Originally posted by gavriil
Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. 3.5L DOHC V-6
http://subscribers.wardsauto.com/Mic...1004&siteid=26

Originally posted by Red Nj-s
Why doesn't the LS1 make it in there? It makes insane power, and gets really good mileage. Not to mention it is almost as smooth as a Honda.

Is it just, because it is pushrod? If it aint broke don't fix it. I woudl take an LS1 over the 4.2 vortec any day.

Originally posted by AcuraFanatic
While it's a good engine, I think Ward's is more impressed with technology than brute force. Doesn't take too much to make a large displacement V-8 run smooth, and then add a tall 6th gear and SkipShift for excellent fuel economy.

The winners of Ward’s 10 Best Engines awards for 2005 demonstrate that you can have it all: Many of the winning engines highlight sophisticated new technology that not only improves mileage but also pumps up power.

The 2005 list of the industry’s most exemplary engines marks the 11th year for the Ward’s 10 Best Engines program.

Mercedes 3.2L inline 6-cyl. turbodiesel among winners.

Cylinder deactivation, gasoline-electric hybridization and advanced diesel technology all are represented by winners on this year’s list.

Another important emerging technology that generates more power while also improving fuel economy – direct gasoline injection – brings home a win for Audi AG in its first North American application of its all-new “FSI” 3.2L DOHC V-6. The 255-hp FSI (Fuel Straight Injection) V-6 produces 35 hp more than the engine it replaces, yet delivers as much as 10% better fuel economy. Audi’s direct-injection powerhouse also operates on regular-grade unleaded gasoline.

Cylinder deactivation is another critical new fuel-saving technology featured on two other Ward’s 10 Best Engines winners for 2005.

DaimlerChrysler AG’s now-famous 5.7L “Hemi” V-8 incorporates the company’s Multi-Displacement System to instantaneously shut down four of the cylinders when not needed. Meanwhile, when the Hemi’s vaunted power is required, MDS immediately reactivates the cylinders to generate the engine’s full 340 hp.

Honda Motor Co. Ltd. also uses its own cylinder-deactivation system – Variable Cylinder Management – to boost fuel economy for the new 3L SOHC V-6 used in its Accord Hybrid. The car also employs Honda’s Integrated Motor Assist hybrid-electric technology to boost power and increase fuel efficiency. While the Accord Hybrid is 15 hp stronger than its traditional-powertrain counterpart, VCM and IMA combine to improve fuel efficiency by 23% on the highway and 38% in city driving.

DaimlerChrysler’s Mercedes-Benz unit wins a Ward’s 10 Best Engines award in the first year of availability of its new CDI 3.2L inline 6-cyl. turbodiesel. As with Audi’s FSI, the Mercedes diesel employs high-tech direct fuel injection and a host of other sophisticated electronic controls to create a diesel engine that generates spectacular torque and almost 40% better fuel economy than a similar-size gasoline 6-cyl.

Power for power’s sake is not forgotten on this year’s list, however. Ford Motor Co. wins with its heavily revised 4.6L SOHC V-8 in the all-new Ford Mustang GT. Ward’s testers praised Ford for creating a refined V-8 that produces 300 hp at an affordable price and called it “the perfect new-generation muscle-car V-8.”

Honda proves it also “knows horsepower” with its first-time winner, the Acura 3.5L SOHC V-6. The new V-6 pounds out 300 hp, making it one of the most powerful naturally aspirated 6-cyl. engines in production. The 3.5L V-6 is used in Acura’s all-new RL luxury/sport sedan.

Audi returns for a second year with its smooth and powerful 4.2L DOHC V-8 that generates a thundering 340 hp in a package that seamlessly integrates sophistication and muscle. Audi’s premium V-8 remains one of the market’s most powerful V-8s for its size.

Also returning as a Ward’s 10 Best Engines winner is General Motors Corp.’s Vortec 4.2L DOHC inline 6-cyl., used in its midsize SUVs. The Vortec 4200 enjoys its fourth consecutive year as a 10 Best Engines winner.

Taking its unrivaled 11th consecutive 10 Best Engines trophy is Nissan Motor Co. Ltd.’s 3.5L DOHC V-6. The only engine to win an award every year since the program’s inception, Nissan engineers improved the “VQ” V-6 with new levels of power and torque for 2005.

Ward’s 10 Best Engines list is completed by Mazda Motor Corp.’s unique Renesis rotary engine. This 1.3L powerhouse returns for a second year fronting the same impressive design advances and spectacular power output, in relation to its size, that virtually guaranteed a win in 2004, its first year of availability.

Ward’s tested 36 car and truck engines for its 2005 10 Best Engines competition, evaluating them based on the crucial engine characteristics of power; torque; noise, vibration and harshness (NVH); technical relevance and basic comparative numbers. All engines nominated and tested were in vehicles with a base price less than $52,500.

The 2005 winners, along with the vehicles they were tested in:

· Audi FSI 3.2L DOHC V-6 (Audi A6)

· Audi 4.2L DOHC V-8 (Audi S4)

· DaimlerChrysler 5.7L Hemi Magnum OHV V-8 (Chrysler 300C)

· DaimlerChrysler 3.2L DOHC I-6 CDI Turbodiesel (Mercedes E320 CDI)

· Ford 4.6L SOHC V-8 (Ford Mustang GT)

· General Motors 4.2L DOHC Vortec I-6 (Chevrolet TrailBlazer)

· Honda 3L SOHC V-6 IMA Hybrid (Honda Accord Hybrid)

· Honda 3.5L SOHC V-6 (Acura RL)

· Mazda 1.3L Renesis rotary (Mazda RX-8)

· Nissan 3.5L DOHC V-6 (Infiniti G35 Coupe)

Ward’s enters its second decade of the 10 Best Engines awards with one of the largest groups of nominated engines since the award program began in 1995: The six 10 Best Engines editor-judges nominated 36 engines for this year’s competition.

