Strongest 4cyl.


Kdawg532

Kdawg532

15+ Year Member

Joined
Jan 11, 2008
Messages
762
Points
3,101
City
Keymar,Maryland
Vehicle Year
2007
Transmission
Manual
I wanna build a dirt track racer and I need a 4 cylinder that I can drive the piss out of . I thought I would ask you guys this because of your unendless knowledge of everything.
What is the best 4 cylinder engine to use for these?? Honda, nissan, Mazda,Toyota, Ford (def not chevy as they always blow up first in my experience watching these races) dodge, anyother brands if I am missing them and you know from experience that these little buggers will last for a long time during extreme throttle usuage. any suggestions are very much appreciated. :icon_hornsup:
 
2.5l chevy. beat the piss out off the one i had and never gave up. it was a 84 tbi one. seen 8 grand alot did a ton off 6 grand reverse to wot to forward drops. last me 4yrs of abuse before i sold the car. never used oil or antifreeze
 
351rangerxxx said:
2.5l chevy. beat the piss out off the one i had and never gave up. it was a 84 tbi one. seen 8 grand alot did a ton off 6 grand reverse to wot to forward drops. last me 4yrs of abuse before i sold the car. never used oil or antifreeze
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a '88 Oldsmobile Cutlass Sierra had a 2.5L "Tech 4" good motor. Not sure if it was the same engine as the '84 Chevy.
 
In a perfect world I'd go searching for a Pontiac tempest slant 4

Basically this engine is a 389cid V8 with a unique crankshaft and a blankoff plate in place of one cylinder head

a 194 CID 4cyl?

I've saw ONE in a dirt track car and talked to the owner...

I upheld my reputation as having an "evil mind" by making a suggestion...

the pontiac slant four had the cylinder head on the right (passenger)
side of the block I suggested if he could find another early 389 V8 block,
blank off the passenger side lifter bores there was no reason why the
engine could be built backwards with the cylinderhead on the left bank
for better weight placement in a circle track car...

I got the quintessential "Why the hell didn't I think of that look" from the guy...

Then I suggested there was no real reason why he couldn't build it on a
400block and make it an even 200cid:)

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Strongest 4 cylinder?

Well the largest and probably one of the more powerful ones I've ever heard of is made by Mercruiser. They took a 460 and chopped one bank of cylinders off. So it's a BIG 4 banger. I forget the actual name.
 
mY OLD MEHANIC IN FLorida rant eh 4 cyl bombers for years and years, he ran teh pintos with the 2.3l He wrenches some crazy horsepower out the na versions and screams around the track. They are unbreakable if built right.
 
I like the Tempest 4-cylinder. The 4-barrel engine was a pretty pumped mill for 1963. Here's a couple scans from my old Motor Repair Manuel, circa 1963.

The International 4-cylinders (152cid and 196cid) were also V8s chopped in half--really, really heavy V8s.

Strongest 4cyl.


Strongest 4cyl.
 
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One thing occured to me--there is a 3.0 4-cylinder that I think is a GM but used only in marine applications. I've seen them on Ebay while looking for other marine parts.
 
Will said:
One thing occured to me--there is a 3.0 4-cylinder that I think is a GM but used only in marine applications. I've seen them on Ebay while looking for other marine parts.
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the good ol 181, they are a torquy engine, they are also used in forklifts and stuff, I know Hyster uses them along with some toyota lifts, they're an old pushrod engine with the intake and exhaust on the same side of the engine, we fuel inject and have LP on ours at work. I've seen 180ftlb torque on our dyno under 3000rpm... same bellhousing as a 350
 
Well, that's the best choice then. Big displacement with an industrial grade engine and about any trans will bolt to it.
 
A Cat C4.4 ACERT looks pretty solid and reliable? Of course it weighs 1146 pounds......:icon_rofl::icon_rofl:
 
What kind of cars are you allowed to run? Down hear the local tracks say you can run "any 4 cylinder, front wheel drive, non-turbo". We used to have a 4 cylinder truck class around here, almost everybody ran 2.3 rangers, I had one pretty much ready to go when they decided to stop running them. I ended up parting the truck out.
 
Isuzu had a pretty stout 2.6L that made I believe 170hp in stock form, back in the late 80's early 90's Troopers... It motivated the big old Trooper with plenty of power, criused easily at 70-80 mph, and had no problem getting into traffic... Also practically indestructible, I drove one that had no oil, put some in it, and I still see it running around, I remember seeing one get torn down around 200k miles that still had the factory hone on the cylinder walls... Not sure about the performance options for it though...
 
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