What's your favourite engine?
- Thread starter Yellow Fang
- Start date
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Legs
usually riding on Zwift...
- Location
- Staffordshire
Has this thread really run since Saturday without anyone saying 'Wankel'? 
Toshiba Boy
N+1er
- Location
- By the beach, West Zummerzet
I remember, as a teenager, being at an airshow c1980, and a Vulcan ran down the runway, took off and immediately did the classic, virtually straight up, climb. I have never, experienced the sense of raw power in the subsequent c45 years, incredible.
.....other then when Drago breaks wind of course....can hear it from Posh-shire right down in this 'ere West Zummerzet.
Dogtrousers
Kilometre nibbler
I remember being at a show or something and a Harrier came and parked itself in the air nearby, and then "bowed" to the crowd before zooming off. The idea that something so massive could just float about (albeit noisily) was mind-bending.
I was cycling around the perimeter road of Heathrow to catch a flight. Where the road crosses the runway, the barrier came down so traffic was stopped to make way for a landing.
Concorde came directy overhead and landed. That is as close as you can get to a flying Concorde. The thunder from the Olypussesi floored me. I literally had to kneel down and hold my head.
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
The Argentinians were great admirers of La Muerta Negra.
Since 1992 I’ve had four petrols and three diesels with the 3.0 straight 6 BMW engine, the later diesel is probably BMW’s best ever engine. In my old 330d touring it was absolutely brilliant.
Stevo 666
Well-Known Member
My top three - one each from 4cyl, 6cyl and 8cyl:
4 cyl: 2.0l 4G63 turbo as seen in the Mitsubishi Evos. Ahead of its time, tunable to massive outputs and pretty bomb proof.
6 cyl: 4.0l Flat 6 as seen in the current 911GT3/GT3RS. Total rev monster and that flat 6 howl...
8 cyl: 4.0l v8 biturbo as seen in most recent AMGs - Torque, power and a noise like an approaching thunderstorm.
4 cyl: 2.0l 4G63 turbo as seen in the Mitsubishi Evos. Ahead of its time, tunable to massive outputs and pretty bomb proof.
6 cyl: 4.0l Flat 6 as seen in the current 911GT3/GT3RS. Total rev monster and that flat 6 howl...
8 cyl: 4.0l v8 biturbo as seen in most recent AMGs - Torque, power and a noise like an approaching thunderstorm.
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mistyoptic
Vintage
- Location
- A parallel reality
Hard to argue with that. My 435d pulled like a train and just kept on accelerating. One of my passengers said “can we go back for my face?” after a particularly brisk overtake.
Sadly no longer available so now I’m on the petrol 440 which is also good but completely different power delivery
figbat
Slippery scientist
- Location
- South Oxfordshire, UK
I had a 130i with the 3 litre N52 engine. Such a great engine.
ebikeerwidnes
Guru
- Location
- Z’ha’dum
Amazed that the thread got to this page before the mention of Concord
I grew up near Liverpool and my Dad used to live on Melling Road - the one they close for the Grand National to cross it every year
so Grand National day was always special to us
for many years we ignored the horses and all that and went to Liverpool Airport to watch Concord land and take off
she used to come up from Heathrow on a subsonic champagne flight filled with people who then went to Aintree
then used to re-fuel and take other people out over the Atlantic super-sonic on a joy ride and back
then after the race she took the race people back
so in one afternoon 2 landings and 2 take-offs on a small runway with viewing under the approach and right by the start of the runway
as you can imagine she didn;t have a lot of room to take off so started at the very end of the runway - which was damn close to an unofficial viewing place!
Amazing sight and the sound was awe inspiring!!
one year we actually went on the super sonic trip - which was a trip to remember beyond all others
(except my Honeymoon i case my wife reads this!!)
so - Rolls Royce Olympus as used on Concord
closely followed by the ones on the Vulcan
as I read somewhere - how they managed to stick 4 of those on a plane and STILL make it sub sonic is anyone's guess!
