Interest fades in the once-mighty V-8

Longtime symbol of power for American car companies sputters as Detroit's Big Three promote smaller engines, alternative-fuel vehicles.
The New York Times

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[Neotrope]

V8 Withdrawal

I definitely feel like my next car will have a 6-cyl vs an 8-cyl. My next car will be the "next" version of the Lexus GS (I have an IS now). The car I lusted over as a kid was the BOSS Mustang, and Challenger, then the Pantera, the the Ferraris of the 80s. Now, comfort and safety and the huge population everywhere (meaning not too many roads are safe to drive anything fast anymore) affect buying decision vs "most go for the dough." Part of me still wants that new Shelby GT Mustang, while the other side wants a little more comforts. While shopping the Lexus GS, my little brain said "oooh V8 on the 460 model" while my bigger brain though "oooh better fuel economy on the V6, and all wheel drive too." I guess we're all getting older and it really is the 21st century. Still, I hope the new Camaro is a runaway hit for GM. I might buy one as a second car. :-)

[skrall1965]

The real issue is engine size not V8 or V6

In the 1950s the American Car industry introduced the V8 as a replacement for the "inline 8 cylinder" engine. In the 50's and 60's gas was cheap and speed /power was the big selling point. The easiest way to make more power was to make a bigger engine. Buick used to have an all aluminum 215 cubic inch V8. That works out to about a 3.6 liter V8. They installed this in the 1960-1963 Skylarks. That engine eventually grew to 300+ cubes over the years and was later replaced with newer designs that could displace 350 Cubic inches. Detroit also intrduced the "Big Block" V8 which typically started at 360 cubes and grew to engine sizes of 455 and 454 Cubic inches (7.6 liters for you metric fans). These were used in trucks and muscle cars. That little 215 was sold to Rover or Triumph and found its way into the TR8 and a few other european sports cars. Now when you look at the Nissan 350Z (3.5 liter V6), that 3.6 liter V8 looks pretty appealing. more cylinders usually means a smoother power delivery. As the crankshaft rotates through 360 degrees, a 4 cylinder gets 4 power strokes and an 8 cylinder gets 8 power strokes through the same 360 degrees. This story should have been about engine size and not number of cylinders. Since the Japanese enetered the car market as economy cars with small engines it was easier for them to grow their small 4 and 6 cylinders than it is for the Americans to shrink theirs. Once you add too much salt to the recipe you can't take it out. The real question we should be asking is why hasn't detroit developed and new small or mid-sized engines? Why do they choose to put Mitubishi 2 Liters in the Dodge colt or the Mazda 4 Cylinder in the ford Escort? Detroit is funding the competition. Are these guys morons? It is one thing to source from the Japanese for a few years until a domestic model is available to compete but the oil embargo happened in the mid 70s and these guys have not figured it out yet.

[itworker--2008]

RE: The real issue is engine size not V8 or V6

I agree 100%<br /><br />Actually, I had an MGB with that had the aluminum V8 in it. I bought it via grey market. Buick actually sold the rights away for that V8...Dumb move if you ask me. However now with the new engine/transmission designs, it wouldn't be worth it to develope a new small CC V8. V6s with new transmissions will do just fine and you wouldn't even know the difference.

[suyts]

No doubt,

Ford used to make a 289(you can do the math for the metric friends) .... good pep and good gas mileage. What happened to it?? Today, given fuel injection and aluminum, it would get what??? 30-40 mpg???