More importantly, among 2005’s winners, a discernible “theme” emerged: Fuel-saving technology is a key design priority for four of the 10 winners. Cylinder deactivation is featured on two winners; direct gasoline injection, hybridization and diesel also are represented.

Nothing has changed regarding the 10 Best Engines competition itself. Nominated engines must be available in regular-production vehicles on sale in the U.S. market no later than the first quarter of the new calendar year (in this case, 2005). An eligible engine must be available in a vehicle with a base price no more than $52,500 – 5% more than the original $50,000 ceiling in 1995.

The six-editor Ward’s judging panel evaluates each engine and assigns scores based on a variety of subjective and objective categories. Each engine competes against all others; the engines with the top 10 aggregate scores are winners.

Ward’s believes this process recognizes winning engines that have some degree of volume-market relevance (thus the price cap), while the head-to-head format delivers winners that deserve to be called the best, largely independent of vehicle or market segmentation.

------------------------------

The Winners

Acura 3.5L DOHC V-6

Audi FSI 3.2L DOHC V-6

Audi 4.2L DOHC V-8

DaimlerChrysler Mercedes 3.2L DOHC I-6 Turbodiesel

DaimlerChrysler 5.7L Hemi Magnum OHV V-8

Ford 4.6L SOHC V-8

General Motors Vortec 4.2L DOHC I-6

Honda 3L SOHC V-6/IMA Hybrid

Mazda 1.3L Renesis Rotary

Nissan 3.5L DOHC V-6

Acura’s new 3.5L V-6 has V-8 power.

A decade ago, a normally aspirated 6-cyl. engine developing 300 hp would have stopped the industry in its tracks. Suddenly, that genus is flourishing, and Honda Motor Co. Ltd.’s new Acura 3.5L DOHC V-6 is at the top of the food chain.

For its all-new ’05 RL flagship, Acura threw out the longitudinal 90-degree 3.5L V-6 from the old 3.5RL and replaced it with this first-time 10 Best Engines winner, which now is based on the 60-degree architecture Acura uses for the MDX cross/utility vehicle. Apart from the obvious noise, vibration and harshness impact of moving from a 90-degree vee angle to the inherently balanced 60-degree layout, Acura’s thrown in everything but the technical equivalent of the kitchen sink to create the most powerful production V-6 in company history.

The new 3.5L V-6’s 300 horsepower equals the Ford Mustang GT’s 4.6L V-8, and represents a whopping 75-hp jump over the same-size V-6 it replaces. This luxury/sport sedan engine has more power and torque than the high-revving 3.2L DOHC V-6 in Acura’s NSX supercar, for heaven’s sake.


On top, engineers fitted a dual-stage intake manifold (worth 15 hp), and of course there’s Honda’s well-known VTEC (Variable Timing and lift Electronic Control) 2-stage variable valve timing. Acura says a host of internal improvements generated 40 horsepower, while the variable exhaust system netted 20 extra horses.

In addition to the newfound horsepower and torque – which improves 12% over the old V-6’s 231 lb.-ft. (313 Nm) – the new 60-degree 3.5L V-6 is 1.4 ins. (3.6 cm) narrower and 2.4 ins. (6.1 cm) shorter.

Reactions like “cranking” and “brutal” were highlights of 10 Best Engines judges’ comments, and few 6-cyl. engines we’ve tried – some turbocharged, even – can generate the startling midrange thrust that seems to flow effortlessly from Acura’s latest and greatest V-6. Throttle action is quick and micrometer-precise, too, imparting a light and responsive feel through the entire rev range.

Despite the monstrous horsepower increase, Acura’s 3.5L V-6 manages the same city fuel economy as its predecessor, and achieves a couple of mpg better in the highway cycle. Acura also says the engine complies with the California Air Resources Board’s LEV II Ultra-Low Emissions Vehicle (ULEV) emissions standard.

Honda upholds its reputation for environmental consciousness with the new Acura 3.5L DOHC V-6: The engine is both clean and economical in relation to its output. But the prodigious specific output – 86 hp/L – is the engine’s predominant character trait. Acura has crafted a technically advanced V-6 that shouts “performance” – the facet of Honda’s engine-development reputation that continues to win customers’ hearts and minds.

Audi’s new FSI direct-injection system boosts power and economy of its 3.2L DOHC V-6.

Audi AG’s direct gasoline injection (DGI) system is the first volume-oriented application of the fuel-saving, power-enhancing direct-injection technology to be used in North America. It may be the start of something big.

We’re aware BMW, Rolls-Royce and even Isuzu already are in the U.S. market with DGI engines. None, really, are representative of the mainstream; only one, Isuzu’s DGI-wielding 3.5L DOHC V-6, is available in a vehicle that costs less than the $52,500 price cap for 10 Best Engines eligibility. It is Audi’s brilliant new FSI (Fuel Straight Injection) 3.2L DOHC V-6 that is positioned to put DGI technology on the map.

In a sense, DGI allows gasoline-engine engineers to impart some of the best attributes of diesels – higher efficiency, better torque output – to gasoline engines. Audi says FSI enables something on the order of a 10% boost in power and torque, yet affords an analogous boost in fuel economy.


