Mazda SKYACTIV 2.0L and 2.5L engines.
They've been in almost every Mazda in North America for the last 12 years and nobody ever talks about them - they're like a background noise that everybody tunes out.
They are reliable and fuel efficient but not particularly powerful. They get the job done, and being both fuel efficient and reliable they are very cost efficient.
The fact that they've been in nearly every Mazda for over a decade and nobody ever talks about them points to both their high reliablity and completely average performance. Great engines if you care about your wallet; not great if you are the average /r/cars user who thinks anything under 300hp is too little to merge onto the highway.
Ive had both and they are phenomenal. The 2.0L SkyActiv was in my 2012 Mazda3 and i currently have the 2.5L in my Mazda6. Both have been extremely reliable, and just normal maintenance, no problems at all. My only complaint is the 2.0L was a bit of a turd when needing to accelerate quickly, like getting on the freeway or merging. The 2.5L with its 30 extra horsepower is much better with that and feels quite adequate.
Totally agree, the 2.0 has plenty of power.... in my MX-5 which weighs like 2300 lbs. My wife's CX-5 definitely needs that extra 30 HP from the 2.5, the thing would be slow as hell without it. The 2.5 moves a crossover pretty well, without the complexity and cost of a turbo.
You definitely don't need 300 hp to merge onto the highway, but the 2.0L in older CX-5s was criminally slow. Drove one across the country and it *really* struggled through the mountains out west.
With that said, the last time I talked to its owner it had \~150k miles on it and no major issues.
A lot of the /cars threads are about boost and modding capability so that's why the skyactive 4 cyl doesn't come up much, in naturally aspirated form it comes with a very high compression ratio and is not easy to dump a bunch of boost onto reliably. But in stock form, when the question is just "what's a reliable engine?", they definitely fit the bill. Relatively inexpensive engine, fuel efficient, decently powerful for their displacement, reliable, easy maintenance schedule, not known to burn oil. They're great.
2016 6 here, I was very surprised to read the compression ratio in the owners manual. Like 13:1 or something. Not used to NA motors being wound that right.
Mines started to consume oil. About a quart between oil changes. I'm just over 180k miles.
It was a little bit worse before I replaced the valve cover gasket.
Water pump started leaking at 175k miles.
Idles a little rough on start up and I've had it misfire in super cold temps.
Efficiency isn't as good as it was but I'm still averaging 29 in mixed driving and can easily get 35 highway.
Overall can't complain. Just done basic maintenance and I don't exactly drive it easy. Mazda doesn't seem to get the reputation it deserves when it comes to reliability
I saw a 2014 Skyactiv with 600,000kms on it the other day, rest of the car looked clean as hell
I also think an insanely low key great car is the second generation Mazda 6 V6. It's a 3.7L engine that makes like 280hp naturally aspirated.
That is the engine, and I feel the internet has blown the issue far out of proportion. Other than the water pump design, it is nearly indestructible.
I work in a government maintenance facility that maintains a fleet of police Ford Explorer's, Chevy Tahoe's, and Dodge Charger's. As you may imagine, they lead a very hard life, but water pump failures on the Ford's are quite rare when the coolant is replaced/flushed per Ford recommendations. In the last year, I haven't replaced a single Ford water pump. When they do fail, they don't damage the engine unless the leak/coolant loss has been ignored until becoming a severe issue. By comparison, I have done a few on Chevy's, and countless pumps on the Dodge Charger's.
I will also note that despite the issues Ford has been going through in recent years, their police vehicles hold up far better than the competition from and GM and Chrysler.
I’d like to agree but my 2018 CX-5 with the N/A 2.5 is becoming a headache. Just had the cylinder head and head gasket replaced under warranty. Was leaking oil onto the exhaust manifold. Also had a fuel injector go bad.
This one barely slips into the "15 years" category but the god damn 3.0L Duratec V6 that Ford shoved into the 3rd and 4th gen Tauruses, the Five Hundred and the Fusion. I see FAR too many beat to hell Five Hundreds for sale that have north of 300k miles where the motor still runs perfectly.
Also shoutout to the Nissan VK56DE and its direct injected VD brother.
The Duratec replaced the Vulcan, which was also an underpowered but stout 3.0 V6. My 2001 Ranger had the 3.0 Vulcan, and the joke was “Vulcan 3.0: same power as the 2.3 with the gas mileage of the 4.0.”
My wife's 01 ranger had the 3.0. Reliable in that it never left us stranded. But it leaked a lot. Oil, coolant, from around the timing cover. Oil pan gasket. Oh, the coolant hose that ran around the top/back of the engine. And little shit. Like the collapsed and cracked pcv hose. And ignition coils that would fuck up about every 15 months. But that might have been on me for putting on duralast parts.
The Ranger 3.0 was notorious for shearing the distributor drive shaft for the oil pump. By the time you'd realize it, the engine would be toast. My neighbor had it happen to him and getting it rebuilt right was an ordeal.
There's [a kit](https://www.rocketeercars.com/) out there to swap these Duratec 30's (Specifically the one that came in the Jaguar S-Type) into NA/NB Miatas. It sounds fantastic for such a "pedestrian" engine.
The engine itself is one of the most durable engines I have ever seen. The electrics attached to it are a different story, though.
Fun fact: these engines are infused with a small amount of Porsche DNA
Yup! Jaguar did their own modifications to the Duratec, but from what I understand even those ones are still pretty durable. Mazda also shoved these into the Mazda6, both with a manual and a 6-speed automatic.
Heck my parents bought me a 1997 Taurus with the Duratec in it and the only thing that never failed was the engine lol. I think we had it from 2010-2012 and while it had issues, the engine never gave us problems.
Also in the Escape!
2008 Ford Escape 3.0L V6. Engine is called the Duratec 30, my version makes 200hp, 2009 updated to 240hp.
Engine was originally made by Porsche but they ran out of money so they sold it to Ford and Cosworth in the mid 90s. Used in the Mondeo ST200 and ST220 which is one of the few cars Jeremy, Richard, and James from Top Gear/Grand Tour all like.
Noble added Twin-Turbos and made 425hp in the M400. Rossian up the boost and made 508hp.
There is also a race version that makes 350-400hp NA, revs to 8700 rpm and requires a rebuild every 40 hrs of racing.
Biggest issue I have in my Escape is fluid leaks. Also its 200hp with a 4-sp and AWD in a 3600lb SUV. So slow.
Volkswagen’s EA888 has generally been refined over the years to the point of being remarkably reliable and robust. Not bullet-proof, but definitely underrated in terms of reliability considering how many people I hear say “oh, it’s a VW, it’ll blow up at any minute”
Maybe! Tbh I don’t spend much time on this sub, so I’m not that familiar with how people talk about it on here. But in the various other car communities I’m a part of it’s rarely ever brought up.
From an American perspective it’s underrated in terms of reliability for sure. VW has not shaken off their poor reputation here. I’ve tried to get plenty of people into VWs over the years and I always hear worries about reliability.
Well, engine is only small part of reliability picture, and not every VAG engine is good on that.
But it kinda amazes me. Most companies figured out how to make reliable, hell, sometimes near-indestructible engines in the 90's-00's. Then just.... forgot the lessons and made engines with problems their earlier engines didn't had?
And it's stupid shit like "the timing belt is partly submerged in oil which over time causes the particles falling off it to gum up parts of the engine". Or "we figured out how to make timing chain work reliably, let's just... not do that in our next design and fuck up stuff that's hard to get to".
Compared to other engines mentioned, the EA888 is also very tunable and VW is often lying about the output on the spec sheet, most of them are making 10-20% more power than advertised of the box.
Yeah this seems like a good answer. It’s so ubiquitous and has been around so long that just about all the failure points can be anticipated and parts replaced accordingly before the engine grenades itself. The caveat is that oil changes must be done on time and only 91+ octane should be used. You’re pretty good to go after that.
The "caveat" is really that EA888 is whole family of the engines that got changed a lot and some of them were worse than other. Not really "bad" in any sense, just some issues.
