The greatest engines of all time - Engine Technology International

The Greatest engines of all time
NEW SERIES: ETi’s contributors wax lyrical about
what they think are the finest engines ever made
The greatest
engines of
all time
The greatest engines of ALL time
■ On paper it seemed like an
easy task: we asked each ETi
contributor to name what they
believe is the greatest engine of
all time. However, with so many
fine – and not so fine – engines
made over the last 100 years of
powered personal transport, most
of our writers needed several
days to finally choose one; their
own personal engine icon.
As you will see over the
page, everyone eventually
arrived at their decision.
We’ve ended up with a wide
variety of powertrains being
given this cult status. We’ve
engines from the world of
motorbikes, Formula One and
yesteryear production cars,
as well as units that can still
be found in a showroom
today. Here, ETi’s contributors
justify their choice; in this and
future issues, they get to write
a case study on their favorite.
Graham Heeps, ETi’s deputy
editor, gets to go first – you’ll
find the full story of his greatest
engine of all time starting on
page 38.
You may or may not agree
with our 12 experts’ choices, so
feel free to drop us a line and let
us know what you think is the
greatest engine – we’ll consider
your choice for induction into
the ETi hall of fame. Send a
brief outline of ‘your’ engine and
the reasons why you love it to
[email protected].
For now, however, you’re
stuck with our choices. Turn
the page to see which engines
we believe are the greatest of
all time...
The greatest engines of ALL time
Michael Scarlett
Jaguar V12
I won’t try to pretend this was the
world’s most ecological internal
combustion engine, even in the
1972 to 1997 duration of its
production, but it was, and in my
opinion remains, one of the most
refined of fine car power units. The
V12 was also, in engineering terms,
beautifully designed, massively
strong and stiff, and a real delight to
drive, helped of course by the innate
quietness, refinement, ride and
handling of the Jaguar XJ and
XKs in which it was mounted.
Designed by a team led by three
engineer giants of Jaguar history
– Walter Hassan, Harry Mundy and
Bill Heynes – and derived to some
extent from the V12 engine of the
never-raced, mid-engined Jaguar XJ
13, (below) the SOHC all-aluminum
alloy-cased 5.3-liter was a triumph
of clear, logical thinking. It put
Jaguar back on top of the luxury yet
value-for-money car world that its
founder, Sir William Lyons, and his
team had pioneered.
Bernard Challen
Alfa Romeo 2000cc DOHC ca 1960.
At a time when performance was
deemed not too important and
cost reduction was eliminating all
traces of an engineering soul in
the appearance of engines, with
sheet tin and black paint covering
everything, a wondrous aluminum
engine appeared with beautiful
separate valve covers and fine chain
cover at the front. The performance
of the unit was good: the unit specifics were good-to-great and the
installation of the engine in the Guilia
led to a strange feeling
of acceleration and smoothness,
coupled with an ability to corner
enthusiastically. All very potent stuff
for a then 18-year-old apprentice
test engineer, graced with the
experience of being taught by people
who actually knew what they were
talking about – and who would
wreak havoc when a re-assembled
cam gear wheel was found to be
one tooth out of alignment.
Jim McCraw
“America was the
engine of engines, the
place where more car
companies were born
(and died, to be fair)
than anywhere else
on the planet”
Chevrolet Smallblock
Asking an American to identify his
own personal favorite engine of all
time is to ask the poor wretch to
spend endless days and nights of
analysis mixed with memory, with a
dash of adventure and a basket of
thrills thrown in.
America, after all, was the engine
of engines, the place where more
car companies were born (and died,
to be fair) than anywhere else on
the planet. We’ve had every kind of
engine you can think of over here,
from slide-valves to Stirlings, from
steamers to cammers, two-strokes
to free-pistons, turbines to turbos.
Taking the 1890 to 1954 time
frame as the great ‘sorting-out’
period of whose engines were
strong and whose engines were
wrong, the engine that came into the
American market in 1955 is as good
as any other to call my favorite of
all time: the Chevrolet smallblock
that was first seen in the mid-1950s,
and 30 years later went corporate as
the GM 5.7-liter V8. No other engine
ever built has had more economic
impact or greater racing success.