The company of the Four Rings appears to speak the truth: Compared with Audi’s “old” 220-hp 3L DOHC V-6 (not direct-injected, of course), the new FSI 3.2L V-6 makes 35 more hp and 22 lb.-ft. (30 Nm) more torque. Yet despite the power and torque gains, the 3.2L FSI V-6 delivers 1 mpg better fuel economy in both city and highway driving.

Instead of injecting fuel into the intake manifold, where it is ingested with air when the intake valve opens, FSI injects fuel directly into the cylinder – at pressures that can exceed 1,160 psi (80 bar), 20 or 30 times the pressure used by conventional indirect injection. The higher pressures and the ability to precisely aim gasoline directly at the sparkplug largely are responsible for FSI’s power and efficiency gains.

FSI can be tuned exclusively to enhance fuel efficiency without sacrificing power by using a stratified-charge injection strategy in which there is an excess of air in the air/fuel mix. The stratified charge approach, however, produces an excess of oxides of nitrogen emissions, says Marc Trahan, director-product management and quality, Audi of America Inc.

Trahan says Audi chose, instead, for FSI to enable a standard “homogenous” air/fuel mixture that delivers meaningful power and torque improvements while managing a slight increase in fuel efficiency. Our only regret: The extra real estate required for the in-cylinder fuel injector means Audi has to ditch its novel 5-valve cylinder head architecture.

Ward’s testers were singularly impressed with the 3.2L FSI V-6’s driveability and throttle response. Better yet, the FSI V-6 weighs in with huge bursts of low- and midrange torque; the effect almost is that of a light-pressure turbocharger. Oh, and engineers win extra brownie points for managing a power-enhancing 12.5:1 compression ratio that can be satisfied with regular-grade unleaded gasoline.

With the FSI 3.2L DOHC V-6, Audi’s engine wizards prove high performance doesn’t have to come at the expense of reasonable fuel economy. Audi’s FSI is game-changing technology. So high is the company’s belief in FSI that it says all its gasoline engines will be so-equipped by 2006.

Audi’s power-packed 4.2L DOHC V-8 takes a second consecutive Ward’s 10 Best Engines win.

This is a little embarrassing, but rather than admit it under duress when the Special Council starts an investigation, we’ll own up now: Several of our editors may – may – have made Audi’s marvelous 4.2L DOHC V-8 a 10 Best Engines winner without even driving it.

Because just firing up this thing produces an exhaust note so mellifluous – so criminally sensual – there’s almost no need to leave the garage. The drug makers had better keep an eye on Audi AG, because if the German auto maker figures out a way to bottle the 4.2L V-8’s exhaust sounds, Viagra and Levitra will be out of a job.


Audi’s 4.2L V-8 is the exemplar of how to do exhaust. Perfectly. At idle, the aural deepness inspires a quiet nirvana. At full throttle, there’s a sonorous, fine-machinery rip that no other V-8 can rival. And at all engine speeds between, a virtual rainbow of intoxicating intake and exhaust arias demands your constant attention. Audi’s cars fitted with the 4.2L V-8 – it’s in everything from the S4 and the allroad to the all-new S6 and the flagship A8/S8 – should have a stereo-system delete option.

All right, we’re done slobbering about the sound. Beyond that, Audi’s 4.2L V-8 is a virtual dynamo. It’s the smallest-displacement V-8 in what we broadly define as the “premium V-8 class” of less than 5L (see below) – yet it’s the most powerful. And although its 302 lb.-ft. (409 Nm) of torque lags its competition slightly, it’s right on the mark when considering torque per liter:

Audi 4.2L 340 hp/302 lb.-ft. (409 Nm)
BMW 4.4L 325 hp/330 lb.-ft. (447 Nm)
Cadillac 4.6L 320 hp/315 lb.-ft. (427 Nm)
Lexus 4.3L 290 hp/320 lb.-ft. (434 Nm)
Mercedes 4.3L 275 hp/295 lb.-ft. (400 Nm)
Volkswagen 4.2L 335 hp/317 lb.-ft. (430 Nm)
Volvo 4.4L 311 hp/325 lb.-ft. (441 Nm)

Audi’s 4.2L V-8 fronts impressive numbers, but its deeper beauty is its game-stopping flexibility and throttle response. This is a sports-car engine masquerading as a premium V-8, so there’s the best of both worlds: Flexibility that allows you to ignore the gear lever (in the S4, the 4.2L V-8 is backed by a 6-speed manual gearbox with equally premium shift effort), but always ready to unleash a torrent of power from idle to redline. Several testers are convinced that from the midrange on, nothing short of a Ferrari or Porsche 911 can stay with an S4 at full throttle.

And did we mention the sound?

DaimlerChrysler’s spectacular Mercedes CDI 3.2L I-6 turbodiesel gets Honda Civic fuel economy, with Mustang V-8 punch.

What’s not to like about an advanced-technology turbocharged inline 6-cyl. diesel that, compared with a same-size gasoline V-6 in a midsize luxury sedan, punches the car from 0-to-60 mph (97 km/h) a half-second quicker – and deals out more than 30% better fuel economy?

What’s not to like, indeed, about DaimlerChrysler’s spectacular Mercedes CDI 3.2L I-6 turbodiesel, the latest generation of Mercedes diesels that now incorporates direct injection and common-rail fueling to generate, in the Mercedes E320 CDI midsize luxury sedan, the same highway fuel economy – 37 mpg – as a 4-cyl./manual-transmission Honda Civic, and more torque than Ford’s new 4.6L SOHC V-8 in the Mustang GT?