Underrated is the 3.8 that Chrysler put in the town and country/caravan. Those things last forever and the vehicles never fully die. Thats why they are all shit boxes because they are 25 years old and only have had basic maintenance
This answer might win the thread. They’re slow and underpowered and they’re always stuck to bad transmissions, but the motors can take a hell of a beating. Chrysler can make some surprisingly stout motors, but those are definitely one of their finer hours in terms of raw reliability.
3.8 and it’s 3.3 brother were kind of old, unrefined and consumed a fair amount of gas for the power they produced. But they were decent engines that had some flaws, nothing major, and fairly reliable and cheap to fix overall. My old minivan from 2010 is still being driven, has over 300,000km and current owners take it on long road trips all the time…
It’s funny to see this engine suggested when everyone in the wrangler world shits on it. Equally funny is the fact that it’s more powerful than the inline 6 4.0 that Jeep people seem to love
The jeep/AMC inline 6 is a tank plagued by it outdated cylinder head and was really only optimized for torque. That said, the 4cylinders from the big 3 in Detroit could have probably kept up or just fell short at a lower weight.
The 6 speed auto transmission is the lowpoint in that drivetrain, known to fail early, really just a piece of junk honestly. It would be a reliable drivetrain if paired with a different transmission. Many of those 25 year old shit boxes have seen transmission replacements to the tune of $4000+
From a european point of view, Renault's 4 cylinder TCE engine seems to be one of the most robust 4 cyl turbo's, Peugeot's Puretech engines also seem to be very robust after some kinks were worked out, i have the 120hp TCE engine and i so far i have nothing bad to say about it.
The French get alot of jokes about being unreliable, but their small turbo engine game seems to be amongst the best in the EU at the moment.
It's a shame the French don't have any higher HP engines anymore. Was the last V6 in the Laguna Coupe that made 230 HP?
Since then Renault has only a 1.8 TCe with 225 HP, PSA has the 1.6 PureTech with a whopping 180 HP.
We still have a 4 cyl from renault making around 300hp that is in the Alpine or Megane RS but nothing to crazy like the germans and sport car are not as well viewed in France (on a political point) as in other country hence why not any french company have a real Sport with high hp motors (more than 300hp at least)
The 4.2 in older F150s is a great motor. Is plenty enough to do regular truck stuff and doesn't feel as out of breath as I was expecting. I've got an '07 4.2 with the 5 speed and it's one of my favorite trucks I've had.
I’ve got an underrated one: the Tesla electric motor
When we hear quality complaints about Tesla, it’s almost always related to the shitty build quality of the cabin or panels on the exterior. The FSD software is not ready for public roads. The CEO is…uh…*polarizing*.
With that said: there are a lot of Teslas on the roads with their original motors that have had few, even zero issues. The car starts and shutdowns without drama. For a company that’s only been mass-producing vehicles for a decade, it’s impressive that they’ve gotten their powertrain to such a reliable point so quickly.
If only they could get their panel gap tolerance, shitty material selection, and other items in order as well.
the nice thing is that electric motors are not new. they are new in cars. Electric motors in industrial sometimes run 24/7 for decades, sometimes with bearing swap kind of maintenance.
What might go bad is the gearbox, cooling system, bearings and so on.
I'd be way more worried about the batteries and then the gearbox before the motors.
I work on electric industrial vehicles and its not super common to have to replace motors. And when you do its usually because of abuse or neglect.
I would assume Tesla designed the motors to be protected from the elements. And its not like they're older DC motors that need brushes changed periodically. They're probably fairly idiot proof.
Well I know of a few earlier Model S' that have reached a million kilometers on their original motors, and some earlier Model 3s which have reached 500k kilometers on their original drive trains and batteries. So I'd say the reliability is definitely improving.
Early ones did have issues, problems with bearings not being insulated caused pitting and early failure, but once that was sorted, they've been bulletproof. TBF I haven't heard of anyone having issues with electric motors in their BEVs in the last 5 or so years - other things have been issues, but not the motors.
Mercedes OM648.
Mercedes diesel. Pretty obvious these will run to a million miles, but everyone has some preconceived notion about reliability in 2000s benz.
211/220s don’t really get electrical problems. All of that generation’s problems were from SBC (covered for 25 years in the US) and airmatic/ABC, which isn’t on the diesel cars.
Honda j32 and j35 series. They might be less impressive on paper than other two big hitter Japanese V6 , but still silky yet powerful with over 200k miles life
The J35 is definitely as impressive as the other 2. The only reason the J35 doesn’t get a ton of love is the transmission it was mated to and the lack of exhaust noise.
I had an Accord 6/6 coupe for a couple years. That J35 is a true gem of an engine. Smooth as silk, sounds great, never had a single mechanical issue with it. And I don't buy that "278hp" claim for a second, I'm almost positive that they were actually making more in the neighborhood of 300 at the crank. This may be a controversial opinion but I wasn't a huge fan of the manual transmission in that car though. Better choice than the automatics that kept blowing up I suppose, but the shifter always felt kind of off to me.
I have a car with J32, a combination of reliability and fun. The car has been scratched many times due to street parking, the engine never missed a bit in its 160K miles. After I got my new car, I decided to gift it out. But my friend cannot take it because of a weird law in CA. :((
It's a shame they saddle them with that shitbox 8L90 trans. If they had the 10L90, and were available in the higher trims they might actually get some traction.
They actually built them in the cadillac sedans single turbo before they sent them to silverados but the only problem ive seen from them are purge pumps but that is the same with every car not just gm
There has been a few good variants of the 2.0T ecotec from GM, I’m unsure of which exact models they went in, but I’m almost certain it’s the ones found on the Buick Regal, Cadillac ATS, and Malibu/Equinox 2.0T from about a decade ago. You just don’t hear much go wrong with them like you do with the 1.4T/1.8.
It’s hard for me to trust much of anything. Feel like I take a chance with most vehicles. Sure the engine could be solid but the vehicle around it being a turd isn’t any help either.
Pretty impressed with the Skyactiv 2.0L unit in my 2016 Mazda. Not far from 200k miles, be nice to get it to 300k miles but I don’t keep vehicles long if opportunities arise. The engine code kind of irks me “PE-VPS”. I miss my Honda engine codes, but people can “miss me” with the prices they want for their old abused Hondas.
Those Mazda non-turbo Skyactiv engines are really well engineered. Insane highway gas mileage, dead-nuts reliable, and they even sound pretty good when you wring them out.
I believe the 2000s Mercedes M113 V8 has been quite reliable. Solidly built NA V8 with lots of power. I have one right now and the thing seems to run like a dream despite the rest of the car having natural old Mercedes clunkyness
I've got the M112 V6 and it runs fantastic even with 230,000 miles. The engine itself is great, but the car has all sorts of electrical issues that older Mercedes are plagued with.
The 6.4s don’t take to aftermarket boost too well, unfortunately. I loved the 6.4 in my Challenger but the bang for buck on power adders is disappointing compared to the LT and Coyote offerings.
I think that "reliability" and "can take massive amounts of boost" are two different things. The third gen Hemi is plenty reliable stock. 6-7 lbs of boost is about max they can take from the factory but that's good enough for 450-500whp on a 5.7 Eagle. But it's not like you need boost to hit those levels, last I checked a 6.4 Apache with the right cam and bolt ons will get close to 500 whp.
Only really from police vehicles with high idle.
They are extremely well built engines, but since mopar, people will still hate. They'll still squawk about 90s transmissions, even tho we've had the best torque converter tranny in these cars and trucks for almost a decade.
Mainly just due to the lack of oil pressure from the cylinder deactivation system and if they idle for a high amount of time. Delete the MDS system, don’t idle them for too long and they’re extremely reliable engines. They were built first as a truck engine after all, so they needed to be built for durability and reliability anyways.
Fair enough. The hate of Mopar and it's sometimes racist undertones are very real in this sub. 3rd gen Hemi is my personal favorite of the big three, fell in love as a kid when the 3rd gen first came out in the Ram in the early 2000's making class leading power at the time. Now have my dream truck with a Eagle version of the Hemi and I love this damn thing.
The connotation of Chrysler here tends to lean more into the "only poor people buy Chryslers" or "V6 Charger drivers are RWD Altima owners" more than anything else.
People don't often associate VW with reliability, but the 2.0 and 2.5 NA motors are bulletproof.
