not make a ton of power stock they are nonetheless good reliable engines with some good engineering built into them. If you want examples of great ohc capabilities with fords look no further then their 32 valve modular engines. those are great engines. Take a look at the 3valve modulars those make good power and have great driveability, they are smooth and quiet.
Power adders being a band aid? Theres a lot of people making 1,000 hp that'll disagree with you on this as well. These 1000 horsepower cars have had 500 horses or more prior to the power adder quite a bit of the time. Power adder engines are still great engines because its how they respond to the forced induction that matters. I'll take a power adder any day with an engine that takes that 15 psi harnesses it and gives me 500 lbs of torque and hp at my rear tires. Band aid? Fuck it, I'd rather put a band aid on my cut and smoke someone at a traffic light and leave them their "bleeding". my 2 cents