The 3.2L CDI turbodiesel’s tectonic-plate shifting 369 lb.-ft. (Nm) of torque hammers more than just the Mustang’s V-8, and comes close to the 390 lb.-ft. of Chrysler’s almighty 5.7L Hemi V-8, an engine almost twice the CDI’s size.

Meanwhile, check out the Mercedes E320 CDI’s city/highway Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) fuel economy ratings of 27/37 mpg (8.7 L and 6.4 L/100 km) against the gasoline E320’s 20/28 mpg (11.8 L and 8.4 L/100 km).


“Totally thrilling performance,” says one 10 Best Engines judge of the 3.2L CDI I-6’s thunderous torque. “There’s no question this is better than any comparable-size gasoline engine.” Mercedes quotes a startling 6.6-second 0-to-60 mph time for the E-Class powered by this thrust-monster, and even by today’s performance standards, that’s not exactly sitting around.

Forget all you remember about diesel noise, vibration and harshness, too. At idle, you’d better have an ear on the hood to hear anything: The 3.2L CDI “clatters” to the tune of just 44 decibels, just 2 dbA louder than the gasoline V-6. At full throttle, the E320 CDI is 4 dbA quieter. Yes, quieter. That’s testimony both to the noise reduction engineering for the engine itself and to the fine encapsulation package that keeps radiated noise to a minimum.

Somebody besides the Ward’s 10 Best Engines jury got the word. Mercedes blew through the 3,000 E-Class sedans with the 3.2L CDI turbodiesel it planned to sell between the April launch and the end of ’04, and quickly ordered another 1,000 to squelch the clamor. The company won’t offer sales projections for ’05.

Finally, the 3.2L CDI turbodiesel is a you-gotta-be-kidding bargain: just $595 more than the same car with a gasoline V-6. Can you say “no-brainer?”

So surf the awesome torque wave, dude, get wicked fuel economy and join the really tuned-in “save the earth” crowd that understands new-age diesel is a good thing. Mercedes’ 3.2L CDI is an engine enthusiasts and environmentalists can embrace with equal pride.

Chrysler’s 5.7L Hemi V-8 is fast becoming an American icon.

Chrysler Group’s “original” 5.7L Hemi Magnum OHV V-8 launched for the’03 model year with 345 hp in the Ram pickup. For the ’04 model year, Ford Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. both launched all-new pickups, each crucial to the respective auto makers’ place in one of the U.S.’s most competitive segments.

Yet Ford and Nissan couldn’t drum up enough power with their best V-8s to even get close to the mighty Hemi – in a high-profile, high-profit segment whose buyers worship the horsepower number.

Now Chrysler’s at it again, this time flaunting its long-range planning acumen by designing the ground-breaking 300-Series sedan (and to a lesser extent, the husky Magnum station wagon on the same platform) to accept the Hemi.


The combination is a smash hit, both playing on the other’s strengths: The 300C hit the market with immediate, hip-hop “street cred” and features the Hemi. The Hemi’s the one engine everybody wants, meanwhile, and you can get one in a 300C. Thanks in no small part to the Hemi, the 300C overshadowed virtually every other new vehicle launched in 2004. The 300C would have been cool without the Hemi. But with the Hemi, it’s a let’s-find-another-assembly-plant home run.

The 300C/Magnum application has helped stoke the Hemi fires in the face of escalating fuel prices and a growing “green” movement in the car business. In every model that offers the Hemi – an expanding list that also includes the all-new Jeep Grand Cherokee – Chrysler’s getting customers to pay extra for an unabashedly in-your-face V-8 that sucks the earth’s resources at a rate that’s egregious even by American V-8 standards. The company says the overall take rate is a giddy 46%.

Earning a spot on the Ward’s 10 Best Engines list for a third consecutive year, the Hemi is a juggernaut, seemingly better in each new application, particularly now that the 300C/Magnum and the Grand Cherokee have the cylinder-deactivating Multi-Displacement System to improve fuel economy by “up to 20%.”

The 300-Series cars would have been slapped with a gas-guzzler tax without MDS, incidentally, so spectacular is the Hemi’s thirst. So Hemi “father” and chief engineer Robert Lee – now Chrysler vice president-powertrain product team – seems particularly prescient, as his team designed the Hemi from the beginning to accommodate MDS. The system works beautifully and imperceptibly.

Ward’s 10 Best Engines judges had universal kudos for the Hemi’s 340-hp in the 300C, but more impressive is the 390 lb.-ft. (529-Nm) torque peak, a full 15 lb.-ft. (20 Nm) more even than in the Ram pickup. Rarely will you hear automotive journalists say any vehicle has enough power. The 300C has enough power.

This spring, though, the Hemi gets bigger and badder, with a 6.1L, 425-hp variant waiting for launch in the high-performance SRT8 version of the 300C. Do we need to tell you what to expect?

Ford’s revised 4.6L SOHC V-8 packs new power, new technology.

Engineers sometimes say developing a contemporary muscle-car engine is a challenge like no other.

Everybody – most importantly, the buyer – expects it to be powerful. But how far should you go with refinement? Muscle-car “authenticity” is crucial – particularly for a V-8 powering the latest incarnation of a fabled Detroit ponycar – yet customers will not accept any ’60s-era unruliness today, even in the name of “retro.”

Get the blend right, though, and the result can be special. Ford Motor Co.’s new 4.6L SOHC V-8 is special.

Wide-open throttle brings the V-8 basso-bellow you expect – and want – but Ford engineers wisely knew there should be a limit to the sheer decibel output. There’s none of the “are-the-exhaust-manifolds-falling-off” bawl that shreds the eardrums when demanding full power from GM’s new LS 6L V-8 in the Corvette, for example.