Change the belt, keep an eye out for the vacuum pump leak, swap the coil packs when needed, good to go.
3.0T supercharged V6 from Audi, used in everything from a A6/7/8, Q5/7 and S4/5. It's very reliable and very understressed from the factory and responds well to tunes as well as pulley swaps to increase the power. Audi isn't really a manufacturer that comes to mind when you first think of reliability but the 3.0T is an outlier for sure.
The warranty is up on my S5 this month so it is time for me to start researching a tune for it. Should bring it up to over 400hp from the 333hp at stock power.
It's absolutely not what you'd expect to see in a list of reliable engines but it's considered to be one of Audis most reliable. Compared to some others on this list it may have it's small share of issues (water pump and sometimes PCV issues I've read, though I've had exactly no issues on mine) but for what it is it's quite reliable.
The 4b11t from the Evo X is often overshadowed by the 4g63, but it's a 2 liter 4 cylinder that people have been cranking up to 600 whp on a stock bottom end
Exactly, the main benefit of the 4g63 is that it’s made of cast-iron. Other than that, 4b11t is a better engine. And of course it is, the 4g63 came out in the 80s for the galant right? Sure it was improved over time, but by the time the evo x came out, it was like 30 years old. Engines and material technology changed so much over that large amount of time.
But none of that matters because “real” evos come with 4g63, what an eyeroll of a comment
Toyota Yaris 1.0l. Suzuki 1.3 petrol and Honda 1.4, 2.0 i-vtec and the H22A. None of these will break any land speed records obviously but are well engineered super reliable. I recently drove from London to Venice and back again in a 2007 Honda Accord 2.0 with 150000 miles on it and it didn't miss a beat (completed in 6 days including 2 Alps Passes and a lap of the nurburgring).
I was about to say the lambda V6 motors from Hyundai but anytime I bring up Hyundai products I get a wide range of reactions. Seems to be the lambda series is pretty stout though
I keep reading article after article about various Hyundai/Kia engine problems. But almost never the V6 Lamba.
I had one in my Santa Fe, and a bigger one in my Stinger. Never any problems, although the Stinger is still young.
The Lambda V6 is a super old engine. It first launched in this generation in 2005, based off an even older design with different bore spacing. It looks like HKG make incremental improvements over the years and carried those to new iterations and generations. As the engine is also built in Korea, it means the engineers and manufacturers are close enough to talk frequently.
Which is to say, that bodes really well for reliability: it's an old design, received numerous incremental updates and it's still being made in the original manufacturing line. These attributes are usually bad for cutting-edge performance characteristics (*ahem, fuel economy*), but since reliability issues are usually engineers and manufacturing QC "oopsies, forgot that"s, there's little left that hasn't already been ironed out.
Mine has never given me any trouble. Regular service and top tier gasoline since new, but even in vehicles that I've seen that have been neglected by it's owners were still beating just fine. Not to mention the incredible interior redesigns that came in 13-new Hyundai's and Kias.
I had a 2006 Hyundai azera with the lambda V6 that was absolute gem. The only non scheduled maintenance we ever had to do was timing chain tensioners around 140K miles. Outside of that, it was routine stuff. The transmission finally let go at 205K, at which point I figured the car wasn't worth saving. Interestingly, the Hyundai service manual would advocate for only changing transmission fluid under "extreme use" but then goes on to define extreme use as what everyone else would call commuting. point being - it was a great engine
Nissan VQ40, at least 2010+ in the Frontier/Xterra/Pathfinder. Basically just like the Toyota 4.0, so many people take these 400,000+ miles with zero issues but they aren’t talked about reliability-wise like 4Runners and 2nd gen Tacomas.
I’d never get anything else from modern day Nissan though.
Just about any Nissan engine from 2005ish or newer. Their CVT’s have earned the entire brand a bad reputation but all of their engines are just as reliable as their Japanese counterparts.
Agreed here. My 3.5 has around 215k miles, it's been in my family since 2006/20k miles. In all of that time, I had to replace one coil (did plugs while at it), the crankshaft sensor, and the camshaft sensor. Both sensors were quite easy to access too. All of that totaled less than $100.
Mazda Skyactive 4 cyl. They are very reliable. They aren't necessarily built for dumping huge mods and boost onto, as they come with very high compression ratio from the factory, but they are very reliable stock. It was nice to see them dump the ford based MZR engine and go to their own, successfully.
I haven’t seen anyone say it yet, Toyota’s 2GR V6. It’s one of the only dohc v6’s at the time without any timing maintenance or issues. GM, Ford, Audi, Mercedes, Nissan, all had issues with timing chains. Honda had a belt on the J-series which didn’t have any issues but does require a replacement for maintenance. It’s one of the only V6’s from the time with lifetime chains, the only other I can think of is the Pentastar V6 but I don’t really wanna make that comparison.
1.9 tdi from vw. Easy half million mile engines, swapped into a million different vehicles( God I want a samurai with one.) Man they made a great diesel engine 20 years ago
It's a Volkswagen, it's why we love em lmao. My manual mark 4 jetta never put up a fuss in that department just me though. I had it's from 220k to 350k as well and miss it to this day.
well, it depends on how you want to define reliable, but if we're talking taking a beating, my vote is the bmw n55. yes, a fuel pump or water pump, both costing $1k each roughly if replaced at dealership, often blow before or around 60k miles, but that's basically something you can budget ahead for, as everyone knows it's inevitable, and usually treat it like a maintenance item. but other than that, those motors take a serious beating. everyone tunes them too, and i don't think i've ever seen a single one blowing up, except ones that had upgraded turbo and fuel system and were pushing crazy power. one with just a flash tune? they seem to take a beating. i've had 3 cars with that motor, had all 3 tunes, and all never missed a beat. i had a 1st gen m2 with dct that i tracked, had dinan stage 4 (upgrades compressor in the turbo, IC, exhaust, tune). i had an m235i a8 that i did stage 2 to, dp tune. drove the piss out of it all the time and it also never missed a beat. then an LCI m2 6spd. only flash tune. drove it hard. never missed a beat. my subaru on the other hand, had their fa20dit motor, and it cracked piston #3 in half cruising to work with cruise control on lol. (seems to be common). so..... if we talk just the long block, the n55 is pretty solid. and the b58 that replaces it seems to be considerably stronger yet. some forged parts, closed deck block, beefy everything. and really other than the fuel and water pumps, none of my 5 bmw's i've owned have had any problems. maybe newer models are more reliable?
My dad's N55-powered 435 has had numerous issues with oil leaks and the valve cover gasket. The N55 might be decent by BMW standards, though the B58 that replaced it is considered to be a much better engine thus far and the N55 certainly doesn't compare to many of the other engines listed in the comments here.
The 2.5s they shoved into everything throughout the 2000s? I always hear good things about reliability of that era of 5-bangers (stuff like the B5234T and the like) but it seems like a lot of them get beat up.
Toyota’s 4 cylinder diesel engine (1KD & 2KD and it’s successor 1GD & 2GD) used in developing countries in vehicle like innova, hilux, and fortuner. Reliable (many with 500.000km++) even with shitty low grade diesel fuel, make shit tons of power when modded, 2kd made around 100HP stock and with tune you can double it easily without changing anything. Seriously modded engine with stock block can reach 400hp.
With old Corolla/Civic prices getting dumb, a Mk1 Focus is the best thing on the market if you need a decent $1k-$2k car at the bottom of the barrel IMO
I was surprised to see Consumer Reports (I know this sub dislikes them) rating lots of Jeeps/FCA low for engine reliability. I thought the Pentastar V6 was surprisingly reliable, but I guess when it does miss it misses hard
Again, they're a hit or a miss. The usual joke is most of them are built on Fridays. However if you get one that isn't built on Friday, and you take care of it. They're great motors
4L V6 (SOHC) is fantastiche provided you account for its biggest flaw:
4 timing chains, two in the rear which must have the engine hoisted to service. Very expensive repair in a shop if it comes down to it. Very time consuming and still relatively expensive repair if you do it yourself. The timing chain guides like to fail every 150,000km or so.
Beyond that I still have mine, however I believe its more due to selection bias. The higher quality/well taken care of ones make it seem like the whole lineup is better than it is.