Graham Johnson
Honda 2-liter (S2000)
Why has no-one else selected this
engine as the all-time great? Illeducated, soulless bunch. What’s
not to love about this unit? It’s got
power: 240bhp to be exact, meaning it has more horses per liter than
any other naturally aspirated engine
– ever. It’s got character too: actually
it’s got two – one, shy, retiring type
below 6,000rpm, and a fuel-crazed,
raver above and beyond to 9,000rpm.
But there’s more – this DOHC
powerhouse sounds gorgeous at full
flight; like it belongs in the nose of a
Touring Car racer or even between
the legs of the maddest motorcyclist.
And it’s fuel efficient in that one
can – “one” I assume being someone
limper of wrist – drive to an average of 13.6L/100km (32mpg). Hell,
it even looks good, longitudinally
mounted as an engine should be.
You just gotta thrash this one:
it wants it; it demands a thorough,
daily clear out – make that between
each gear change (which, by the
way, is another joyful experience
because the stubby lever is
connected to the greatest gearbox
of all time – another story).
Faults? Just one: Honda installed
it in the S2000, a sports car the
rump of which is not always as
faithful as the power source.
Dads, grandads, then great grandads... this engine will be a
talking point for a long time to
come. This is the greatest engine
of all time, and, thus far, it’s got
five International Engine of the Year
Awards trophies to prove that fact.
Graham Heeps
Ford-Cosworth DFV
No engine has contributed more to
motorsport history than the FordCosworth DFV. 10 F1 constructors’
titles with five different teams, and
10 Indy 500s for the turbocharged
DFX derivative are testament to that
fact. DFV was also the first fourvalve F1 engine and the first to
be used as a stressed member;
it pioneered geartrain designs
and casting methods that have
influenced engine design and
manufacture ever since.
Cosworth had no previous F1
experience when, in 1967, the
DFV revved up at Zandvoort in the
back of the Lotus 49 – and won the
race. Over the course of the next
16 years, DFV showed a longevity
unique in motor racing to triumph
on a further 154 occasions. The
DFY derivative that won the last of
those, in Detroit in 1983, was lighter
and more powerful, but was still
fundamentally the same unit.
37 years into DFV’s life, Cosworth
still sells newly machined blocks and
heads. How many other so-called
“greatest engines” can say that?
Keith Read
Rover V8
Not the easiest of decisions to
make, with three widely differing
units on my short list. But,
having settled on one and further
considered my reasons for selecting
it, I am in no doubt that the greatest engine of all time has to be the
3.5-liter Rover V8, the aluminum unit
that evolved from a discarded
Buick design.
The motor offered countries
outside the US, not used to large
cubic capacity, an acceptable V8.
It found niche applications in many
different vehicles – not all of Rover’s
design – and it sounded good,
performed well, and (ultimately)
stretched fuel economy to levels unfamiliar in the world of V8
engines. Finally, it appeals to my
passion for recycling and my sense
of humor. The concept of a theniconic British auto maker achieving
such success with a GM cast-off is,
were it not true, simply laughable…
The greatest engines of ALL time
Leonard Setright
Napier Sabre
I am charmed by the original
compressed-air rotary engine of
Hargrave, as by the dainty Gnome
and other rotaries that took the
air up to 1918. I am captivated by
the 1966 five-cylinder 125cc racing Honda, safe to 24,000rpm and
knock-proof on 85 RON petrol.
I feel profound respect for the utterly
simple solid-fuel rocket engine,
blasting into space with a rapidly
lightening load of solid rubber and
aluminum dust.
Yet nothing that I know can
unseat the overwhelming fascination
inspired by the prodigious Napier
Sabre, surely the most brilliant,
most maligned, most iconoclastic,
and most ferociously competent
piston engine of all. Use the latest
technology to make an engine
like that now, and what marvels
might ensue!
John Simister
Hillman Imp
It’s not often that an engine
designed for racing enters mass
production for a small economy car,
but it happened in 1963’s Hillman
Imp. That the Rootes Group was
one of Britain’s more conservative
car makers made the Imp engine’s
provenance all the more strange.
Based on the Coventry Climax
FWMA, whose other evolutions
included the 1.5-liter FWMV V8
Grand Prix engine, the Imp engine
was the UK’s first all-aluminum,
SOHC mass-production unit and
a little featherweight jewel.