It’s not just the sound that’s nearly perfect: Ford’s 4.6L V-8 doesn’t mind if you like the view from the upper end of the tach. Things don’t get grumbly until just a few hundred rpm short of the 6,250-rpm redline. And you can come out punching with prodigious doses of torque at just about any engine speed – precisely what you count on from a true muscle-car.

With the move to a 3-valve configuration – and the ripping 40-hp increase it brings over the previous 2-valve 4.6L – Ford’s modular SOHC V-8/V-10 family gels into one of the industry’s most convincing engine lines, a masterstroke of manufacturing and engineering flexibility for Ford. The cylinder heads, for example, are completely identical for both the 4.6L and 5.4L V-8s.

Each cylinder’s three valves in the 4.6L now are governed by a trick camshaft-rocking mechanism that imparts variable valve timing from the single cam in each cylinder head. And Ford engineers also import from the 5.4L Triton V-8 the unique intake-tract tumble flaps that optimize intake-mixture swirl, which improves torque and cuts emissions.

The 4.6L V-8’s newfound revving ability brings us to one of the few things we’d like to see improved: a little more effort at internal balancing that might help deliver a redline in the import-challenging 7,000-rpm range, combined with a lighter flywheel for a bit more urgency in answering the throttle.

But nobody in the automotive world delivers 300 hp for the Mustang GT’s $24,995 base price, meaning Ford’s stellar 4.6L V-8 is the unqualified performance bargain of 2005. Ford’s painstaking blend of new technology and muscle-engine emotion has evolved the 4.6L into one of the industry’s most exciting small-displacement V-8s.

GM’s Vortec 4200 I-6 surprises Ward’s editors with its continuing crispness and “just right” balance of power and refinement.

The industry’s population of inline 6-cyl. engines is dwindling, their chief environment – rear-wheel-drive platforms with yards of hood length to accommodate their typical north/south orientation – disappearing at a rate akin to that of tropical rain forests.

The one application for which the I-6 layout – renowned for its smoothness and perfect internal balance – seems perfect: light trucks. Yet the number of inline 6-cyl. engines in a true light-truck application numbers just one: General Motors Corp.’s Vortec 4.2L I-6.

Almost the entire automotive world has defected to the V-6 layout, largely due to packaging flexibility, need for more frontal-area crush space to comply with tougher safety regulations and a trend toward vee-engine modularity.

GM engineers knew when they introduced the Vortec 4200 four years ago they were bucking the trend. Even more chilling, the design had to be approved slightly more than three years prior to launch. Yet GM’s faith in the intrinsic goodness of a well-engineered I-6 prevailed, and the Vortec 4200 comes to the ’05 model year as strong as ever, winning a fourth consecutive 10 Best Engines award.

Time and again, the Vortec 4200 surprises Ward’s editors with its continuing crispness and “just right” balance of power and refinement. Four years into their lifecycles, many engines feel aged and maybe even out-of-sync with the market. Some are freshened with extra power, extra torque, perhaps more displacement.

The testimony to the wisdom of the Vortec 4200’s initial development goals is the fact that since ’03, when power was bumped slightly from 270 hp to 275 hp, the Vortec has required nothing, save minor component refinements, to stay fully competitive.

The Vortec 4200 is unquestionably the most refreshing, entertaining and powerful “base” engine in the light-truck market. Its refinement befits a luxury car, its brawny side unveiled only when you need to use it like a truck’s meant to be used. At just 1,800 rpm, 90% of the Vortec 4200’s torque is at attention, tugging better than any V-6 we’ve tried.

For ’05, slight internal modifications improve the action of its variable valve timing system (which acts on both the intake and exhaust cam), enhance throttle response (never a problem with this engine) and reduce radiated noise. But the Vortec’s basic technology package – all-aluminum construction, infinitely variable valve timing, electronically controlled throttle and direct-mount accessories – still is highly competitive.

Our only criticism of the Vortec 4200 rests with GM’s inability to find another home for it in addition to the company’s multi-model midsize-SUV lineup. Almost since the beginning, Ward’s 10 Best Engines testers have said this engine would be a delight in any number of entry premium or luxury sport cars.

The Vortec 4200 remains a special treat, a genuine engineering and manufacturing achievement. GM, here’s our future-application advice, free of charge: Saturn Sky and Pontiac Solstice roadsters.

Honda’s Accord Hybrid is the first HEV powertrain that requires no excuses.

Back in the day, hybrid-electric vehicles were quirky research projects that seemed to have some powertrain engineers unduly distracted. The first prototype HEV drivelines were whiny, sniveling, evil things, bucking and wheezing and constantly laboring.

Honda Motor Co. Ltd. smacks down that image forever with the all-new Accord Hybrid. Its 3L SOHC V-6 already was a 10 Best Engines winner on its own last year, and now Honda’s engineers have improved it – yeah, we said “improved” – by adding the company’s sophisticated Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) hybrid system.

And there’s more: Honda’s technical boffins also cobbled in the company’s new cylinder-deactivation system, Variable Cylinder Management (VCM). Honda says this phalanx of technologies in the Accord Hybrid means fuel-economy nirvana without the gritty aftertaste. Performance without penalty, if you will.

The basic IMA philosophy already has been shown with Honda’s two other HEVs, the Insight, which started it all, and the Civic Hybrid. The setup has come to be known as a “mild” hybrid: An electric motor acts on the engine crankshaft to “assist” the gasoline engine when extra boost is needed.