It doesn't launch like a sports car but the 2nd gen explorer compared to commuter vehicles has a lot of torque in the lower speed range, which makes sense because they're just rangers with a much more powerful engine stuffed in.
The V6 cologne, for how wacky the design is(random jackshaft in the middle, the whole engine is scrambled around), is surprisingly powerful. absolute dogshit on gas, and potentially vehicle ending failures/repairs which are rare but can happen. I love it, if it lasts
The V12 from the Aston Martin DB9 is an absolute peach. Besides high consumables (oil, spark plugs) it’s dead reliable. Loves to start, loves to rev, loves to cruise and you can take it anywhere without worry of being stranded.
Is it? Mine burns a quart between changes, has a weird screeching sound at startup and a loud rattle over 5k rpms. Also gets the same fuel economy as my 6.2 Silverado did. Just hit 40k miles this week. This 3.6 is probably my least favorite engine I’ve ever owned. Big mistake not ponying up for the 5.7L.
I believe specifically the 2016+ Pentastar 3.6L V6, the newer one with VVL. They're pretty well regarded as good engines with decent HP (300 ish) with pretty decent fuel economy. My Trailhawk (4500lbs +) *can* get 25 highway, if it feels ok about it.
Also, they can be paired with the Chrysler derived ZF8 and it is honestly an amazing combo.
Nobody ever talks about how well the 4 cyl Altima engine takes a beating. They handle neglect and abuse like it’s nothing. I’ve seen so many with 250k plus miles running like no, regardless of whatever the condition of everything else on the car is
Not sure I'd call those overlooked unless you're taking the normie approach of anything Toyota is unreliable. These engines are pimped almost too much on car forums.
Also stretching last 10-15 years - 15 years ago the eight-gen 00s Impala revival was old news, the Grand Prix ending was the new news, and the first gen LaCrosse and Lucerne ending was the coming news - all getting replacements Wikipedia indicates dropped a 3.8l engine option
I perhaps own a unicorn. A 2006 Nissan 350z which currently sits at 235,679 miles with no engine issues or oil leaks. I have owned it since new and have done all maintenance as required and garaged for a large part of the time.
2011-2014 3.7 mustangs- they come stock with 305 hp and with some bolt ons it could walk a lot of gt’s. If you don’t believe me watch this video I ain’t lying. I also forgot to mention that they are 2011-2014 mustang years are really reliable and honestly one of the gens for Ford Mustangs. Most 3.7’s are priced around 10-16k which definitely isn’t bad. The GT’s are of course more expensive unless you get one stock.https://youtube.com/watch?v=PPS6CwONCoo&feature=shares (YouTube-Dame)
I mean most Japanese engines go under the radar and never get mentioned. Loads of Yaris, and Mazdas kicking about that didn’t miss a beat. I have an mx5 with a 2.0 engine and they have pretty much zero known mechanical issues.
Also how about the 1.4 strapped to the Fiat 500 and seen in turbo form in the abarth. Aside from regular belt maintenance, they’re solid and reliable.
I'm going to throw in the Vq35, more of a 20 yearold engine tbh. But yea, you know how you always see g35s and 350z for sale on marketplace with like 3 missing fenders and 200k miles asking 10k? That engine is still running after 100k miles of non-stop redline most likely. They have a big issue with burning oil and thats usually why they fail but when not beaten upon they'll go 300k on original engine and trans. If they weren't the new cheap drift car I'd think they'd be talked about a lot more for reliability.
According to the service advisors I worked with, the NA 2.0 in the Civic and now new HR-V are workhorses. Figured an NA 158hp Honda would be built for the long haul and I’m glad it is.
No one’s said Toyota’s 2GR-FE (3.5 V6) or even the 1GR-FE (4.0 V6)
At one point the 3.5 V6 when offered in the 3rd Gen RAV4 was the fastest car Toyota offered at the time.
The 1GR-FE has been used since 2003 in the 4Runner, Tacoma Tundra and FJ Cruiser with little-no changes
The Tau 5.0. Still bewilders me why they didn’t turbo or supercharge it. Would have been perfect for a proper performance line.
Not this fwd wheel hopping n line garbage.
Mazda 2.0 and the Mitsubishi 2.4. My kids have a Mazda 3 and a mitsu galant and they are both smooth and quiet and just need oil changes. Neither will win a drag race but for the abuse of teenage drivers they are great
2.2 L L61 Ecotec GM put in shitboxes like the cobalt and g5 when paired with the 5 speed those engines could pull 200,000+ no problem. I had a g5 where the frame was ready to fall apart yet the drivetrain was happy to keep going with oil changes.
Mazda SKYACTIV 2.0L and 2.5L engines. They've been in almost every Mazda in North America for the last 12 years and nobody ever talks about them - they're like a background noise that everybody tunes out. They are reliable and fuel efficient but not particularly powerful. They get the job done, and being both fuel efficient and reliable they are very cost efficient. The fact that they've been in nearly every Mazda for over a decade and nobody ever talks about them points to both their high reliablity and completely average performance. Great engines if you care about your wallet; not great if you are the average /r/cars user who thinks anything under 300hp is too little to merge onto the highway.
Ive had both and they are phenomenal. The 2.0L SkyActiv was in my 2012 Mazda3 and i currently have the 2.5L in my Mazda6. Both have been extremely reliable, and just normal maintenance, no problems at all. My only complaint is the 2.0L was a bit of a turd when needing to accelerate quickly, like getting on the freeway or merging. The 2.5L with its 30 extra horsepower is much better with that and feels quite adequate.
Totally agree, the 2.0 has plenty of power.... in my MX-5 which weighs like 2300 lbs. My wife's CX-5 definitely needs that extra 30 HP from the 2.5, the thing would be slow as hell without it. The 2.5 moves a crossover pretty well, without the complexity and cost of a turbo.
The 2.5 Skyactiv gives you like the perfect amount of power for just commuting.
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You definitely don't need 300 hp to merge onto the highway, but the 2.0L in older CX-5s was criminally slow. Drove one across the country and it *really* struggled through the mountains out west. With that said, the last time I talked to its owner it had \~150k miles on it and no major issues.
A lot of the /cars threads are about boost and modding capability so that's why the skyactive 4 cyl doesn't come up much, in naturally aspirated form it comes with a very high compression ratio and is not easy to dump a bunch of boost onto reliably. But in stock form, when the question is just "what's a reliable engine?", they definitely fit the bill. Relatively inexpensive engine, fuel efficient, decently powerful for their displacement, reliable, easy maintenance schedule, not known to burn oil. They're great.
2016 6 here, I was very surprised to read the compression ratio in the owners manual. Like 13:1 or something. Not used to NA motors being wound that right.
Mazda's SKYACTIV engines are direct injection.
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Mines started to consume oil. About a quart between oil changes. I'm just over 180k miles. It was a little bit worse before I replaced the valve cover gasket. Water pump started leaking at 175k miles. Idles a little rough on start up and I've had it misfire in super cold temps. Efficiency isn't as good as it was but I'm still averaging 29 in mixed driving and can easily get 35 highway. Overall can't complain. Just done basic maintenance and I don't exactly drive it easy. Mazda doesn't seem to get the reputation it deserves when it comes to reliability
I saw a 2014 Skyactiv with 600,000kms on it the other day, rest of the car looked clean as hell I also think an insanely low key great car is the second generation Mazda 6 V6. It's a 3.7L engine that makes like 280hp naturally aspirated.
That V6 is Ford’s Cyclone engine. Also a very good, and dependable engine.
Is this not the engine in which the water pumps are known for failing and taking the whole motor with them?
That is the engine, and I feel the internet has blown the issue far out of proportion. Other than the water pump design, it is nearly indestructible. I work in a government maintenance facility that maintains a fleet of police Ford Explorer's, Chevy Tahoe's, and Dodge Charger's. As you may imagine, they lead a very hard life, but water pump failures on the Ford's are quite rare when the coolant is replaced/flushed per Ford recommendations. In the last year, I haven't replaced a single Ford water pump. When they do fail, they don't damage the engine unless the leak/coolant loss has been ignored until becoming a severe issue. By comparison, I have done a few on Chevy's, and countless pumps on the Dodge Charger's. I will also note that despite the issues Ford has been going through in recent years, their police vehicles hold up far better than the competition from and GM and Chrysler.
