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What are/were Detroit’s most memorable engines?


railfancwb
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51 minutes ago, railfancwb said:

 

For starters I suggest...

 

The flathead Ford V-8

 

The Chevrolet OHV in-line six

 

The Chevy 283ci V-8

 

The Chrysler Hemi

 

No doubt there are other possibilities.

 

Yours?

 

 

 

 

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Rather than the Chevy 283 I would say more broadly the Chevy small block V8. The design held up for almost 50 years until GM started with a blank slate on Gen 5, which I think will also be memorable. A 376 CU (6.2 L) naturally aspirated push rod aluminum V8 that puts out 460 hp, 455 lbs of torque and averages 21+ mixed driving mpg is phenomenal. 

The Hemi needs to be in the conversation too, both old and new versions.

 

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Rather than the Chevy 283 I would say more broadly the Chevy small block V8. The design held up for almost 50 years until GM started with a blank slate on Gen 5, which I think will also be memorable. A 376 CU (6.2 L) naturally aspirated push rod aluminum V8 that puts out 460 hp, 455 lbs of torque and averages 21+ mixed driving mpg is phenomenal. 
The Hemi needs to be in the conversation too, both old and new versions.
 

I was thinking I might should refer more broadly to the small block Chevy V-8. Refinements in the precision of casting iron made those big inside small outside V-8s possible.


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The AMC/(Jeep)/Chrysler 4.2L/4.0L in-line six. This engine was first used in an AMC Rambler American, in 1964 and last used in a Jeep Wrangler, in 2006. That makes for a 42-year production run. It was a tough, reliable engine, that produced a lot of torque. I’ve own this engine in four different vehicles and I loved it. I bought my last Jeep Cherokee in 2001, the last year it used the 4.0L I-6. 

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The Pontiac Iron Duke 2.5L I-4 engine. This under appreciated workhorse made it into dozens of various car models made by Pontiac, Buick, Chevrolet, Grumman and AMC/Jeep/Eagle. It was a damned strong motor and it was very reliable. I’ve owned five or six cars powered by this engine. The Iron Duke block was the basis for the Pontiac Quad 4 engine and some other specialty engines as well.

 

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Just now, Eric said:

The Pontiac Iron Duke 2.5L I-4 engine. This under appreciated workhorse made it into dozens of various car models made by Pontiac, Buick, Chevrolet, Grumman and AMC/Jeep/Eagle. It was a damned strong motor and it was very reliable. I’ve owned five or six cars powered by this engine. The Iron Duke block was the basis for the Pontiac Quad 4 engine and some other specialty engines as well.

 

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There was an IMSA GTP team in the 1980s that was getting more than 900hp out of turbocharged Pontiac 2.5L. They screamed like banshees. 

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21 minutes ago, Eric said:

The leaning tower of power: The venerable Chrysler Slant six. This engine was a workhorse that was in production almost three decades. This is a legendary mill.

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I have one of those in an old Dodge Truck

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The Lotus-designed Chevrolet LT-5 quad-cam 32-valve 350cid V-8s, that were built for the early-nineties’ Corvette ZR1’s. The engine was a work of art that produced 405 naturally-aspirated horsepower. That was an impressive number back then. I wish they had continued development of this engine. Imagine what it could have evolved into by now.

 

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I’m surprised no one has mentioned the Ford 302 (5.0L) V-8. This engine is truly legendary. It has been in continuous production, in one version or another, since the mid-sixties. The current Coyote 5.0L  is one of the best performance engines ever built. 

In addition to the untold number of Mustangs this engine powered, it made it into pickups, vans, buses, Broncos, dozens of other Ford car models, industrial vehicles & equipment and more.

 

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I just read about a new engine that may be a contender for future hall of fame status. It is a two-stroke turbo-supercharged 3-cylinder Diesel engine, made by a company call Achates. The engine has three cylinders, but six pistons. The engine has two crankshafts, driving a piston from either end of each cylinder, towards each other in the middle. It is a slick system.

This is a 2.7L engine making 270hp & 480ft/lbs of torque, that gets 37 mpg. Those are impressive numbers.

Ford showed an F-150 equipped with this engine at the 2018 Detroit Auto Show.

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The Crosley in line 4 with single overhead cam. Some of the early ones were jig brazed in a furnace using cast iron cylinders and sheet metal. They appeared in a tiny automobile for a few years, were repurposed into a class of racing sports car and supposedly spend most of their lives powering refrigeration units on trucks and train cars.

http://www.crosleyautoclub.com/EngineTree/Crosley_Eng_Tree.html


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I just read about a new engine that may be a contender for future hall of fame status. It is a two-stroke turbo-supercharged 3-cylinder Diesel engine, made by a company call Achates. The engine has three cylinders, but six pistons. The engine has two crankshafts, driving a piston from either end of each cylinder, towards each other in the middle. It is a slick system.
This is a 2.7L engine making 270hp & 480ft/lbs of torque, that gets 37 mpg. Those are impressive numbers.
Ford showed an F-150 equipped with this engine at the 2018 Detroit Auto Show.
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Opposed piston Diesel engines powered United States submarines in WWII and later Fairbanks-Morse diesel locomotives.


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10 minutes ago, railfancwb said:


Opposed piston Diesel engines powered United States submarines in WWII and later Fairbanks-Morse diesel locomotives.


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Yeah, it’s not a new idea, but it is one that is being refined to amazing effect today. 

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