Small valves and tame cam timing
kept power low for shopping-car
use, so it responds eagerly to tuning. Standard power is 39bhp from
875cc, but the engine is at its most
natural in approximately late-1960s
rally spec. That means bored to
998cc, much bigger valves and ports,
much more cam lift and overlap, and
breathing and exhaust equipment
far more generous than a one-liter
capacity normally needs. A pair of
Weber 40DCOEs completes a 95bhp
engine that’s tractable at low revs
while giving smooth, reliable power
beyond 8,000rpm.
John Challen
BMW 4.4-liter V8 Valvetronic
So editor-in-chief Johnson wants to
play the old International Engine of
the Year Awards card, does he?
The Honda 2-liter has never won
the overall title, has it? No, the
greatest engine of all time was
voted the greatest engine of 2002 by
40 motoring journalists from a total
of 18 countries; join me in saluting
the 4.4-liter Valvetronic from BMW.
I first encountered the technologyfilled 4.4-liter V8, on the launch of
the 6-Series coupé (below). I soon
found out why so many judges
had given it so many points. The
superior performance, refinement,
and flexibility were evident to see.
During the second day of
this jaunt to France, with much
enthusiasm, I decided to flex
the muscles of the V8-powered
machine, inadvertently overtaking an
unmarked police car; a subsequent
Euro70 fine was my punishment,
but, dare I say it, it was worth it.
As I write these words, a droptop 6-Series, with the 4.4-liter
Valvetronic, is sitting outside my
house. And I’m going for a drive...
Mike Magda
Ford 427 SOHC
The Ford 427 SOHC was the most
notorious engine of its day. Banned
by NASCAR before it ever raced, the
‘cammer’ engine was a mechanical
rebel that appealed to maverick drag
racers in the late 1960s.
As a devoted Ford fan growing up,
my hero was Top Fuel driver Pete
Robinson. Called ‘Sneaky
Pete’ for his innovative engineering,
Robinson eventually died in 1971
pushing his nitro-charged slingshot
dragster to the limits of weight
reduction and aerodynamic design.
I followed many other SOHC racers
then, including Mickey Thompson,
Don Prudhomme, Tom McEwen,
and Don Nicholson because of
Robinson’s engine choice. I have
many fond memories of walking
through the pits, looking for those
engines and getting chills when the
valve covers were pulled to reveal
the ‘high-tech’ design.
Brian Cowan
Ducati V-twin
Coming as I do from a background
in motorcycling – and 1950s and
earlier British bikes at that –
engines were the total focus of my
early automotive passions. That
background taught me to prize
engines not so much for outright
power as comparative simplicity, the
ability to do more with less, and to
perform at their best in everyday
use (as opposed to max-attack use
with the revs close to the redline).
And above all, to prize engines
that exude character.
One engine that demonstrates
all of these qualities in spades is
Ducati’s desmodromic-valve V-twin.
One of its outstanding attributes
is its feeling of strength and
responsiveness – despite having
considerably less power (and even
torque) than its rival Japanese fours,
the V-twin delivers the goods at
lower revs, and so feels stronger.
It also looks right, has a suitable
level of engineering sophistication,
is still going strong (albeit in modified
form) 35 years from introduction,
and – with the right exhaust system
– produces an unforgettable sound.
Bellissimo! ETi
Richard Stobart
The Napier Deltic
In the mid 1940s there was a diesel
revolution taking place that
in a small way was to foreshadow
today’s trend. In fast patrol boats,
gasoline engines were universal and
disliked. Diesel engines were simply
not up to the job but German
experience with boosted diesel
engines for aircraft was becoming
more widely known. The Admiralty
placed a development contract with
D Napier & Son and by 1952, trials
were underway with the first engines.
The Deltic enshrines the opposed
piston design that implemented a
uniflow scavenge system. Three
banks of six cylinders make an
18-cylinder engine arranged in a
triangular configuration – hence the
reference to delta, although this was
a delta balancing on its apex. Of
the three crankshafts, one at each
corner, one rotates in the opposite
direction to make the timing of engine
events possible. It was said that
the phasing system led at least one
designer to a nervous breakdown.
“I have many fond
memories of walking
through the pits and
getting chills when
the valve covers were
pulled to reveal the
‘high-tech’ design”