EccentricRichard
New Member
Hi guys
Been having a think. Now, I love P6Bs, but I'm not such a fan of the four-bangers - not so refined nor much more economical. Also not much tuning potential. So, I've been thinking of what to do with a load of four-pot P6s... no offence to four-pot owners intended!
Petrol:
Eight cylinder engines:
Jaguar AJ-V8, 3.2, 3.5, 4.0, 4.2 or 5.0 - all except the 3.2 and 3.5 have been available as supercharged 'R' models.
Ford Modular V8 - 4.6, 5.0, 5.4... as seen in the Mustang, the Explorer and others. Available as a crate engine.
BMW V8s - not the old ones from the E34 5-series, they were troublesome, but the later E39-on models and their contemporaries. 3.5, 4 litre, 4.4, 4.8 IIRC.
Volvo V8 - as seen in XC90, Noble M600, etc. It's a Yamaha engine, narrow-angle (only 60 degrees) - I think it's based on the Ford Taurus SHO's V6.
Daimler 2.5 - it's been done, well some bloke did it in the 60s. Wonderful sound.
Daimler 4.5 - harder to get hold of. Did see a Majestic Major on the A3 the other day, though.
Porsche 928 V8, or the modern one from Cayenne/Panamera? Great engines, anyway.
Audi 4.2, as in R8, RS4, and others. Great engine. Plenty of torque, lots of revs.
Lexus 4.0, 4.3, 5.0 - very smooth, very reliable, not a lot of aural thrills though.
General Motors LS - old-fashioned pushrod engine, but a stonking good one. 640hp supercharged LS9 a mighty thing. Available as a crate engine. Endlessly tunable - 1500hp no bother.
Mercedes-Benz - just about any of them. The 5.5 would be my personal favourite - smooth and torquey. Bonkers AMG 6.2 perhaps a bit too loud for a P6.
Volkswagen W8 - a rare engine, offered but briefly in one generation of Passat. Essentially half a Bugatti Veyron engine, minus the turbos.
Maserati 4.2/4.7 - lovely engine, pity about the cars they've put it in. Ferrari use a similar engine in the F430, the California and now the 458 (and anyone who destroys the hideous 458 is doing the world a favour).
Five and six-cylinders:
BMW's straight-sixes won't fit. The Triumph engine might, but that would probably be akin to heresy!
Volvo do a rather nice straight-six, as does GM in the Daewoo (sorry, Chevy (sorry, Chevrolet)) Epica. Both designed for transverse application - they're quite compact.
Volvo's 5-cylinder is a nice engine - lovely warble to it. The 2.5 is the one to go for - the 2.4 is underpowered and thirsty.
Volkswagen VR6 - sort of a straight-six, sort of a V6. It's basically a very narrow-angle staggered V6 under a single cylinder head. There's a five-cylinder variant, too, but it doesn't sound great, unlike a straight-five.
Alfa Romeo 'Busso' V6 - emphatically not the more modern iron-block engine (which is supplied by Holden). The Busso is a great-sounding engine, and loves to rev.
Ford Taurus SHO V6, built by Yamaha - great engine.
Toyota/Lexus 3.3/3.5 - not the most thrilling, but does like to rev. Lotus use it in the Evora. Sounds OK, too.
Honda 2.0, 2.7, 3.0, 3.2, 3.5... used in the NSX, Legend, Rover 800, etc. A truly great engine - the 2.5 wasn't great, but the others were. Love to rev, sound good, unburstable.
Rover KV6 - creamy smooth, sounds nice, prone to head gasket problems.
Ford Duratec - also used by Jaguar. Nothing special, just a solidly good engine. Found in Mondeos, S-types, XFs, X-types...
Peugeot/Citroen have also made some nice V6s in the past... and the Porsche/Audi V6 is apparently a good 'un.
Four-cylinder engines:
Volkswagen/Audi 1.8 turbo? Honda's 2.0 VTEC (Civic Type R, S2000) is a wonderful engine, a right screamer - no torque, but 200-240bhp at 9000rpm. Toyota and Mazda make some good revvy engines, too, just not as aurally rewarding as the Honda. Alfa Romeo four-pots are always worth a look - the newish MultiAir turbo engines are good, they're very economical, and not short of torque. Volkswagen's TFSI engines are good, too - a bit heavy (iron block), but smooth and economical. No aural thrills whatsoever.
I like three-cylinder engines, but I suspect they'd be too gutless for a P6.
Diesels?
Might just about get a diesel V8 in - they're all fairly good, so take your pick (Mercedes, Audi, Range Rover - BMW never imported its one to the UK, sadly). Alternatively, Volvo make a nice five-cylinder - there's a new, more fuel-efficient 2.0-litre one just coming. The Jaguar/PSA and Volkswagen group V6s are worth a look too - and apparently the new Mercedes-Benz V6s (all-aluminium) are stonking good. Alfa Romeo's 5-cylinder JTD models are worth a look, too - plenty of 156s in scrapyards to plunder! BMW four-cylinder engines are good, especially the most modern all-aluminium lumps. 175bhp and 260 ft lbs from a x20d, or 201bhp and 300 ft lbs from the twin-turbo 123d. I wouldn't touch anyone else's four-cylinder diesels, they're not that nice. Mazda's are OK, but not as nice as the more plentiful (and ready for RWD) BMW ones. Don't suppose there's room for any kind of boxer engine in a P6?
Oh, and I wonder if you could get a W12 from a VW Phaeton, VW Touareg, Audi A8 or Bentley Continental into a P6? Somehow I doubt it... it's basically two VR6s stuck together.
