Most automakers today are known for some fabled engine in their past. The General Motors small block V8 has moved so much of the world, while Toyota has built several different fours, sixes, and V8s that sometimes outlast the bodies they’re bolted into. Ford, Honda, Nissan, Mazda, all of them, and so many more have decorated histories building reliable mills. However, times have changed, and some automakers struggle today. What automakers are still making overbuilt engines? What’s the most overbuilt engine of the modern era?
This question was inspired by a similar question that was recently pitched to the Opposite-Lock car enthusiast community. If you’re looking for a group of folks who are like your fellow Autopians, I highly recommend Oppo! The site is independent and is run and funded by enthusiasts.
Anyway, General Motors and Toyota have generated headlines in recent years for unexpected goof-ups with their engines. We’ve written pretty extensively about the GM L87 V8, a small-block V8 that has thus far failed in the tens of thousands. If you’ve missed it, the short version is that more than 28,000 of these engines failed before GM issued a recall, and, allegedly, some of the fixed engines are failing, too. GM has also been fiddling around with the engine’s oil specifications in this still ongoing saga.
Toyota had its own truck engine troubles when its twin-turbo V6 V35A-FTS engines began failing due to reported manufacturing debris left inside engines, triggering a massive recall. This continues to be a headache for Toyota, and people are still reporting engine failures nearly two years after the recall was announced. Toyota recently expanded the recall, bringing the number of potentially affected trucks to well above 200,000.
To be fair to Toyota and General Motors, picking on engine failures and recalls can be low-hanging fruit. These engines could go on to live fine service lives after they’ve been fixed. But what about other engines?
When this question was posted in Opposite-Lock, I mentioned the Ford Coyote 5.0 V8 as a solid engine. The 5.0 has proven itself to be a pretty sturdy powerplant and is even receptive to modification. People actively seek out Coyotes to build tons of power out of. It is noted that the truck version of the Coyote has one of those infamous wet belts. The good thing is that it does appear that wet belt failures are uncommon with this engine. Update: To be clear, this is not a timing belt, but a belt to drive the oil pump.
Other contenders, I think, could be something like a Honda K-series. Some of these engines have popped after people dumped tons of power mods into K20C1s, but lots of other folks report getting lots of miles out of stock engines or mildly tuned ones.
Heavy-duty pickup truck diesels also seem fairly sturdy, though some of their emissions equipment might not be.
This subject has been stuck in my head for days now. Is there an engine that’s currently made in 2026 that can pile on the miles with usually just regular maintenance? Are there engines out there that are receptive to mods without heavy changes? What’s the most overbuilt engine of the modern era?
Top graphic images: Honda; EngineWorld
LS, coyote, Honda K,B and even D, 2JZ all can make several times factory HP and live.
any lexus/toyota v8, any K-series honda.
GM iron block 6.0 liter. (2000-2020 ish)
None of the oiling issues of the 6.2
No active fuel management issues
Reasonable torque and horsepower.
Fuel mileage was always bad, but not terrible (I get the same 11-12 MPG loaded or empty).
Known to go 400,000 or 500,000 miles with no issues frequently
Can take boost and make 700 or 800 HP without complaint (at least for a while)
The first ones that come to mind are both 2.7L truck engines. Ford and GM put some serious engineering into those to make them palatable to truck guys.
Also the second gen Prius engine. The only problem I’m aware of with them is that eventually they start drinking oil, but as long as you keep them topped up they’ll outlast the rest of the car. I’ve heard you can’t find rebuilt ones because there are so many perfectly good ones sitting in junkyards from cars that were otherwise totalled.
My non-stateside vote goes to the Toyota 1HZ (4.2L I-6 NA diesel), hands-down. This engine has been running for decades, still being built. Nicer in a 70 series than a 105 (weight) and not a star at the drag strip, but it wont ever let you down and you wont have to open it during the first million miles
I will swear to the reliability of the Volkswagen inline-5 2.5L engine. They have their quirks: specifically, the vacuum pump over the transmission likes to weep oil, but that’s an easy fix. Other than that, there isn’t much to complain about.
I was going to say the Ford Barra, but then I looked it up and they stopped making those in 2016. Boo.
