The great engine thread.

[Cavcraft]

Easy/soft option after the 'worse engines' thread but what engines were great?

 

I'm going to nominate the following:

 

Transit Di: brilliant things. Sound ace (if you're a weirdo diesel fetish) never seem to die and you kind of just know they'll get you where you want to go and even if they do fail it's usually a pretty simple fix. Not the quietest or quickest engine and some seem to pull miles better than others, but I think they're brilliant.

 

Most 8V Vauxhall engines, especially the 2.0 130 lump and the 1800 as fitted to the Mk2 Cavalier SRi. Bullet proof, can take immense hammer/abuse and with the right box torque/poke in 3rd gear alone is worth the money. Even the 1.4i is pretty good and I can testify to them taking years of neglect/no servicing and still run all day long.

 

PSA 1.9 n/a engines. Great on fuel, take mass abuse, run better on veg oil and seem to last forever.

[FredTransit]

As you have already beaten me to it with the DI, I have to nominate the Pinto. Sit em about for years? Fresh battery and off they go. Cam belt snapped? Put a new one on, reset the timing, off you go. HGF? keep adding water till you can do something about it! No skimming to worry about. What's not to like?

[warren t claim]

Any engine that has been identified as a FREEWHEELING engine where valves and pistons are........etc

[dollywobbler]

Citroen flat twin. How can such a small engine of such elderly design take so much abuse and keep going for mile after mile? My 2CV's engine has done 169,000 miles and while it's a touch smoky at times, it's still going and is a lot healthier than a lot of larger engines.

 

Maserati V6. Yes, it's horrendous to repair and has fun items like exploding exhaust valves, but the noise and power they generate chills the blood.

 

Rover V8. No, it's not really one of the masterpiece engines of our time, but it's turned a lot of crap cars into really quite good ones!

 

Peugeot XUD. Simple, brisk enough and almost impossible to kill.

[Richard]

Avenger engine. I only know one person who has managed to break one. I had no antifreeze in my Avenger so I used to drive it until it boiled up then top it up with cold water. Every day. I drove the Sunbeam about 50 miles with no water at all, when I stopped it ran on for ages because it was so hot. Neither of them even considered blowing a gasket. If the cars didn't fall apart first these engines would routinely crack 300k.

 

I was horrified when I discovered how fragile modern engines are.

[Guest Leonard Hatred]

Transit Di: brilliant things. Sound ace (if you're a weirdo diesel fetish)

 

I hate the hollow "skeletons copulating in nissen hut" clatter that Transit Di engines make, and I tend to like diesel engine noise.

[M'coli]

From what I've read on other threads, then I nominate the Nissan diesel fitted to FX4 Taxi.

 

The BMW 4-pot in the 2002. The F1 M12/13 engine used scrapyard blocks until they exceeded 750 bhp.

[Albert Ross]

Land rover 2286 petrol or diesel. Idiotproof. Isuzu 1686 diesel as found in astra F. Bulletproof.

[Guest Leonard Hatred]

I've killed two Isuzu TC4-EE1s. They don't like almost unfiltered vegetable oil due to a filter manufacturing error up them.

[ChinaTom]

I can't speak for the longuevity or reliability as I only had the car for a few days, but I remember with great fondness a Peugeot 405 1.6GL. The old man had an STDT at the same time and as plush and fancy as that was, the 1.6 was a much more entertaining drive. I had nearly the same feeling about a 1.6 306. It may have been the gear ratios not the engine, but there's something special about a mid-90's 1.6 Peugeot, and if it's the engine, then that's my pick.

 

If not, I guess I'll have to be predictable:

[Akron]

Another vote for the Land Rover 2 1/4 engines great motors also IMHO the VAG 1.9 Tdi and PD, if treated to regular maintenance and correct oil will last a lifetime a successor to the PSA 1.9 diseasel in my book. Poorly maintained and looked after though and they are a money pit like any engine, 80,000 miles on my Octavia now and not an issue from the engine or drive train only needed the dmf converting to a single mass.

