I know the majority of the car buying public doesn't care about what is under the hood of their car.

I however, obsess over it. If a car has a hot motor and looks cool, I'm pretty much sold. Thus this is why I'm rather lukewarm about the Scion FR-S/Subie BR-Z, 200hp flat four, nothing that special, styling is just kind of meh, chassis/suspension is just out of this world. This is the "greatest cheap enthusiast" car for the past several years, but I just cannot get excited about it.

Right now I'm thinking of buying an NB Mazda Miata, a really mint condition one with less than 50k miles for $7000. However I am really tempted to buy a mint condition S2000 for $15,000 with less than 50k miles on it, just for the F20C engine. Man I've never driven anything like car, right when you shift in a normal car, it gets "on the cam" and just explodes away and revs to 9000rpm. Plus the styling is pretty timeless and just downright mean.

I've also owned two 4th gen Z28 Camaros, a t-top automatic and a six speed convertible. Loved both of those cars, mainly for the styling and the LS1 V8. That was another car where the engine eclipsed everything else about the car, it had great low end torque yet straight hauled the mail when the tach swept past 3500rpm all the way to the fuel cutoff at 6000rpm. Once again it was one of those engines that loved to rev and sing, I had not experienced another v8 that had that sort of broad powerband from 2000rpm to 6000rpm.

I'm also intrigued by old workhorse engines that don't fail. My 1993 Toyota pickup has a 22-RE 4 cylinder that runs like a swiss watch with 177k on it. My old 1991 Cadillac Brougham had, yes stock, a 350 Chevy with Throttle Body Fuel Injection. It had a lot of torque off the line and no power in the upper rev range, but yet it was a total beast and served me from 100k to 150k without a damn single problem.

So what is a car you bought just for the engine??? I feel like if a manufacturer is known for producing great 4 cylinders, v8's, inline sixes(my Lexus is a 2JZ-GE), well then you should buy that engine from them. I wouldn't dare buy a GM 4 cylinder from the early 90's, but a V8 like the Cadillac, well, they've perfected it for 40-50 years now.

 

On the S2000 VTEC fours you mention, you have to rev them to motorcycle RPMs to get max figures out of them...otherwise, they feel flat. The 1Gen S2000, for example, had a 9000 RPM red-line, max HP at 8600, and max torque at 7600, with a very sharp torque-curve....2Gen models were toned down a little, but not much. Most engines max out their torque in the 3500-4000 RPM range or so, with much shallower curves.

 

I love engines as well, need to have some sort of good engine and performance for me to like. Take my 300zx TT for example, I love the VG30DETT. A lot of people don't like it because of how cramped the engine bay is but that engine is just awesome and has a lot of potential. I also can't seem to get too excited about the FR-S because of the lack of a powerful engine... that 200hp just doesn't cut it for me but if they were to put the Subaru WRX Sti turbo engine in it I would really jump on it and get myself one because I think the car itself looks and drives awesome.



look at that beauty right there!

 

if there's ever a car that was defined by its engine it has to be the supercharged mercedes E55. oh man, AMG hand built 5.4 liter supercharged V8, what a combination. i managed to convince my dad to get a used 2005 E55 a couple years ago and it absolutely has to be the biggest case of dr. jekyll and mr. hyde ever in a car (when it decided to start up).

you could drive someone around in that car all day and they'd have no idea what an absolute monster lies just feet in front of them. stomp on the gas though and they'll never forget what an absolute monster lies just feet in front of them. all those M113K engines had a characteristic 'chirp' sound from the supercharger belt slipping ever so slightly on the pulley as the magnetic clutch engages. once you hear that chirp you can be fairly confident that a smile will be on your face as everyone behind you shrinks into the distance.

of course the car became super glitchy and every so often wouldn't work so he ended up getting rid of it but even this new E63 with the biturbo V8 doesn't have nearly the same instantaneous punch as the old supercharged engine. it is my goal to one day be reunited with it, experiencing that much oomph and having it taken away just leaves one feeling empty inside lol... it also just sounded so damn hot rod, damn i miss it. i love you LS 400 and you'll always be #1 but mmmmmmm that E55...