I grew up near Liverpool and my Dad used to live on Melling Road - the one they close for the Grand National to cross it every year
so Grand National day was always special to us
for many years we ignored the horses and all that and went to Liverpool Airport to watch Concord land and take off
she used to come up from Heathrow on a subsonic champagne flight filled with people who then went to Aintree
then used to re-fuel and take other people out over the Atlantic super-sonic on a joy ride and back
then after the race she took the race people back
so in one afternoon 2 landings and 2 take-offs on a small runway with viewing under the approach and right by the start of the runway
as you can imagine she didn;t have a lot of room to take off so started at the very end of the runway - which was damn close to an unofficial viewing place!
Amazing sight and the sound was awe inspiring!!
one year we actually went on the super sonic trip - which was a trip to remember beyond all others
(except my Honeymoon i case my wife reads this!!)
so - Rolls Royce Olympus as used on Concord
closely followed by the ones on the Vulcan
as I read somewhere - how they managed to stick 4 of those on a plane and STILL make it sub sonic is anyone's guess!
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
Honda CG125 engine. In the bomb drops climb inside one of them and sit it out.
Hicky
Guru
2 stroke GP500cc, F1 when it was F1.
I lived very near to Mcr airport as a teen and as such became used to the air traffic. I only ever noticed Concord…once a Vulcan flew over us when Woodford airshow was on, it must have been very early 90’s. Ridiculously loud, it was certainly a WTF is that moment having never seen one before!
I lived very near to Mcr airport as a teen and as such became used to the air traffic. I only ever noticed Concord…once a Vulcan flew over us when Woodford airshow was on, it must have been very early 90’s. Ridiculously loud, it was certainly a WTF is that moment having never seen one before!
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ebikeerwidnes
Guru
- Location
- Z’ha’dum
Reynard
Guru
- Location
- Cambridgeshire, UK
1) The humble BMC A-series engine. OK, in my case, specifically the 998cc Cooper variant with twin SU and a much nicer cam.
2) Napier Lion W12. A brilliant bit of engineering with a heck of a lot of history behind it. Many of the "bog standard" ones ended up in various military aircraft (the MoD effectively bought the entire production run), but then you've got a couple of different racing versions as originally developed for the Schneider Trophy air races, and then used in the Brooklands Napier-Railton, the original Bluebird LSR car and John Cobb's Mobil Railton Special - the latter being loaned to Cobb by Betty "Joe" Carstairs, who used them in her powerboats. I got an appreciation for these working on the drawings for these while cataloguing part of the contents of the old Brooklands drawing office a year and a half ago.
3) BRM V16. An interesting and brilliant concept, but late to the party due to reliability issues, and then F1 went to a 3-litre formula shortly after anyway, so it became something of a white elephant. They've re-built a couple from the original blueprints. Owww, my ears!
4) TVR V12, as fitted to the Cerbera in the early 2000s. I have an abiding memory of standing next to Bobby Verdon-Roe's car in the paddock at Brands at a BGT meeting. And then they started it up. It's just so damn visceral, and the noise just makes your bones shake.
5) Ford Cosworth DFV. Don't need to say much about this one. It is THE definitive (and winningmost) Formula 1 engine in history.
2) Napier Lion W12. A brilliant bit of engineering with a heck of a lot of history behind it. Many of the "bog standard" ones ended up in various military aircraft (the MoD effectively bought the entire production run), but then you've got a couple of different racing versions as originally developed for the Schneider Trophy air races, and then used in the Brooklands Napier-Railton, the original Bluebird LSR car and John Cobb's Mobil Railton Special - the latter being loaned to Cobb by Betty "Joe" Carstairs, who used them in her powerboats. I got an appreciation for these working on the drawings for these while cataloguing part of the contents of the old Brooklands drawing office a year and a half ago.
3) BRM V16. An interesting and brilliant concept, but late to the party due to reliability issues, and then F1 went to a 3-litre formula shortly after anyway, so it became something of a white elephant. They've re-built a couple from the original blueprints. Owww, my ears!
4) TVR V12, as fitted to the Cerbera in the early 2000s. I have an abiding memory of standing next to Bobby Verdon-Roe's car in the paddock at Brands at a BGT meeting. And then they started it up. It's just so damn visceral, and the noise just makes your bones shake.
5) Ford Cosworth DFV. Don't need to say much about this one. It is THE definitive (and winningmost) Formula 1 engine in history.