The electric motor itself cannot propel the vehicle, but it does reverse its operation when the vehicle is decelerating, becoming a generator that returns normally wasted deceleration energy to a battery pack. That electricity later is used when the electric motor is in “assist” mode.

In the Insight and Civic Hybrid, IMA works as billed. Economy is markedly enhanced – excitement is not. Even with IMA’s boost, their tiny, downsized engines usually are strained to achieve pace-parity with surrounding traffic.

The Accord Hybrid, though, ushers in the new era of what we call “performance” HEVs. The Accord Hybrid’s 3L SOHC V-6 is not downsized or detuned. In fact, IMA adds a respectable 15 hp to the 3L’s already stout 240-hp standard rating. The third-generation IMA, enhanced in many ways, also provides a torque injection of as much as 100 lb.-ft. (136 Nm).

Now throw in VCM, which cuts the operating cylinder count to three during light-load operation, and there’s some serious efficiency in the offing. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rating says the Accord Hybrid gives up 29 mpg (8.1 L/100 km) in the city and 37 mpg (6.4 L/100 km) on the highway; those numbers respectively represent gains of 38% and 23% over the same car with the 3L V-6.

Honda believes so strongly in IMA and VCM that it says those figures will be much more representative of real-world fuel economy than has been the early experience with some HEVs.

The Accord Hybrid’s performance is sparkling, and nobody will leave the car saying HEVs still are weenie mobiles. This remarkable interplay of technologies works seamlessly, usually when decelerating, when a lot of electrons are trading places. But the hybrid powertrain’s ministrations never are more than remotely distracting.

The Accord Hybrid’s integration of IMA and VCM with Honda’s impressive 3L SOHC V-6 is a triumph of engineering and speaks volumes about the depth of Honda’s powertrain engineering ability. That engineering makes the Accord Hybrid the first HEV that stands up to conventional powertrains with no excuses.

Character oozes from Mazda’s fascinating Renesis rotary engine, now a 2-time Ward’s 10 Best Engines winner.

Wanna know what Mazda’s 1.3L Renesis rotary is? It’s the powertrain sector’s intriguing little indie movie, bobbing about in a vast ocean made up of “Spiderman” and “Independence Day.”

Just a couple of gearshifts at that glorious 9,000-rpm redline would make Henry Ford himself admit there’s plenty that’s special – necessary, if you will – in what Mazda Motor Corp. has done with its new-age rotary. Blockbuster films are fine, but every now and again, you’d like to use your brain a bit. The Renesis rotary’s second consecutive Ward’s 10 Best Engines win confirms that uniqueness remains a vital quality in powertrain development.

Like a low-budget indie, there are ups and downs, though. On the positive side for the Renesis is its remarkable and otherworldly noise, vibration and harshness “signature.” This, because there is little vibration or harshness. The noise, meanwhile, is thrilling, maybe even a little anxious at times: an angry-bees-in-a-tincan snarl that never annoys, but always warns there’s a certain “power” thrumming around in there.


Some critics say that power, 238 horses for the “high-power” Renesis that is hooked only to a delightful 6-speed manual transmission, is a bit meager. But the big problem, as it always has been for the Wankel design, is torque. The 159 lb.-ft. (216 Nm) is practically laughable, and if the driver is inattentive or clumsy with the throttle and clutch, blue-hairs in Honda Elements can be trouble.

No, to get power from the Renesis it must rev, and that’s okay, because with the rotary, the lack of pounding common to reciprocating piston engines is absent, so the universe is in equilibrium. But make no mistake, Renesis’ torque stinginess can be uncomfortable, the only characteristic Ward’s testers mention with regularity.

Then there’s the fuel-economy controversy. Mazda’s official ratings for the high-power RX-8 of 18 mpg (13 L/100 km) city and 24 mpg (9.8 L/100 km) highway are not intrinsically awful. But for a tightly wrapped sport coupe that barely surpasses 3,000 lbs. (1,361 kg), those aren’t Friends of the Earth numbers. There are rumors Mazda’s tried some engine-management tweaks for customers who really complain, but we’ve yet to understand the extent of any such program.

It’s impossible to dwell on the Renesis rotary’s limitations, though, when the thing literally spins its heart out whenever it gets the chance. There’s simply too much that’s too special about this technically fascinating engine – and the incalculable economic and intellectual investment Mazda’s made over the last 40-odd years – to see the rotary’s eccentricities as anything but tolerable character flaws to be expected with uniqueness.

“I could work with this engine all day,” says one 10 Best Engines judge. We think that’s the reaction Mazda sought four decades ago. The Renesis rotary engine is an inspiration to engineers and enthusiasts alike.

Nissan’s dominating 3.5L DOHC V-6 wins its unparalleled eleventh consecutive Ward’s 10 Best Engines award.

It’s 11 consecutive years of Ward’s 10 Best Engines awards for Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. and its 3.5L “VQ” DOHC V-6. No other engine has as many wins, and no other engine has won a 10 Best Engines award every year since the competition’s inception in 1995.

The VQ V-6 family, which comprises several displacements in other markets, started in the U.S. as a gem-like 3L that instantly caused a commotion in the powertrain sector with its scintillatingly low levels of noise, vibration and harshness, spectacular flexibility and high specific output.

Nissan’s VQ V-6 for North America now displaces 3.5L, but has sacrificed little of its superb engineering, build quality and driveability attributes. Powertrain developers the world over almost invariably still name Nissan’s VQ V-6 as the single most benchmarked engine in V-6 development programs. It’s remarkable that more than 11 years after its introduction, the VQ remains atop the heap.

