The Motor Trend Engine Hall of Fame

The Motor Trend Engine Hall of Fame



FROM ALFA AND AMG TO NISSAN AND MORE

This has been a long time coming. Whenever we find ourselves absolutely smitten with a motor, one of us inevitably blurts out, "This belongs in the engine hall of fame!" For years it's been nothing more than an expression, shorthand to express how great a given car's motivator is. Also, there is no Engine Hall of Fame. Until now.

This is not just about raw power and terrific torque, though. It's not even about reliability, economy, or the numbers of cylinders, camshafts, and valves. A Hall of Fame engine is often greater than the sum of its parts. It could be an engine that made history. Or made a great sound.

Take a look at our inaugural list of Engine Hall of Fame inductees. Is there an engine we forgot? Or one we included you think is undeserving? That's what the comments section is for. Oh, and for simplicity's sake, we've put them in alphabetical order.

Without further preamble, here it is: Motor Trend's Engine Hall of Fame.



ALFA ROMEO "BUSSO": V-6 (1979)

ALFA ROMEO TWIN CAM: I-4 (1954)

AMG M156/159: V-8 (2006)

AMG M156/159: V-8 (2006)

BMW S50B32: I-6 (1996)

BMW S65B40: V-8 (2007)

CHEVROLET LS7: V-8 (2006)

CHEVROLET LS7: V-8 (2006)

FERRARI F140: V-12 (2002)

FERRARI F140: V-12 (2002)

HONDA F20C: I-4 (1999)

HONDA F20C: I-4 (1999)

NISSAN/PRINCE S20: I-6 (1968)

NISSAN RB26DETT: TURBO I-6

MAZDA13B-REW: SEQUENTIAL TURBO ROTARY (1992)

MAZDA13B-REW: SEQUENTIAL TURBO ROTARY (1992)

TOYOTA 2JZ-GTE: TWIN-TURBO I-6 (1991)

The engine that made Godzilla. Yes, the Nissan GT-R handled brilliantly, but it needed muscle to finish off blueblood supercars. Its advertised 276 hp doesn't sound all that impressive today, but we all know it made more power due to a gentleman's agreement among Japanese automakers not to quote big horsepower numbers, and in 1989 a Ferrari Testarossa made 380 hp. There's something to be said for longevity, as well, as the RB26DETT lasted 13 years in production with minimal changes. This can be attributed to the engine's stoutness, which also makes it a perennial favorite in the aftermarket, as it happily accepts performance modification. There's also something to be said for any production engine with independent throttle bodies.



If you think any six-cylinder engine built in the last several decades sounds amazing, it's because you've never heard an S20 at full bore. It was originally fitted to the first-generation Skyline GT-R and Fairlady Z432. You're excused if you've never heard of the Z432, but its extra badge described what was happening under its sexy hood: four valves per cylinder, three carburetors, and two camshafts. Yep, this was a 24-valve DOHC straight-six from the swinging 1960s, replete with a pornographically oversquare bore-to-stroke ratio (82mm bore, just 62.8mm stroke) and cams aggressive enough that its torque peak occurred at an engine speed (5,600 rpm) higher than most redlines of the day. The 160 hp power peak occurred at a screaming, eargasm-inducing 7,000 rpm. If you should ever find yourself accusing Japanese cars of being sterile, drive something with an S20 in it.



Few engines are charismatic enough that they define an entire car—much less one as timeless as the Honda S2000—but the F20C does exactly that. This four-cylinder produced a staggering 240 hp from just 1,997cc of displacement, or 120 hp per liter. Compare that to the highest specific-output of today's naturally aspirated engines, all of which, unlike the F20C, have direct-injection and variable camshaft phasing. Redline was a side-splitting 8,900 rpm, and once you were "in the VTEC" in first gear (which happened as you were approaching 30 mph), the journey to highway speeds was frenetic and deafening, though the noise was accompanied by no vibration whatsoever. These were especially noteworthy achievements give the S2000's longish 84mm piston stroke.