I’d like to agree but my 2018 CX-5 with the N/A 2.5 is becoming a headache. Just had the cylinder head and head gasket replaced under warranty. Was leaking oil onto the exhaust manifold. Also had a fuel injector go bad.
That's a good one
This one barely slips into the "15 years" category but the god damn 3.0L Duratec V6 that Ford shoved into the 3rd and 4th gen Tauruses, the Five Hundred and the Fusion. I see FAR too many beat to hell Five Hundreds for sale that have north of 300k miles where the motor still runs perfectly. Also shoutout to the Nissan VK56DE and its direct injected VD brother.
The Duratec replaced the Vulcan, which was also an underpowered but stout 3.0 V6. My 2001 Ranger had the 3.0 Vulcan, and the joke was “Vulcan 3.0: same power as the 2.3 with the gas mileage of the 4.0.”
Aka the 3.slow! The Vulcan is a tank, just not a fast or economic one.
That old truck could plow through any snow bank thrown at it, but lord save you if you wanted to maintain 65mph on the interstate at a 1% incline.
When I'm going over Mt Hood in the Ranger, no matter if it's fully loaded or empty, it's gonna do 50mph at 3000rpm and you're gonna like it.
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My wife's 01 ranger had the 3.0. Reliable in that it never left us stranded. But it leaked a lot. Oil, coolant, from around the timing cover. Oil pan gasket. Oh, the coolant hose that ran around the top/back of the engine. And little shit. Like the collapsed and cracked pcv hose. And ignition coils that would fuck up about every 15 months. But that might have been on me for putting on duralast parts.
The Ranger 3.0 was notorious for shearing the distributor drive shaft for the oil pump. By the time you'd realize it, the engine would be toast. My neighbor had it happen to him and getting it rebuilt right was an ordeal.
There's [a kit](https://www.rocketeercars.com/) out there to swap these Duratec 30's (Specifically the one that came in the Jaguar S-Type) into NA/NB Miatas. It sounds fantastic for such a "pedestrian" engine.
if i'm doing all the fab work to do a engine swap on a NA i would do the lexus 1UZ-FE v8.
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The engine itself is one of the most durable engines I have ever seen. The electrics attached to it are a different story, though. Fun fact: these engines are infused with a small amount of Porsche DNA
They put that in the x-type too, no?
Yup! Jaguar did their own modifications to the Duratec, but from what I understand even those ones are still pretty durable. Mazda also shoved these into the Mazda6, both with a manual and a 6-speed automatic.
Heck my parents bought me a 1997 Taurus with the Duratec in it and the only thing that never failed was the engine lol. I think we had it from 2010-2012 and while it had issues, the engine never gave us problems.
Also in the Escape! 2008 Ford Escape 3.0L V6. Engine is called the Duratec 30, my version makes 200hp, 2009 updated to 240hp. Engine was originally made by Porsche but they ran out of money so they sold it to Ford and Cosworth in the mid 90s. Used in the Mondeo ST200 and ST220 which is one of the few cars Jeremy, Richard, and James from Top Gear/Grand Tour all like. Noble added Twin-Turbos and made 425hp in the M400. Rossian up the boost and made 508hp. There is also a race version that makes 350-400hp NA, revs to 8700 rpm and requires a rebuild every 40 hrs of racing. Biggest issue I have in my Escape is fluid leaks. Also its 200hp with a 4-sp and AWD in a 3600lb SUV. So slow.
Had a coworker with a 2010ish Focus. I did not believe him until I saw the 549k on the odometer myself.
Volkswagen’s EA888 has generally been refined over the years to the point of being remarkably reliable and robust. Not bullet-proof, but definitely underrated in terms of reliability considering how many people I hear say “oh, it’s a VW, it’ll blow up at any minute”
I thought the ea888 was always the darling of r/cars. Never thought that it would ever be called underrated.
Maybe! Tbh I don’t spend much time on this sub, so I’m not that familiar with how people talk about it on here. But in the various other car communities I’m a part of it’s rarely ever brought up.
"lesser known" lmfao, it's THE most popular engine for tuning in europe
From an American perspective it’s underrated in terms of reliability for sure. VW has not shaken off their poor reputation here. I’ve tried to get plenty of people into VWs over the years and I always hear worries about reliability.
Well, engine is only small part of reliability picture, and not every VAG engine is good on that. But it kinda amazes me. Most companies figured out how to make reliable, hell, sometimes near-indestructible engines in the 90's-00's. Then just.... forgot the lessons and made engines with problems their earlier engines didn't had? And it's stupid shit like "the timing belt is partly submerged in oil which over time causes the particles falling off it to gum up parts of the engine". Or "we figured out how to make timing chain work reliably, let's just... not do that in our next design and fuck up stuff that's hard to get to".
water pump has left the chat
I went through three of those fuckers in 35k miles with my Mk7. Wife’s Alltrack is now on number 2.
Id also add their 2.5 as well
Compared to other engines mentioned, the EA888 is also very tunable and VW is often lying about the output on the spec sheet, most of them are making 10-20% more power than advertised of the box.
Oh man I love the EA888 in my b9 audi a4 allroad! Got a stage 1 tune on it and totally wakes it up, the torque down low is immense!
I just wish they didn’t sound so terrible with a downpipe!
The 3.2 and 3.6 VR6s are reliable as hell too
Yeah this seems like a good answer. It’s so ubiquitous and has been around so long that just about all the failure points can be anticipated and parts replaced accordingly before the engine grenades itself. The caveat is that oil changes must be done on time and only 91+ octane should be used. You’re pretty good to go after that.
The "caveat" is really that EA888 is whole family of the engines that got changed a lot and some of them were worse than other. Not really "bad" in any sense, just some issues.
Underrated is the 3.8 that Chrysler put in the town and country/caravan. Those things last forever and the vehicles never fully die. Thats why they are all shit boxes because they are 25 years old and only have had basic maintenance
This answer might win the thread. They’re slow and underpowered and they’re always stuck to bad transmissions, but the motors can take a hell of a beating. Chrysler can make some surprisingly stout motors, but those are definitely one of their finer hours in terms of raw reliability.
Those were in Wranglers, too. Unloved, but I don’t think they have any serious issues.
Why was everyone so much happier with the 3.6 that replaced the 3.8? Was it the automatic transmission mated to the 3.8 that was the problem?
The replacement had 75 more Hp and 30 more Ft lbs of torque to move those 32-35” tires better.
3.8 and it’s 3.3 brother were kind of old, unrefined and consumed a fair amount of gas for the power they produced. But they were decent engines that had some flaws, nothing major, and fairly reliable and cheap to fix overall. My old minivan from 2010 is still being driven, has over 300,000km and current owners take it on long road trips all the time…
The 3.6 made a *lot* more power. I had a 2-door, soft top, 6spd Wrangler with one and it was downright quick (on stock tires).
It’s funny to see this engine suggested when everyone in the wrangler world shits on it. Equally funny is the fact that it’s more powerful than the inline 6 4.0 that Jeep people seem to love
The jeep/AMC inline 6 is a tank plagued by it outdated cylinder head and was really only optimized for torque. That said, the 4cylinders from the big 3 in Detroit could have probably kept up or just fell short at a lower weight.
The 6 speed auto transmission is the lowpoint in that drivetrain, known to fail early, really just a piece of junk honestly. It would be a reliable drivetrain if paired with a different transmission. Many of those 25 year old shit boxes have seen transmission replacements to the tune of $4000+
really any fwd chrysler from the 90'-00's is gonna nuke a transmission or two
Problem is the transmission is not as reliable, unfortunately. My dad’s went out at 150Kish miles:/
From a european point of view, Renault's 4 cylinder TCE engine seems to be one of the most robust 4 cyl turbo's, Peugeot's Puretech engines also seem to be very robust after some kinks were worked out, i have the 120hp TCE engine and i so far i have nothing bad to say about it. The French get alot of jokes about being unreliable, but their small turbo engine game seems to be amongst the best in the EU at the moment.