Judges continue to be enthralled with the VQ’s thunderous power and torque, and Nissan engineers have a curious talent for perpetually upping the ante with the VQ’s output – or displacement – just when the competition begins to creep close. And despite the startling power now being generated by Nissan’s 3.5L V-6 in several of its multifarious states of tune, the VQ’s sophistication and driveability remain.


For ’05, engineers drummed up another substantial dose of horsepower for the 3.5L DOHC V-6, raising output from 280 hp to 298 hp for Infiniti G35 coupes and sedans with a 6-speed manual transmission. And versions of the 3.5L V-6 that formerly made 260 hp and 260 lb.-ft. (353 Nm) of torque now develop 280 hp and 270 lb.-ft. (366 Nm) of torque. Anniversary editions of Nissan’s 350Z coupe enjoy the highest-spec version of the 3.5L VQ, at an even 300 hp.

These new power levels are well-timed, because there seems to be an expanding list of increasingly power-dense V-6s working into several auto makers’ product cycles, including the new 300-hp variant of Honda Motor Co. Ltd.’s own 3.5L SOHC V-6, which also wins a 10 Best Engines spot for 2005. A decade ago, Nissan’s 3L VQ V-6 was a benchmark with 190 hp. Now, with just a half-liter more displacement, a V-6 must be pushing the 300-hp mark to be fully competitive.

Meanwhile, the VQ’s impact in all world markets borders on incredible. Nissan says it’s made more than 3.6 million of the modular VQs since its launch. Late in 2004, Nissan announced it will build a second assembly plant in Iwaki, Japan, to hike VQ capacity from 396,000 units to 560,000.

Nissan needs more VQ V-6s because it’s an engineering and manufacturing masterpiece. And with the new upgrades for 2005, Nissan once again proves there’s not a better-developed or more technically proficient V-6 anywhere in the industry.

Best Engines judge gets a speeding ticket in the most unexpected vehicle.

A funny thing happened on our way to this year's 10 Best Engines list.

I got a speeding ticket, and my colleagues at Ward’s are giddy when they say I must be the only person in America to have gotten one – in a Toyota Prius.

Go ahead, have a laugh at my expense.

The irony is that the months of October and November bring to the Ward’s office a bumper crop of high-powered vehicles to evaluate for 10 Best Engines and for the North American Car and Truck of the Year. Our own Bill Visnic is a juror for the latter competition.

I had driven (hard, in many cases) the new Ford Mustang, Chevrolet Corvette, BMW M3, Audi S4 Avant, Subaru WRX STi and even a Porsche 911 Carrera S.


But it was my trip down Woodward Avenue in suburban Detroit that caught the attention of a police officer watching for speeders on a Sunday morning as I drove my wife and kids to church.

Mind you, I live near Woodward – close enough to smell burning rubber and hear screeching tires on any given summer night leading up to the Dream Cruise. It would be quieter if I lived next to Milan Raceway. Yet, I rarely see anyone in a muscle car getting pulled over for speeding.

I was so stunned to have been gunned down in a Prius that I forgot to plead for leniency with the officer and explain why I needed to drive down Woodward at 58 mph (93 km/h). After all, the car is so quiet, it’s easy to lose track of your speed. I took my ticket to church and prayed to Jesus for forgiveness. A sympathetic judge kept the points off my license.

The Prius isn’t bad, and it won a Best Engines award in 2004. This year, however, the hybrid competition was stiff. The judges liked the Honda Accord Hybrid more, although the virtuous “hybrid” moniker hardly fits a car with a 240-hp V-6.

I did give the Accord Hybrid extra points because it had fuel-saving cylinder deactivation. In fact, three other test vehicles featured the technology this year: the 3.5L V-6 in the Honda Odyssey, the 5.3L V-8 in the Chevy TrailBlazer and the award-winning 5.7L Hemi in the Chrysler 300C. Keep those fuel sippers coming, I say.

I personally scored the Ford Escape Hybrid higher than both the Prius and Accord Hybrid because I found its throttle response outstanding, and the practicality in an SUV deserves extra points.

And I didn’t get a ticket in it, either.

A decade ago, a 300-hp engine distinguished an exotic car, but Ward’s 10 Best Engines for 2005 proves that is no longer the case.

Maybe some of you powertrain people need to get a life.

Ford’s dealing in 300-hp V-8s for 25 grand. The Acura crowd’s boiling 86 hp/L out of a normally aspirated, luxury-sedan V-6. Chrysler’s Hemi is at 340 hp and later this year, the 6.1L variant’s coming with 425. If I bought one of those, my insurance agent would be dancing for a month in Rio.

And to think I was worried the Ward’s 10 Best Engines competition is preoccupied with performance.

It’s the auto makers – and by extension, their evidently big-brained powertrain engineers – who keep raising the ante. Mid-market SUVs and family sedans now are expected to be packing heat that not long ago would have shamed an exotic.




For perspective, Porsche’s ’95-vintage 928 GTS, one of the era’s more thundering performance cars, got 345 hp from its 5.4L DOHC V-8 (64 hp/L). It cost $80,000. Ford’s 10 Best Engines-winning 4.6L SOHC V-8 generates 65 hp/L and can be had in a car that costs $25,000.

At first, I thought it strange that five of the 36 engines nominated this year make 300 hp. The old worry crept in: ‘Are we nuts? Regular people don’t shop vehicles with 300 hp. We’re throttle junkies.’

But a closer look reveals: Of the five engines making precisely 300 hp, just two cars they power – the Mustang GT and the Subaru WRX Sti – are considered performance models. The other 300-hp-on-the-nose vehicles are Ford’s F-150 pickup, GM’s TrailBlazer SUV and Acura’s RL flagship.