[Guest Leonard Hatred]

One of my favourite engines is a controversial one, the VM 425 OHV fitted to Rover 800s, Jeep Cherokees, etc.

 

They have a tremendous amount of torque for an old indirect injection diesel, up to 230 lb/ft in some applications. The engine is gear driven, sacking off any belt/chain snapping horrors. They are quite economical for their size and power, and relatively quiet. I've owned a Ford Scorpio and Rover 825D fitted with the engine, never any trouble even when running on used engine oil, etc.

[catsinthewelder]

Fiats range of fire engines would get the vote from me.

 

I acquired an F reg Tipo 1.4 as my first proper car on the strength of the Uno's my mates ran when they were 17. Both types seemed to thrive on abuse, I remember one of said friends taking his 999cc Uno up to 62mph in second on a fairly regular basis with no particularly obvious consequences. The other notched up 20k of mainly motorway miles in a year more or less trouble free, seemingly without any mechanical attention. The cambelt snapped killing that one, but it may well have been the original.

 

The Tipo that I bought a few years later was a great car. I adored hammering around in it, The level of power and torque seemed perfectly matched to the car so that you could fly round all day with your foot seemingly welded to the floor without feeling like you were missing out on power in any way. The Peugeots (1.6 405 estate and 1.8 205 diesel)that were a few cars later down the line are the only other cars I've had that gave the same carefree feeling but felt underpowered in comparison.

 

This could be inexperience grabbing the rose tinted shades though as I havn't had a chance to drive one since

[M'coli]

I beieve the 999cc FIRE engine is a free-wheeling job like the 1600 pinto, so if the cambelt lets go, line the marks up, fit a new belt, start it up - job done.

[Timewaster]

the VM 425 never any trouble even when running on used engine oil

 

As fuel or lubricant?

[Vin]

I beieve the 999cc FIRE engine is a free-wheeling job like the 1600 pinto, so if the cambelt lets go, line the marks up, fit a new belt, start it up - job done.

 

Yup, the 999cc and 769cc fitted to Pandas are definitely 'non interference' engines.

 

The 1.9 turbo diesel engines that powered my Tipo and my sisters Tempra Estate seemed bulletproof. The cars eventually deteriorated around them

[hairymel]

from cars i have owned

 

the zetec s /sigma - 1250cc of revyness

 

bmw v12 -at least 2 of everything to go wrong but quite simply a brilliant thing to push a sporting limobarge around

[pogweasel]

BMW M42

Just an absolute honey that properly revs to the red-line.

Can't get enough.

[MrDuke]

Predictably, Pug 1.8 diesel - the only engine I've experienced that I have 120% confidence in to keep on and on going no matter what. My radiator has been pissing fairly large amounts of water out for the past 6 months; I just wait until the fan starts kicking in every 5 minute, then top it up On top of the reliability, it's genuinely quick for a diesel, bags of torque, and obviously sips fuel. Just need a Bosch pump now...

 

As far as petrol engines go, I'd say anything Honda - I've yet to hear anything remotely bad about them, and the ones I've driven have been absolute honeys. Obviously anything Jap (apart from some Mazdas) would be uber-reliable, but Hondas are always genuinely fun as well.

[Richard]

As far as petrol engines go, I'd say anything Honda - I've yet to hear anything remotely bad about them,

 

You will from me. My old work had a Honda Stream with a VTEC engine and it was awful.

[peter9000uk]

Alfa flat 4 boxer engine, my wife's old Alfasud sprint took so much abuse including much reving right through the redline and beyond and never gave a bit of trouble. Won't talk about the rest of the car though

[ashmicro]

4 pot K Series, preferably the 14K16. The K is nearly too complex (and therefore requires scrupulous maintenance) for the market sector of the cars in which it was fitted. Fine when the cars were new, and getting dealer services, but who's going to spend big coin getting a £1k Rover 200 properly serviced, a few years down the line?