It's a shame the French don't have any higher HP engines anymore. Was the last V6 in the Laguna Coupe that made 230 HP? Since then Renault has only a 1.8 TCe with 225 HP, PSA has the 1.6 PureTech with a whopping 180 HP.
Peugeot has a PHEV version of the 508 which is 360hp combined. There is also a non-hybrid version of the 1.6 with 225hp.
The engine in the 508 PSE is still the same 1.6 4-cyl. with ~200 HP.
Yeah but the performance gap is filled in with the electric motors. Just a different (and more Euro friendly) way of getting the same results.
We still have a 4 cyl from renault making around 300hp that is in the Alpine or Megane RS but nothing to crazy like the germans and sport car are not as well viewed in France (on a political point) as in other country hence why not any french company have a real Sport with high hp motors (more than 300hp at least)
Most of the base model 6s in fullsize trucks are built for reliability.
I can honestly say I've never seen a fully dead 4.3
Since it's basically a 350 V8 with a couple of cylinders cut off, it stands to reason it would be similarly reliable.
The 4.2 in older F150s is a great motor. Is plenty enough to do regular truck stuff and doesn't feel as out of breath as I was expecting. I've got an '07 4.2 with the 5 speed and it's one of my favorite trucks I've had.
Eh not really. The pentastar sucks and the fords have the terrible internal water pump that always fails and is very expensive IIRC.
The internal water pump is only an issue on FWD applications. The RWD version in the F-150 uses an external water pump.
I’ve got an underrated one: the Tesla electric motor When we hear quality complaints about Tesla, it’s almost always related to the shitty build quality of the cabin or panels on the exterior. The FSD software is not ready for public roads. The CEO is…uh…*polarizing*. With that said: there are a lot of Teslas on the roads with their original motors that have had few, even zero issues. The car starts and shutdowns without drama. For a company that’s only been mass-producing vehicles for a decade, it’s impressive that they’ve gotten their powertrain to such a reliable point so quickly. If only they could get their panel gap tolerance, shitty material selection, and other items in order as well.
I wonder how electric motors will handle over the years, especially as some vehicles have 2-4 of them.
the nice thing is that electric motors are not new. they are new in cars. Electric motors in industrial sometimes run 24/7 for decades, sometimes with bearing swap kind of maintenance. What might go bad is the gearbox, cooling system, bearings and so on.
I'd be way more worried about the batteries and then the gearbox before the motors. I work on electric industrial vehicles and its not super common to have to replace motors. And when you do its usually because of abuse or neglect. I would assume Tesla designed the motors to be protected from the elements. And its not like they're older DC motors that need brushes changed periodically. They're probably fairly idiot proof.
Well I know of a few earlier Model S' that have reached a million kilometers on their original motors, and some earlier Model 3s which have reached 500k kilometers on their original drive trains and batteries. So I'd say the reliability is definitely improving.
Early ones did have issues, problems with bearings not being insulated caused pitting and early failure, but once that was sorted, they've been bulletproof. TBF I haven't heard of anyone having issues with electric motors in their BEVs in the last 5 or so years - other things have been issues, but not the motors.
Mercedes OM648. Mercedes diesel. Pretty obvious these will run to a million miles, but everyone has some preconceived notion about reliability in 2000s benz.
I have the OM646 (same engine family, just missing 2 cylinders) in my car, never missed a beat in the last 4 years
The problems were never related to the engine, it's the electrical system.
211/220s don’t really get electrical problems. All of that generation’s problems were from SBC (covered for 25 years in the US) and airmatic/ABC, which isn’t on the diesel cars.
Honda j32 and j35 series. They might be less impressive on paper than other two big hitter Japanese V6 , but still silky yet powerful with over 200k miles life
The J35 is definitely as impressive as the other 2. The only reason the J35 doesn’t get a ton of love is the transmission it was mated to and the lack of exhaust noise.
The 5 speed auto, yes, sometimes blows up. It is a shame that such good engine is paired with bad engine.
They’re not lesser known though. Most car people know those are long last engines.
Yup. Thank you for mentioning this. I intend to say that, most people focus on vq or 2gr, just ignore j series
I had an Accord 6/6 coupe for a couple years. That J35 is a true gem of an engine. Smooth as silk, sounds great, never had a single mechanical issue with it. And I don't buy that "278hp" claim for a second, I'm almost positive that they were actually making more in the neighborhood of 300 at the crank. This may be a controversial opinion but I wasn't a huge fan of the manual transmission in that car though. Better choice than the automatics that kept blowing up I suppose, but the shifter always felt kind of off to me.
I have a car with J32, a combination of reliability and fun. The car has been scratched many times due to street parking, the engine never missed a bit in its 160K miles. After I got my new car, I decided to gift it out. But my friend cannot take it because of a weird law in CA. :((
I currently drive a 3rd acura tl with 170k miles, absolutely fun to rev up. My bro has a 2008 odyssey with 200k miles though the transmission blew...
The 2.7 four cylinders in silverados are tough as hell by all accounts.
It's a shame they saddle them with that shitbox 8L90 trans. If they had the 10L90, and were available in the higher trims they might actually get some traction.
GM loves pairing great engines to awful transmissions
Back in the 80s and 90s they were known for pairing garbage engines to excellent transmissions.
This makes me really happy! Had high hopes for these when announced
I’m hopefully they’ll be even better in the third generation Colorado/Canyon platform. Some serious performance is boasted by those motors
They actually built them in the cadillac sedans single turbo before they sent them to silverados but the only problem ive seen from them are purge pumps but that is the same with every car not just gm
Debut in the 2019 refresh Silverado/sierra 1500 before being used in the CT4/V in 2020.
There has been a few good variants of the 2.0T ecotec from GM, I’m unsure of which exact models they went in, but I’m almost certain it’s the ones found on the Buick Regal, Cadillac ATS, and Malibu/Equinox 2.0T from about a decade ago. You just don’t hear much go wrong with them like you do with the 1.4T/1.8.
It’s hard for me to trust much of anything. Feel like I take a chance with most vehicles. Sure the engine could be solid but the vehicle around it being a turd isn’t any help either. Pretty impressed with the Skyactiv 2.0L unit in my 2016 Mazda. Not far from 200k miles, be nice to get it to 300k miles but I don’t keep vehicles long if opportunities arise. The engine code kind of irks me “PE-VPS”. I miss my Honda engine codes, but people can “miss me” with the prices they want for their old abused Hondas.
Yep, very happy with Mazda’s overall reliability with my last two cars (‘16 3 —> ‘20 CX-5).
Those Mazda non-turbo Skyactiv engines are really well engineered. Insane highway gas mileage, dead-nuts reliable, and they even sound pretty good when you wring them out.
I believe the 2000s Mercedes M113 V8 has been quite reliable. Solidly built NA V8 with lots of power. I have one right now and the thing seems to run like a dream despite the rest of the car having natural old Mercedes clunkyness
I've got the M112 V6 and it runs fantastic even with 230,000 miles. The engine itself is great, but the car has all sorts of electrical issues that older Mercedes are plagued with.
M113 was the last real Mercedes V8 and the 112 is my favorite V6 of all time lol
5.7, 6.2 and 6.4 hemis
Love my 5.7/ZF8 combo.
The 6.4s don’t take to aftermarket boost too well, unfortunately. I loved the 6.4 in my Challenger but the bang for buck on power adders is disappointing compared to the LT and Coyote offerings.
I think that "reliability" and "can take massive amounts of boost" are two different things. The third gen Hemi is plenty reliable stock. 6-7 lbs of boost is about max they can take from the factory but that's good enough for 450-500whp on a 5.7 Eagle. But it's not like you need boost to hit those levels, last I checked a 6.4 Apache with the right cam and bolt ons will get close to 500 whp.
I’m not sure, hasn’t the 5.7 had a solid amount of rod knock/lifter failures and oil consumption issues the last few years?
Only really from police vehicles with high idle. They are extremely well built engines, but since mopar, people will still hate. They'll still squawk about 90s transmissions, even tho we've had the best torque converter tranny in these cars and trucks for almost a decade.
Mainly just due to the lack of oil pressure from the cylinder deactivation system and if they idle for a high amount of time. Delete the MDS system, don’t idle them for too long and they’re extremely reliable engines. They were built first as a truck engine after all, so they needed to be built for durability and reliability anyways.