Been having a think. Now, I love P6Bs, but I'm not such a fan of the four-bangers - not so refined nor much more economical. Also not much tuning potential. So, I've been thinking of what to do with a load of four-pot P6s... no offence to four-pot owners intended!
Petrol:
Eight cylinder engines:
Jaguar AJ-V8, 3.2, 3.5, 4.0, 4.2 or 5.0 - all except the 3.2 and 3.5 have been available as supercharged 'R' models.
Ford Modular V8 - 4.6, 5.0, 5.4... as seen in the Mustang, the Explorer and others. Available as a crate engine.
BMW V8s - not the old ones from the E34 5-series, they were troublesome, but the later E39-on models and their contemporaries. 3.5, 4 litre, 4.4, 4.8 IIRC.
Volvo V8 - as seen in XC90, Noble M600, etc. It's a Yamaha engine, narrow-angle (only 60 degrees) - I think it's based on the Ford Taurus SHO's V6.
Daimler 2.5 - it's been done, well some bloke did it in the 60s. Wonderful sound.
Daimler 4.5 - harder to get hold of. Did see a Majestic Major on the A3 the other day, though.
Porsche 928 V8, or the modern one from Cayenne/Panamera? Great engines, anyway.
Audi 4.2, as in R8, RS4, and others. Great engine. Plenty of torque, lots of revs.
Lexus 4.0, 4.3, 5.0 - very smooth, very reliable, not a lot of aural thrills though.
General Motors LS - old-fashioned pushrod engine, but a stonking good one. 640hp supercharged LS9 a mighty thing. Available as a crate engine. Endlessly tunable - 1500hp no bother.
Mercedes-Benz - just about any of them. The 5.5 would be my personal favourite - smooth and torquey. Bonkers AMG 6.2 perhaps a bit too loud for a P6.
Volkswagen W8 - a rare engine, offered but briefly in one generation of Passat. Essentially half a Bugatti Veyron engine, minus the turbos.
Maserati 4.2/4.7 - lovely engine, pity about the cars they've put it in. Ferrari use a similar engine in the F430, the California and now the 458 (and anyone who destroys the hideous 458 is doing the world a favour).
Five and six-cylinders:
BMW's straight-sixes won't fit. The Triumph engine might, but that would probably be akin to heresy!
Volvo do a rather nice straight-six, as does GM in the Daewoo (sorry, Chevy (sorry, Chevrolet)) Epica. Both designed for transverse application - they're quite compact.
Volvo's 5-cylinder is a nice engine - lovely warble to it. The 2.5 is the one to go for - the 2.4 is underpowered and thirsty.
Volkswagen VR6 - sort of a straight-six, sort of a V6. It's basically a very narrow-angle staggered V6 under a single cylinder head. There's a five-cylinder variant, too, but it doesn't sound great, unlike a straight-five.
Alfa Romeo 'Busso' V6 - emphatically not the more modern iron-block engine (which is supplied by Holden). The Busso is a great-sounding engine, and loves to rev.
Ford Taurus SHO V6, built by Yamaha - great engine.
Toyota/Lexus 3.3/3.5 - not the most thrilling, but does like to rev. Lotus use it in the Evora. Sounds OK, too.
Honda 2.0, 2.7, 3.0, 3.2, 3.5... used in the NSX, Legend, Rover 800, etc. A truly great engine - the 2.5 wasn't great, but the others were. Love to rev, sound good, unburstable.
Rover KV6 - creamy smooth, sounds nice, prone to head gasket problems.
Ford Duratec - also used by Jaguar. Nothing special, just a solidly good engine. Found in Mondeos, S-types, XFs, X-types...
Peugeot/Citroen have also made some nice V6s in the past... and the Porsche/Audi V6 is apparently a good 'un.
Four-cylinder engines:
Volkswagen/Audi 1.8 turbo? Honda's 2.0 VTEC (Civic Type R, S2000) is a wonderful engine, a right screamer - no torque, but 200-240bhp at 9000rpm. Toyota and Mazda make some good revvy engines, too, just not as aurally rewarding as the Honda. Alfa Romeo four-pots are always worth a look - the newish MultiAir turbo engines are good, they're very economical, and not short of torque. Volkswagen's TFSI engines are good, too - a bit heavy (iron block), but smooth and economical. No aural thrills whatsoever.
I like three-cylinder engines, but I suspect they'd be too gutless for a P6.
Diesels?
Might just about get a diesel V8 in - they're all fairly good, so take your pick (Mercedes, Audi, Range Rover - BMW never imported its one to the UK, sadly). Alternatively, Volvo make a nice five-cylinder - there's a new, more fuel-efficient 2.0-litre one just coming. The Jaguar/PSA and Volkswagen group V6s are worth a look too - and apparently the new Mercedes-Benz V6s (all-aluminium) are stonking good. Alfa Romeo's 5-cylinder JTD models are worth a look, too - plenty of 156s in scrapyards to plunder! BMW four-cylinder engines are good, especially the most modern all-aluminium lumps. 175bhp and 260 ft lbs from a x20d, or 201bhp and 300 ft lbs from the twin-turbo 123d. I wouldn't touch anyone else's four-cylinder diesels, they're not that nice. Mazda's are OK, but not as nice as the more plentiful (and ready for RWD) BMW ones. Don't suppose there's room for any kind of boxer engine in a P6?
Oh, and I wonder if you could get a W12 from a VW Phaeton, VW Touareg, Audi A8 or Bentley Continental into a P6? Somehow I doubt it... it's basically two VR6s stuck together.