 

Oh man no thanks to that. I helped a friend wrench on his Z32 Twin Turbo, if you were to look up the phrase "10 pounds of **** in a 5 pound sack" it would have a picture of your engine bay. Still that car is an absolute riot when its running right.

As for the Benz E55, that car has IMO the best throttle response off idle of anything I've driven. In that you can easily and effortlessly pull away from a stoplight like a normal person without being jerky. Or you can push the throttle down just a bit more and break all your passengers necks, leave huge tire marks and burn out.

 

the engine is the most important part of any car but even more so with me. its gotta have power, its gotta sound good, and its gotta look nice. im VERY partial to the 1uz in the pre 1998 LS400. its a work of art. I hate plastic engine covers and always take them off when I get a car. I like to see whats going on in there!

 

and that's what no amount of specifications will tell you. a turbo engine is only making power once the turbo has spooled up, but that supercharged engine is always "spooled up." i also just love a 2nd gear that goes up to 85 mph. everything about that power train just made it feel like there was a huge engine at your disposal, whereas the current E63 just feels like an engine with turbos. make no mistake the new car is faster in just about every measurable way, but it just doesn't give you quite that same feeling.

 

This is why I love my S4. It has subtle rumble/shake at idle due to aggressive cam timings. Acceleration from a stop is smooth and torque is plentiful. I can hit 60 mph in 6 or 7 seconds without ever passing 3,500 RPM. I can also snap checks and spill drinks by stomping the gas from a roll.

I've driven the S3, and even though the measurements say its faster, and passengers feel its faster, from the driver's seat, it feels slower because the throttle response just isn't instant like in the S4. I'm worried about the switch back to a twin turbo V6 in the B9.

 

that's why i'll never (willfully at least) give up my LS. nothing goes from having such a smooth, quiet, and peaceful idle to all of a sudden breaking the rear tires loose and quickly moving you to a position far from where you just were. oh and V8 noises are the best

 

I'm a sucker for classic GM inline 6 engines. My 1964 C10 had a 235, single rochester one barrel and ran like a bat out of hell. Lots of low end torque paired up with the 3 speed and factory gearing. Was excited to drop a 215 into my 1947 Chevy to get it back to stock since that's one of my favorite looking engines ever, especially paired with a offenhauser triple syncronized carbs... mmm


Now I just have a really boring yet quick 5.7L Tundra, and a big old boat anchor of a Cadillac 472 in my 1973 Coupe De Ville.

 

This is one thing that makes me like it more, people are afraid to work with this thing and don't get me wrong, it is difficult to work on but once you learn how to do things with, it's not that bad... plus you get a lot of kudos for just being able to work on it

 

Somebody here actually enjoys working on a 300ZX engine? What are you guys smoking?

 

No love for the big block Cadillac??? 1973 was a crap year for all cars though, emissions regulations had the compression ratio and horsepower way down. I've driven a 1969 Coupe Deville with the 472, lots of torque. Floor it from a stop and it would smoke the tires into oblivion. Great car with really long legs, rear end ratio was set up for cruising, it would happily motor along at 80-90mph all day long.

Main thing with those old Cadillac big blocks was they were tough. In an era where cars were worn out with 100k miles, started smoking/drinking oil, those Cadillac engines still ran like new. The whole rest of the car would fall apart or rust away before you started having problems like low compression, etc. They were so much better than the junk engines Cadillac used in the 1980's.

 

Now I just have a really boring yet quick 5.7L Tundra, and a big old boat anchor of a Cadillac 472 in my 1973 Coupe De Ville.[/QUOTE]

Any pictures of the Caddy? The 73 has always been a favorite of mine!

 

Oh yea that's pretty. I work on my vg too and It does make me want to pull my hair out sometimes but as soon I drive it I forget all about it. Vg's are awesome engines but grossly ignored because they're difficult to work on. Wish rb26 was legal in CA