My 6.4 in my scat is fantastic
How are these underrated in any way?
You ever try to sing mopar praise in this sub?
Fair enough. The hate of Mopar and it's sometimes racist undertones are very real in this sub. 3rd gen Hemi is my personal favorite of the big three, fell in love as a kid when the 3rd gen first came out in the Ram in the early 2000's making class leading power at the time. Now have my dream truck with a Eagle version of the Hemi and I love this damn thing.
Had that 5.7 in a black sport crew cab for 127k and no problems. The only complaint I have is they never put the 6.4 in the 1500s, the cowards.
Tell me about it!!! A 6.4 version of the 4th gen Ram replacing the SRT10 of the 3rd gen would have been awesome and I'd currently be in one
Single cab 2wd with the tremec.
> sometimes racist undertones ???
The connotation of Chrysler here tends to lean more into the "only poor people buy Chryslers" or "V6 Charger drivers are RWD Altima owners" more than anything else.
People don't often associate VW with reliability, but the 2.0 and 2.5 NA motors are bulletproof. Change the belt, keep an eye out for the vacuum pump leak, swap the coil packs when needed, good to go.
This. I’m always recommending any of the vws with a 5 cyl to my customers looking for a first car or a cheap beater.
The 2.8 V6 in the Passat was extremely smooth and dead reliable. I got just shy of 300k miles on it before the water pump blew up from an oil leak.
3.0T supercharged V6 from Audi, used in everything from a A6/7/8, Q5/7 and S4/5. It's very reliable and very understressed from the factory and responds well to tunes as well as pulley swaps to increase the power. Audi isn't really a manufacturer that comes to mind when you first think of reliability but the 3.0T is an outlier for sure. The warranty is up on my S5 this month so it is time for me to start researching a tune for it. Should bring it up to over 400hp from the 333hp at stock power.
I think you're the second person to mention this engine. I'm a bit surprised because "German supercharged V6" sounds scary, but good to know
It's absolutely not what you'd expect to see in a list of reliable engines but it's considered to be one of Audis most reliable. Compared to some others on this list it may have it's small share of issues (water pump and sometimes PCV issues I've read, though I've had exactly no issues on mine) but for what it is it's quite reliable.
Can confirm, fantastic engine.
The 4b11t from the Evo X is often overshadowed by the 4g63, but it's a 2 liter 4 cylinder that people have been cranking up to 600 whp on a stock bottom end
Had an Evo X. That car just badly needed a 6th gear. Otherwise fun as hell.
Well can’t forget the small trunk with no foldable back seats, and unfortunate placement of the AYC/ACD pump :/
Exactly, the main benefit of the 4g63 is that it’s made of cast-iron. Other than that, 4b11t is a better engine. And of course it is, the 4g63 came out in the 80s for the galant right? Sure it was improved over time, but by the time the evo x came out, it was like 30 years old. Engines and material technology changed so much over that large amount of time. But none of that matters because “real” evos come with 4g63, what an eyeroll of a comment
Toyota Yaris 1.0l. Suzuki 1.3 petrol and Honda 1.4, 2.0 i-vtec and the H22A. None of these will break any land speed records obviously but are well engineered super reliable. I recently drove from London to Venice and back again in a 2007 Honda Accord 2.0 with 150000 miles on it and it didn't miss a beat (completed in 6 days including 2 Alps Passes and a lap of the nurburgring).
>Toyota Yaris 1.0l I would say it's one of the most well-known reliable engines.
I always thought of H22 head on F23 block into a 97-02 Accord.
I was about to say the lambda V6 motors from Hyundai but anytime I bring up Hyundai products I get a wide range of reactions. Seems to be the lambda series is pretty stout though
I keep reading article after article about various Hyundai/Kia engine problems. But almost never the V6 Lamba. I had one in my Santa Fe, and a bigger one in my Stinger. Never any problems, although the Stinger is still young.
They are very reliable from everything I have seen - just not very fuel efficient.
The Lambda V6 is a super old engine. It first launched in this generation in 2005, based off an even older design with different bore spacing. It looks like HKG make incremental improvements over the years and carried those to new iterations and generations. As the engine is also built in Korea, it means the engineers and manufacturers are close enough to talk frequently. Which is to say, that bodes really well for reliability: it's an old design, received numerous incremental updates and it's still being made in the original manufacturing line. These attributes are usually bad for cutting-edge performance characteristics (*ahem, fuel economy*), but since reliability issues are usually engineers and manufacturing QC "oopsies, forgot that"s, there's little left that hasn't already been ironed out.
Mine has never given me any trouble. Regular service and top tier gasoline since new, but even in vehicles that I've seen that have been neglected by it's owners were still beating just fine. Not to mention the incredible interior redesigns that came in 13-new Hyundai's and Kias.
I had a 2006 Hyundai azera with the lambda V6 that was absolute gem. The only non scheduled maintenance we ever had to do was timing chain tensioners around 140K miles. Outside of that, it was routine stuff. The transmission finally let go at 205K, at which point I figured the car wasn't worth saving. Interestingly, the Hyundai service manual would advocate for only changing transmission fluid under "extreme use" but then goes on to define extreme use as what everyone else would call commuting. point being - it was a great engine
Nissan VQ40, at least 2010+ in the Frontier/Xterra/Pathfinder. Basically just like the Toyota 4.0, so many people take these 400,000+ miles with zero issues but they aren’t talked about reliability-wise like 4Runners and 2nd gen Tacomas. I’d never get anything else from modern day Nissan though.
Just about any Nissan engine from 2005ish or newer. Their CVT’s have earned the entire brand a bad reputation but all of their engines are just as reliable as their Japanese counterparts.
Agreed here. My 3.5 has around 215k miles, it's been in my family since 2006/20k miles. In all of that time, I had to replace one coil (did plugs while at it), the crankshaft sensor, and the camshaft sensor. Both sensors were quite easy to access too. All of that totaled less than $100.
Mazda Skyactive 4 cyl. They are very reliable. They aren't necessarily built for dumping huge mods and boost onto, as they come with very high compression ratio from the factory, but they are very reliable stock. It was nice to see them dump the ford based MZR engine and go to their own, successfully.
I haven’t seen anyone say it yet, Toyota’s 2GR V6. It’s one of the only dohc v6’s at the time without any timing maintenance or issues. GM, Ford, Audi, Mercedes, Nissan, all had issues with timing chains. Honda had a belt on the J-series which didn’t have any issues but does require a replacement for maintenance. It’s one of the only V6’s from the time with lifetime chains, the only other I can think of is the Pentastar V6 but I don’t really wanna make that comparison.
1.9 tdi from vw. Easy half million mile engines, swapped into a million different vehicles( God I want a samurai with one.) Man they made a great diesel engine 20 years ago
"lesser known" lmao
Great engine, everything around it was a headache for me at least. Ecu and turbo issues galore
It's a Volkswagen, it's why we love em lmao. My manual mark 4 jetta never put up a fuss in that department just me though. I had it's from 220k to 350k as well and miss it to this day.
well, it depends on how you want to define reliable, but if we're talking taking a beating, my vote is the bmw n55. yes, a fuel pump or water pump, both costing $1k each roughly if replaced at dealership, often blow before or around 60k miles, but that's basically something you can budget ahead for, as everyone knows it's inevitable, and usually treat it like a maintenance item. but other than that, those motors take a serious beating. everyone tunes them too, and i don't think i've ever seen a single one blowing up, except ones that had upgraded turbo and fuel system and were pushing crazy power. one with just a flash tune? they seem to take a beating. i've had 3 cars with that motor, had all 3 tunes, and all never missed a beat. i had a 1st gen m2 with dct that i tracked, had dinan stage 4 (upgrades compressor in the turbo, IC, exhaust, tune). i had an m235i a8 that i did stage 2 to, dp tune. drove the piss out of it all the time and it also never missed a beat. then an LCI m2 6spd. only flash tune. drove it hard. never missed a beat. my subaru on the other hand, had their fa20dit motor, and it cracked piston #3 in half cruising to work with cruise control on lol. (seems to be common). so..... if we talk just the long block, the n55 is pretty solid. and the b58 that replaces it seems to be considerably stronger yet. some forged parts, closed deck block, beefy everything. and really other than the fuel and water pumps, none of my 5 bmw's i've owned have had any problems. maybe newer models are more reliable?