 

111.975 - 2.3 Litre Merc 4-banger supercharged, as fitted to the W202. Stonking. Lovely whine from a tweaked 'charger is glorious.

 

Dizziless Ford Crossflow on a Weber- virtually unkillable, easy to get the rattles out of the top end.

 

 

BTW, I think, if memory serves, that the 1.6 Pinto is interference, and the 2 litre is freewheeling.

[chaseracer]

Predictably, I agree with Ian on the aircooled Citroen flat-twin. But I've also done many thousands of miles behind the GS/A flat-fours, so I'll add that to the list. We boiled the oil in a 1299 and had to push the car across the Spanish border; an hour's rest with the bonnet open and it was fine.

 

PSA 2.0HDi, in non-intercooled 8-valve 90 flavour; simple, torquey, surprisingly rapid in a Blingo.

 

998 Nissan I-4 16v: like a sewing machine, with a chain-driven cam, Domestic Management's 'bubble' Micra began to fall apart around it.

[autofive]

 

BTW, I think, if memory serves, that the 1.6 Pinto is interference, and the 2 litre is freewheeling.

 

thats my experience of em.

1600's are interference, 2 litres are non interference

 

i assume the 1.3 pinto is an interference engine too

 

 

a few years ago i had a 2 litre diesel Corolla that impossible to kill - i never changed the oil or filter for the 18 monthes i ran it, (about 20k miles) I revved it far too high and yet it didnt die. i was told that this 2 litre engine, non-turbo, was not a UK spec. and had been used in Toyota pick-ups and parts were difficult to get - but in the end the corrolla kept snapping drive shafts, so i sold it on

[Guest Leonard Hatred]

As far as petrol engines go, I'd say anything Honda - I've yet to hear anything remotely bad about them,

 

You will from me. My old work had a Honda Stream with a VTEC engine and it was awful.

 

I haven't tried a VTEC, its peaky power delivery seems wrong for a heavy MPV though.

 

Honda's 'lesser' engines are marvellous, the most refined 4 pots I've found and mega reliable - but again they tend to be a wee bit peaky.

[Tayne]

.

[Richard]

This Stream couldn't legally access the power in any gear higher than second.

[155V6]

 

I haven't tried a VTEC, its peaky power delivery seems wrong for a heavy MPV though.

 

See also the VVC K-Series in a Freelander

[Volksy]

I'm a fan of 5 pots, so Audi/VW engines, and my current fav, the Volvo 5 pot. Tad thirsty, but the noise is great!

 

I also like the 6 cyl diesel fitted to VW LT's and Volvos.

[Guest Leonard Hatred]

 

I haven't tried a VTEC, its peaky power delivery seems wrong for a heavy MPV though.

 

See also the VVC K-Series in a Freelander

 

No such thing, they were fitted with the conventional 1.8 K only which is probably alright apart from the obvious Hellman's problems - they are grunty engines. I believe Rover's VVC system is a lot more refined than VTEC, it's infinitely variable and works across the rev range. No 'VVC just kicked in y0'.

 

I'm a fan of 5 pots, so Audi/VW engines, and my current fav, the Volvo 5 pot. Tad thirsty, but the noise is great!

 

I also like the 6 cyl diesel fitted to VW LT's and Volvos.

 

I like the 2.0 5-pot fitted to my old Audi coupe, it burbled like a V8 at low revs and wasn't at all bad on fuel with 33MPG on average - on super unleaded unfortunately. Not a powerful engine, but it felt tractable and friendly even pottering about at 30MPH in 5th.

 

The D24 fitted to LTs and Volvos is part of the same engine family as the Audi 5 pot I think, it looks very similar anyway. As you'd expect, the D24 sounds like a lorry at low speeds but has a nice old fashioned petrol six pot sound at higher revs. It never lets you forget its presence anyway.

They produce a comical amount of smoke as standard, tuned ones are even worse.