What was the best domestic engine ever built?

[nota]

i went for the good ol' red six. They make a great noise, I had the pleasure of watching Brocky strap an XU-1 round Eastern Creek end of last year and the noise it made coming down the main straight was just incredible

That would've been ace to hear Peter Perfect in the old XU-1. The indestructible Red Six really does produce that distinctive hoonish note when you get up it

For those unfamiliar with Holden's 1963-85 engine, they were simple yet very durable (and cheap to fix too) a light & compact I-6 OHV also distinguished by having no timing chain - the cam is gear-driven - which btw makes them immune to the timing chain dramas which affect so many engines today. On early and hipo versions the timing-gear was all-metal, on later non-sports budget editions the gear teeth were downgraded to nylon for quietness

For an example of this motor's indestructiblity, a mate had a base-model HQ Monaro coupe with a nylon-tooth 202cid. The temp light (no gauge) wasn't working and during a long interstate trip on a 45C summers day the old Monaro just died on him at 70mph .. kaputski

Turned out that he overheated it to such an extent he'd melted all the teeth off the timing gear !!! Not to mention flaking most of the paint off the motor

Removing the bottom radiator hose produced no water at all, it was absolutely dry. But as with so many testaments to the outright durability of the Red Six, once a new gear was fitted that engine started up and ran perfectly until he sold the Munro 3 years later

I once owned a reallly neat 1970 LC Torana XU-1 (wish I still had it)

[Blue Supra]

in the last 5 years the best development has to have been the DOHC Turbo from Ford. An Australian first and is capable of running sub 10sec passes. 550nm from the Typhoon and Tornado. Highest stock torque figure from an aussie built engine and its a SIX not an eight cylinder engine.

Impressive.

[Luciferous]

Valiant 225 Slant six. Weird design, everyone said it would break, and its turned out to still be a damn strong engine. Smooth, too.

[SlickHolden]

Indeed, that Ecotec number and the 4-speed auto (4LE6?) had a mighty going over by Holden, even if the continual development has lasted until now.

Slightly off-topic, but do you fellows think that the 5-speed Auto will be handed down to the Executive etc for the VE, with the upper models copping the ZF number?

Hope so not that the upgrade on the VZ 4 speed isn't good it's just the 5 speed is better.



How many know that with a blower kit the V6 Supercharged engine tops 600Nm of Torque $1000 bucks worth.

[syko]

lol the DOHC i6-turbo is polling better than any of the v8's, it gets my vote too

[charged]

Hemi's coming 2nd, if you have ever heard a hemi at 6500-7000 it would get extra votes, trust me. The barra turbo is a great motor but the hair dryer and a big one at that gives it a big advantage. If you compared the na barra motor to the hemi its no contest.
E49 265 rt charger bore 3.91 stroke 3.68 Comp 10.0:1 HP 302@5600 320@4100 4345cc tripple webbers side drafts .

Barra 190 - 4.0L DOHC DIVCT I6 Engine
Max. Power: 190 kW(254.79HP) @ 5250rpm
Max. Torque: 383 Nm @ 2500rpm

[Egg Nog]

None of those - the LS2 and the LS7 are far and away the best.

[SlickHolden]

I would also like a personal vote on the 80's Holden built designed and made all in house cause GM didn't know about it till it was done, The 5LT OHC V8 that was so quite it wasn't running when on. That engine if allowed to continue would be better then the LS1-LS2.
Back in the 80's when built it was 190kw 400-430Nm i think the torque was. So think some 18 years of development on that engine just think what it would be today
5.7lt-6.0lt 300kw plus, Quad cam??

[fpv_gtho]

Easily the DOHC Ford 6. Developed for over 40 years now, still running strong and confirmed for a few more years yet. Perhaps the engine holding the most roots in this country still in production.

[Mr. Jinx]

How many know that with a blower kit the V6 Supercharged engine tops 600Nm of Torque $1000 bucks worth.

Thats the sort of thing that makes my bed wet in the morning

[SlickHolden]

Thats the sort of thing that makes my bed wet in the morning

Not bad for a humble little old buick base engine
I got a Vid of a VT Supercharged V6 from inside and out, It sounds very sweet inside and when they took off it wen't to 60 very very fast done 0-100 in under 7 seconds easy.
It had a blower kits and LSD.

[Falcon500]

Most certainly it would have to be the 4v clevand motor that went into the rpo83 XA falcons and landaus of the same year and as of 1972 these motors where as local as any of the other mentioned

And yes im still alive......no grog......half the nicotine and 5 kilos of lean muscle and counting comming on board

[2ndclasscitizen]

That would've been ace to hear Peter Perfect in the old XU-1. The indestructible Red Six really does produce that distinctive hoonish note when you get up it

For those unfamiliar with Holden's 1963-85 engine, they were simple yet very durable (and cheap to fix too) a light & compact I-6 OHV also distinguished by having no timing chain - the cam is gear-driven - which btw makes them immune to the timing chain dramas which affect so many engines today. On early and hipo versions the timing-gear was all-metal, on later non-sports budget editions the gear teeth were downgraded to nylon for quietness

For an example of this motor's indestructiblity, a mate had a base-model HQ Monaro coupe with a nylon-tooth 202cid. The temp light (no gauge) wasn't working and during a long interstate trip on a 45C summers day the old Monaro just died on him at 70mph .. kaputski

Turned out that he overheated it to such an extent he'd melted all the teeth off the timing gear !!! Not to mention flaking most of the paint off the motor

Removing the bottom radiator hose produced no water at all, it was absolutely dry. But as with so many testaments to the outright durability of the Red Six, once a new gear was fitted that engine started up and ran perfectly until he sold the Munro 3 years later

I once owned a reallly neat 1970 LC Torana XU-1 (wish I still had it)

it was great. He and Moffat were giving hot laps to some people who won a competition. Moffat came out in a HO, did a couple of easy ones then stopped. Me and my dad and his boss were standing at turn 4 at Eastern Creek watching, about a minute after Moffat went past, there was just this noise coming and Brocky's coming flying over the hill and hurled it round the bend, if it had'a been me you would have had to pull me out with a tow truck after

[2ndclasscitizen]

and the other day dad was telling me about when he worked my Granddad's Holden dealership in Gundagai. He said they used to get in Holdens, Fords and Valiants, overheated to the max, they'd just fill 'em back up with water and off they'd go again, no probs, while Sigma's and Magna's sat out the back melting at the first sign of heat

[SlickHolden]

The Old VB is out the back i stuck the VP's battery in it and it started straight away But it was out of petrol in 20 seconds. It's been sitting since june with 40 problems and 300,000k's plus the tacho stooped working in 1990 with 190,000 on the dash. Strong old engines they dont make them like that anymore tuff as nails run with heaps of problems.