If you're Dropping a V8 in your car, your focus is NOT fuel economy in the first place. Its going to be Torque and Horsepower. V8s are workhorse engines in their stock form, not track ponies. Granted, they can be made into some fast little beasties. LS2 is a prime example.

 

+1............

 

I'm positive that you're right and I just had a brain fart. The k20a has higher compression pistons and the a2 shares the same intake manifold.

Hats off to you, lol.

 

Still cant seem to see eye to eye with the shop. But most of us are leaning towards the 22R. I still cant see how some of them swear by the SBC. Dont get me wrong, lots of potential and mean as hell. But were talking stock, unmodified engines in the vehicles they came in from factory.

 

I also vote for the 22-r.. My dad's friend just put over 1 million kilometers on his. My dads 4runner still isn't broken in. It's only got 170,000 kms on it.

I also somewhat agree with the Ls series, besides the fuel economy, but that usually goes hand in hand with a larger displacement.

 

While I may not vote for the 350 SBC as the ultimate engine, I'd still have to vote for some kind of V8 (perhaps the LS-series). If we're talking about truly all-purpose (which is what the title of "ultimate engine" suggests), a V8 is far more ubiquitous; a V8 can be tuned to provide racing horsepower, or be used to tow things, which is why they're put in both cars and trucks, and even fast motorboats too! An I4 simply doesn't have that kind of versatility.

Then again, this discussion is also basically the same as saying "What's the ultimate car?" After all, whenever you cite an engine, it's in terms of what car it was in, meaning you're factoring in things like the weight, reliability, and any other bias of the car itself. And in either case, it's kind of pointless because there's always going to be an engine/car that's better in one area, because there is no such thing as a car/engine that does everything and fails at nothing. So although it makes for great conversation, it's not something to get worked up over.

 

^great post

I personally don't know all that much about the ls series, but if someone made me choose a v8 that would definitely be my choice. I have a buddy that is a chevy fanatic (and a honda lover, weird huh) and the discussions that we've had about the ls series has really made me like them quite a lot. It seems like (as stated above with most v8's) they are extremely versatile and if power is your goal they definitely have a fantastic platform to start from.

FWIW, there are two engines that just make me giddy when I hear them..
a cammed v8 with a huge exhaust
a subie boxer with an exhaust (not so huge, lol)

Every time I hear that low & mean rumble that just sounds like a menacing worked 69 camaro ss I automatically have respect for it.. There's just something about that vintage american muscle sound that, to me, sounds better than just about anything out there.
As far as the subie goes there just isn't any other 4 cylinder motor in the world that sounds that good. Most hondas sound like a pissed off crack smoking weedeater (that goes for all other 4's too), but the subie actually sounds like it has *****.

 

As the old saying goes "I could have had a V8!"

 

Don't get me wrong; I've never owned a V8, and likely never will. I think I4's are the perfect engine for the vast majority of people, for most tasks. I mean, few people need anything bigger than an I4 just to get to work or pick up the groceries. But if only one automobile engine were ever to be produced from now on, it would have to be a V8 (or at least a V6), because an I4 would just fail in anything bigger than a small car.

Here's the problem with the gas mileage arguement: when someone cites gas mileage, they're doing it in terms of specific cars. The differences in weight & aerodynamics of individual cars, and transmission gearing throws gas mileage out as a reliable way to compare. After all, we're supposed to be comparing just the *engines*, right? True, a bigger displacement engine uses more fuel, but if a smaller engine is tuned to the same power level, it also has to use an appropriately higher amount of fuel (there's a general formula for the Brake Specific Fuel Consumption).

In any case, if someone gave you either, one of the previously listed I4's (b18, 22R, etc), or some kind of SBC or LS V8 to drop into your Z, which would you say is the "ultimate engine"? After all, the "ultimate engine" has to be good enough for our beloved Z's.

 

4G63 ftmfw on this topic you n00bs.

 

SR20DET would also be close to the 4g63t in terms of performance capability nd mileage, but best of all can be had in a rwd orientation (can be used in our ZX's), meaning it's more versatile than the 4g63.

 

wrong. you can use 4G63 in a RWD car. it mates to the starion transmission

 

I never heard that before, would be pretty nice. How hard is it to find a Starion trans though? I think if I was going to go with the 4g63 I'd try to fabricate an awd conversion anyways lol.

 

you can buy them re-fabed for dirty cheap. like 300 bucks i think.