The Chevy LS engines have very good reputations. I see a number of them at the drags and they take a beating and come back for more. Hot Rod magazine has done a number of tests on these engines (many from salvage yards) with turbochargers attached and they make real good hp and are durable and reliable.

LS engines also power Corvettes, Cadillac's, Australian Holden super cars, etc. and have made a real name for themselves at races such as LeMans (Corvette's routinely win their class)...establishing lap records for their class at Nurburgring, etc.

Brand loyalty is fine and dandy...but in the end doesn't cut it. Nowadays pretty well all manufacturers are making excellent engines...they can't afford to do anything but...as the ultra competitive market will kill them dead if their known for regularly making lemons.

For instance... Ford is really doing well, particularly in the area of R+D and manufacture of some real world class engine designs.

The Triton engine series has been a tremendously well done series of engines right from the start.

The new truck V6's both the aspirated and non aspirated versions are significant engines. I think Ford has established the way of the future for full size pick up truck engines with these V6's.

Great mileage, tough as nails engines, very powerful...able to compete way beyond their cubic capacity class.

To me what Ford has done is give the V6 truck engine (particularly the TC) the power of a V8, with the fuel efficiency of a V6, the towing capacity of a large V8 and the build construction seems to be almost at the diesel engine level.

I think other manufacturers will be compelled to follow Ford's lead and engineer and manufacture similar and competitive engines. Ford, IMO, has hit a home run with the Truck V6.

 

Best engines ever:

Most Reliable:

#1 Detroit Diesel 6 cylinders with 6-71 blowers of the 1960's and 1970's. They sound like nothing else in the world, and we had two of them that were used as electric generators that were ran for 6-12 hours per day for more than 30 years and both were still going strong with the original block and heads. Of course just about any well maintained diesel engine is going to be way more reliable and run for 10 times longer than an equivalent gas powered engine so it's not really fair to compare them against gas engines.

#1 Gas Engine: Ford inline 6 cylinder like those used in the best F-150 series ever made from the 1970's to 1996: These proven inline 6 cylinders may have been a little low on power but will run forever, take loads of abuse, and after 200-300k miles when they finally start to get worn valve seats and guides they are simple and cheap to repair. Just look around the rust belt and see what types of trucks are still on the road, almost all of them are the F-150's of the 1980's and early 1990's. Even better proof is a lot of UPS and other delivery fleets still are using tons of these little workhorses still today.

#2 Mopar 318 and inline 6 cylinder engines: they were almost as bulletproof as the Ford inline 6's.

#3 Don't laugh: Chevrolet 3.8L v-6: They can run forever, make reasonable power, are fuel efficient, and as long as you don't overheat them they are pretty much bulletproof as well.

Most Powerful Gasoline Engines?

1. Anything with a HEMI... any questions... if so, ask yourself what are all top fuel dragsters using... ok, any questions...

2. Nothing else even comes close, although I really like the Boss 429, late model Chevrolet V-8's, and all those light weight high revving non eco friendly two strokes that power the best performing snowmobiles, motorcycles, jet-ski's, boats, and go carts.

Worst engines ever:

Since this is a Ford board:
1. All SOHC four cylinder Escort and Focus engines. These were, are and will forever be ticking time bombs that continue to give my favorite brand a bad name. They should have know better..... Enough said... Oops, forgot about those Probe, Fiesta and Capri engines too... sure don't see too many of those on the roads these days either.

2. All the crappy early Pinto and Vega 4 cylinders of the 70's; but hey back then they didn't know better so I'll give them some slack on this one.

3. Anything built in the former Soviet Union, China, India, or in countries ending in stan.

4. Last but not least: The crummy little engine in that wonder-car of the week (here today gone tomorrow) Dodge Neon.

 

Just FYI, the 3.8 is a Buick engine.

 

my two cents is this any straight line engine with a little oil and coolant refuses to die. i grew up with a good well known mechanic, he will only reply ''the one that starts goes down the road and brings you home at night''. but i have learned this:
-most small block ford - most big blocks from any of the big 3 -any straight line 6 refuses to die -most 4 cyl leave alone and to leave this subject i would bet my life that a 390 will hold top spot here hands down and to those of you with 5.4 tritons best of luck i have had no luck with them

 

I'd have to agree, as least as far as small gasoline engines any I6 is tough to kill. The lack of vibration is an added plus. I think this is because a) I6's are usually cast-iron and designed for commercial service, not performance, and are therfore made slow-revving and torquey, and b) the design is inherently very easy to work on, increasing the chances that the engine will be properly maintained and therefore have a long life.

I like all SIX of my cylinders in a row, like they should be. No gas engine of similar displacement can even come close to the Ford 300 in terms of ***** and ability to tolerate horrible things. And should I ever need a little more power, I'd definitely get an IH DT-series I6.

 

Who still makes a cast iron gasoline I-6? No one. BMW still makes an ultra-complex I-6 and maybe Ford of Australia.

 

They made a good anchor but love the 351w in my boat couldn`t kill a 300 and 2 chevy 305s that wouldn`t die one of witch is still going in a offroader demo derbied the other at over 900000 smoked and burnt oil it`s whole life

 

It's too bad. Thankfully, a lot of the ones they made decades ago are still with us.

 

I was going to mention the Gm 4.2, but I see that they quit making it. What a pitty. I do love the BMW 3.0 in my 328Xi, with a magnesium block

 

The closest thing still made, but rough instead of smooth, is the GM Vortec industrial/marine 3.0L I-4. Its similar to the original Chevy II engine, a cut-down version of the last pushrod I-6.

 

300 I-6 BADA** motor! i got one in my 1989 ford f150 got 113000 on her and starts better then my grandmas 05 tauruse and i live in -40below temps!
may not have horsepower but it will pull those trees out! haha

i also lik the 429 and 390

but for chevy i have a 1940chev and the 216 inline 6 is pretty lil tough motor
ford i dislike the ..ok its gunna take a while to think on it..
HATE CHEV 305's what crap that is
some 350s are ok..others are crap

 

I might add the General Motors "Sewing Machine" Diesel (aka 2004-present DMAX) to the list. They fail, not gracefully, but always from one day to the next. Every single part on it, as far as I can tell, has at least one screw under something else and the only way to disassemble it is in the exact same order it was assembled.

It's a heavy mother, too. Doesn't seem to be durable in proportion to its weight, unlike the 1964-1996 Ford engines.

 

If you want to know what engines are reliable, put one in a boat and see how they survive. You can talk down the 305 Chev all you want... bottom line is they don't make a lot of power but they can rev and they live a long life under full load. Ever notice how Ford and Dodge are being phased out of the marine environment?
Best engines; a bit of a misnomer... best for what? Towing, racing... ?
For fun I say the new LS7 small block and the late 60's 440-6 pack mopar have to be in the running.
The worst engine... easy... the aluminum 4 bangers Chev put in the mighty Vega. They started burning oil at about 3 miles.
Diesel; I'll take a Cummins.

 

Ford and Dodge are phasing out because Chevys are so much cheaper to buy. Look at the Mercruiser 230ci 4 cyl. and see what it's made from, it's not GM! The bad thing about the Chevy marine engines is they are one shot engines, forget rebuilding, you won't have any threads left in the block to hold the heads on with, same for the Buick V6s.

 

Whaaat? The Duramax diesel has a solid reputation.