Except for the Mustang, all have four doors, for heaven’s sake.

It gets better. For 12 of the 36 engines tested – one-third – 300 hp is the minimum.

Contemporary engine development is so bombastic, you can be gunning with 300 hp in just about anything. There are 300-hp 4-cyl. engines (WRX STi), 300-hp V-6s (RL) and 300-hp V-8s (Mustang, TrailBlazer).

And I don’t have to tell you it took way more gasoline to conjure 300 hp out of an engine a decade ago than it does today. Porsche 928: 12 mpg city/19 mpg highway (19.5 L and 12.3 L/100 km); Mustang GT: 17/25 (13.8 L and 9.4 L/100 km).

Last year’s election brought hand-wringing about liberal bias in the media, but after considering the atomic-powered group of 10 Best Engines nominees for 2005 at least I’m no longer worried Ward’s journalists are horsepower-biased.

We’re just reporting reality.

Honda Accord Hybrid sets a new benchmark for gas/electric hybrid vehicles.

When Toyota Motor Corp. introduced the first Prius gas/electric hybrid in the U.S. in July 2000, Ward’s 10 Best Engines judges argued whether to include it among the year’s winners.

No doubt the technology was relevant, but its performance did not stand up to conventional gasoline engines or the diesel vehicles being evaluated.

Most importantly, it did not attain the promised gas mileage, albeit still achieving 40-plus mpg (5.8 L/100 km). After lively debate, we honored the Prius: Its significance to the industry could not be denied.

This year, the Ward’s judges again found themselves arguing about hybrids. This time, the discussion was not whether to include a hybrid, but how many to leave out. The contestants were somewhat disparate – the much-improved second-generation Prius, the new ’05 4-cyl. Ford Escape Hybrid SUV and Honda Motor Co. Ltd.’s ’05 6-cyl. Accord Hybrid sedan.


While the second-generation Prius is an improvement, it still cannot attain promised gas mileage. None of the judges achieved better than 43 mpg (5.4L/100 km). And although the Escape Hybrid is an important step toward fuel-efficient SUVs, Ford licensed some of the technology from Toyota’s first-generation hybrid, and it shows.

The vehicle is under powered and, like the Prius, constantly reminds that it is a hybrid, especially when attempting to accelerate after a dead stop, when the engine has shut off. The purported mileage – up to 40 mpg – only is attainable in city driving, certainly not in highway commutes. Ford can and should do better.

The ’05 Accord Hybrid, on the other hand, clearly is Honda’s best effort yet, combining an abundance of torque and horsepower with a nearly seamless hybrid system. The car produces smooth, sporty performance, while its competitors suffer from an excessive push-pull sensation as the engine and electric motor cut in and out.

Honda puts fun back into the equation, as well as refinement, power and most of all familiarity. Unlike the Prius, the driver is not confronted with an exotic instrument panel and start-engine procedure. Just hop in and drive.

Honda’s 3L SOHC V-6, mated to an electric motor, serves up 255 hp vs. the gasoline V-6 at 240 hp. And it is the first hybrid to include cylinder-deactivation technology that shuts down half the engine’s cylinders under light load to save even more fuel.

Although Honda says the Accord Hybrid achieves real-world fuel economy of 30/37 mpg (7.8 L to 6.3 L/100 km), compared with the conventional Accord V-6’s 21/31 mpg (11 L to 7.5 L/100 km), some Ward’s judges argued the difference is not worth the additional $3,400.

I say the Accord Hybrid is a car people will buy and enjoy. It is what hybrids should be about, and it sets the benchmark for the next generation.

Liberty diesel falls flat while the Mercedes E320 diesel surpasses expectations.

Like a child at Christmas, I could hardly wait to get my hands on the Mercedes E320 CDI.

Imagine: a fine German luxury automobile combined with the brute power of a 3.2L I-6 turbodiesel, all right here in the land of red and blue states.

As the key turned, I was rewarded with the sweetest of sounds: a very low rumble coming from the engine bay I only could liken to the purring of a conventional gasoline engine.


I stomped on the gas, and the grin on my face became a permanent fixture. The smashing torque peak of 369 lb.-ft. (500 Nm) arrives by just 1,800 rpm, pulling this 3,835-lb. (1,740-kg) sedan along at a clip that would put any V-8 to shame. Best of all, it sipped fuel at an Environmental Protection Agency rating of 37 mpg (6.4 L/100 k) highway and 27 mpg (8.7 L/100 km) city.

Having covered the European auto industry for the past three years at Ward’s, it is great to know Americans finally can experience the beauty of premium diesels that have devoured market share across the pond.

Then came a rude awakening from another highly anticipated diesel: the Jeep Liberty midsize SUV. Again, the excitement was building. I turned the key and could hardly hear myself think.

As the Liberty’s diesel rattled like a semi, I remembered Chrysler folks telling me they were looking for a diesel that would provide the best performance off-road, and that meant some sacrifices had to be made when it came to noise levels.

The Liberty produces a respectable 295 lb.-ft. (400 Nm) of torque at 1,800 rpm and 160 hp at 3,800 rpm, but does it have to be so loud? Worst of all, we tested it during relatively mild fall days. The din is likely to be excruciating when the temperature drops below zero.

It’s unfortunate the first diesel for a light-duty, mass-market vehicle from Detroit since the Reagan Admin. doesn’t stack up to Europe’s best. (Actually, it’s made by Italy’s VM Motori, which DC owns.) We’ll never break the negative stereotypes of diesels this way.