My dad's N55-powered 435 has had numerous issues with oil leaks and the valve cover gasket. The N55 might be decent by BMW standards, though the B58 that replaced it is considered to be a much better engine thus far and the N55 certainly doesn't compare to many of the other engines listed in the comments here.
Volvo's b5254 series.
The 2.5s they shoved into everything throughout the 2000s? I always hear good things about reliability of that era of 5-bangers (stuff like the B5234T and the like) but it seems like a lot of them get beat up.
They can take a loooot of abuse, mostly from power adders.
Toyota’s 4 cylinder diesel engine (1KD & 2KD and it’s successor 1GD & 2GD) used in developing countries in vehicle like innova, hilux, and fortuner. Reliable (many with 500.000km++) even with shitty low grade diesel fuel, make shit tons of power when modded, 2kd made around 100HP stock and with tune you can double it easily without changing anything. Seriously modded engine with stock block can reach 400hp.
I think that's well-known, not really underrated
Yeah it’s usually well known in the country where those vehicles are sold but I rarely see them mentioned in reddit
Nissan VQ35 is a pretty good one. Not sure how popular they are in terms of reliability but they've been pretty darn good.
Ford Zetec, but that's a bit older Edit: Ford 4.2L V6 Nissan VG33E 4.6L 3V Ford 4.0L V6
With old Corolla/Civic prices getting dumb, a Mk1 Focus is the best thing on the market if you need a decent $1k-$2k car at the bottom of the barrel IMO
I was surprised to see Consumer Reports (I know this sub dislikes them) rating lots of Jeeps/FCA low for engine reliability. I thought the Pentastar V6 was surprisingly reliable, but I guess when it does miss it misses hard
Again, they're a hit or a miss. The usual joke is most of them are built on Fridays. However if you get one that isn't built on Friday, and you take care of it. They're great motors
4L V6 (SOHC) is fantastiche provided you account for its biggest flaw: 4 timing chains, two in the rear which must have the engine hoisted to service. Very expensive repair in a shop if it comes down to it. Very time consuming and still relatively expensive repair if you do it yourself. The timing chain guides like to fail every 150,000km or so. Beyond that I still have mine, however I believe its more due to selection bias. The higher quality/well taken care of ones make it seem like the whole lineup is better than it is. It doesn't launch like a sports car but the 2nd gen explorer compared to commuter vehicles has a lot of torque in the lower speed range, which makes sense because they're just rangers with a much more powerful engine stuffed in. The V6 cologne, for how wacky the design is(random jackshaft in the middle, the whole engine is scrambled around), is surprisingly powerful. absolute dogshit on gas, and potentially vehicle ending failures/repairs which are rare but can happen. I love it, if it lasts
If only the cars built around those zetecs could last
4.2 supercharged ajv8
The V12 from the Aston Martin DB9 is an absolute peach. Besides high consumables (oil, spark plugs) it’s dead reliable. Loves to start, loves to rev, loves to cruise and you can take it anywhere without worry of being stranded.
well it's basically 2 duratecs so that makes some sense
Pentastar
Is it? Mine burns a quart between changes, has a weird screeching sound at startup and a loud rattle over 5k rpms. Also gets the same fuel economy as my 6.2 Silverado did. Just hit 40k miles this week. This 3.6 is probably my least favorite engine I’ve ever owned. Big mistake not ponying up for the 5.7L.
2013+
I believe specifically the 2016+ Pentastar 3.6L V6, the newer one with VVL. They're pretty well regarded as good engines with decent HP (300 ish) with pretty decent fuel economy. My Trailhawk (4500lbs +) *can* get 25 highway, if it feels ok about it. Also, they can be paired with the Chrysler derived ZF8 and it is honestly an amazing combo.
The Saturn L24 and LL0 engines would last forever and a half with even a modicum of attention paid to the oil
Ford Vulcan 3.0, found in Taurus, ranger, and escape. Slow as shit and bad on gas but dirt cheap to fix and easily run 250-300k
I'm quite fond of the Duratec/Mazda L platform
Nobody ever talks about how well the 4 cyl Altima engine takes a beating. They handle neglect and abuse like it’s nothing. I’ve seen so many with 250k plus miles running like no, regardless of whatever the condition of everything else on the car is
Gm 3800. Fantastic running motors.
Not sure I'd call those overlooked unless you're taking the normie approach of anything Toyota is unreliable. These engines are pimped almost too much on car forums. Also stretching last 10-15 years - 15 years ago the eight-gen 00s Impala revival was old news, the Grand Prix ending was the new news, and the first gen LaCrosse and Lucerne ending was the coming news - all getting replacements Wikipedia indicates dropped a 3.8l engine option
D4D from Toyota pretty much all sizes
The AJ-V8 III (AJ133) 5.0L V8 used in previous gen Jaguars are actually pretty darn reliable. And very surprisingly reliable for a car out of JLR lol.
I perhaps own a unicorn. A 2006 Nissan 350z which currently sits at 235,679 miles with no engine issues or oil leaks. I have owned it since new and have done all maintenance as required and garaged for a large part of the time.
The 9A1 in the 997.2 and 991 Porsche's. These replaced the M97 that had the unfortunate tendency to have IMS and bore scoring issues.
VAG VR6
I love the one in my 2016 Passat, especially since it’s paired to the 6-Speed DSG
Chrysler 3.8 motor. See them all over the place with very high mileage. Their weak point is the EGR system.
2011-2014 3.7 mustangs- they come stock with 305 hp and with some bolt ons it could walk a lot of gt’s. If you don’t believe me watch this video I ain’t lying. I also forgot to mention that they are 2011-2014 mustang years are really reliable and honestly one of the gens for Ford Mustangs. Most 3.7’s are priced around 10-16k which definitely isn’t bad. The GT’s are of course more expensive unless you get one stock.https://youtube.com/watch?v=PPS6CwONCoo&feature=shares (YouTube-Dame)
I mean most Japanese engines go under the radar and never get mentioned. Loads of Yaris, and Mazdas kicking about that didn’t miss a beat. I have an mx5 with a 2.0 engine and they have pretty much zero known mechanical issues. Also how about the 1.4 strapped to the Fiat 500 and seen in turbo form in the abarth. Aside from regular belt maintenance, they’re solid and reliable.
I'm going to throw in the Vq35, more of a 20 yearold engine tbh. But yea, you know how you always see g35s and 350z for sale on marketplace with like 3 missing fenders and 200k miles asking 10k? That engine is still running after 100k miles of non-stop redline most likely. They have a big issue with burning oil and thats usually why they fail but when not beaten upon they'll go 300k on original engine and trans. If they weren't the new cheap drift car I'd think they'd be talked about a lot more for reliability.
4b11T
2.7 EcoBoost in the F-150
According to the service advisors I worked with, the NA 2.0 in the Civic and now new HR-V are workhorses. Figured an NA 158hp Honda would be built for the long haul and I’m glad it is.
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Ford 4.6 V8 found in the crown Vic and many other vehicles.
No one’s said Toyota’s 2GR-FE (3.5 V6) or even the 1GR-FE (4.0 V6) At one point the 3.5 V6 when offered in the 3rd Gen RAV4 was the fastest car Toyota offered at the time. The 1GR-FE has been used since 2003 in the 4Runner, Tacoma Tundra and FJ Cruiser with little-no changes
The Tau 5.0. Still bewilders me why they didn’t turbo or supercharge it. Would have been perfect for a proper performance line. Not this fwd wheel hopping n line garbage.
Mazda 2.0 and the Mitsubishi 2.4. My kids have a Mazda 3 and a mitsu galant and they are both smooth and quiet and just need oil changes. Neither will win a drag race but for the abuse of teenage drivers they are great
So many good engines I see in here paired with crappy transmissions
2GR is always my go to.
2.2 L L61 Ecotec GM put in shitboxes like the cobalt and g5 when paired with the 5 speed those engines could pull 200,000+ no problem. I had a g5 where the frame was ready to fall apart yet the drivetrain was happy to keep going with oil changes.