1st Gen Volt had a cast iron block… in a car that was designed to be as light and efficient as possible, with a motor that is designed to run as efficiently and as little as possible. I don’t know if I’ve ever heard of an engine failure on a 1st gen.
Another good contender is the MZR/Duratec engines found in all sorts of Fords and Mazdas. We have the 2.5 in our 2nd Gen Escape, which doesn’t use a drop of oil between changes.
Less modern, but I don’t care: Most of my cars have engines that were understressed, deliberately or not. Gen V big block, 1st generation 2v 4.6, AMC 360 (be quiet D.T).
For current engines I’d say the 6.4 HEMI truck engine. Under stressed, low revving, and durable. A nod to the current Penstar as well, they seem to be going strong with many over 200K without much drama.
Also, the Toyota 3.5V6 has been a trooper.
Agreed on the Hemi and Pentastar. Neither are anything to write home about, but that’s actually the selling point.
Unpopular opinion-the EA888.3 2.0 turbo engines from VW group. You can easily boost them to more than double their original HP without opening the inside of the engine. As long as you are tighter with the oil change intervals (5k rather than 10k), they are extremely reliable, robust, and fast.
When mine needed a second intake manifold replaced I decided no more VWs.
GM’s 2.7L 4T is over-built like a diesel.
The L3B or “TurboMax” is used in the Silverado, Colorado and CT4-V. It has tons of low end torque. Some good videos on this engine from TFL when they interviewed some GM engineers when the new Colorado first came out.
Thats what I am hoping my next lease will be to replace my EV if there are no incentives.
I remember this interview and it likewise impressed me. I haven’t been following the actual engine though, is it holding up?
Currently the only GM Truck motor not blowing up………
A 2.7l 4 -banger in a 1/2 ton is the best engine. 4 yrs ago I would have bet you $1000 it would be rubbish. The 6.2 is rubbish and you can only get it in top trim. Whoa-puzzled.
I own a Colorado with this motor and it really is a beast. Its been installed in probably a million vehicles so far when you consider it is one of the Silverado’s base engines for about 7 years now and even in that heavier application there haven’t been too many issues.
There was some news the other day with a problem with 2026 models, but its not a design flaw.
I’d say the 2023 Toyota Tacoma with the 2TR-FE 4 cylinder engine mated with a 6 speed manual. I have a ’17 with a 5 speed stick (last year of the 5 speed) and it will probably outlast Toyota themselves.
All the data points to the 2TR-FE being bulletproof. To start it is Toyota so quality is high. It is N/A so it isn’t over stressed, it redlines at 5,500 RPM so it makes decent low end torque and will never over rev. It makes way to little power out of 2.7L in 2023 (specifically 161HP) and it has no modern things that will destroy an engine such as start stop, DI, and emissions crap like EGR that does you no good.
This is of course my opinion and experience, but it at least makes the top 5.
The TR engine is a good choice. Classic old school Toyota.
I was really surprised when I drove a 2015 Tacoma with the 2.7L and a 5spd, very agricultural in nature, but I honestly preferred it to the 3.5L v6 and a 6spd. I don’t know what Toyota did to that v6 but I really did not enjoy that engine.
None of them.You do want your engine to last as long as possible or am I missing something with this question.
Do some reading into the 2TR-FE, I think it is pretty bulletproof. I would have to agree though that there is no such thing as too much reliability.
More engines you could look at are the:
ZMZ-409051
1VD-FTD
1GR-FE
And of course there are older engines which will never experience failure (joking of course but they are still reliable)
6BT
8V71
1HZ (I realised that in certain regions this is still made…)
I’m a Toyota fan but if I had to pick one it’s the Ford 300 straight 6 but I wouldn’t consider it to be modern.
Overbuilding an engine is wasted money. Say you build a car engine to the same durability spec as a HD Class 8 diesel and then put it car that is designed to last 250K miles.
That extra money spent on the engine is just money down the drain for the customer.
If the engine will keep running, it’s worth fixing the rest.
I don’t even look at anything unreliable now.
Logically yes, but maybe 1% of vehicle owners have the mindset. It also requires people to be able to do the work themselves because paying a shop $175 per hour to keep an old car on the road adds up fast.
People scrap old cars because they need a new set of tires or brakes and the blue book says it is only worth $2,000.
Then there is salt and rust. Cutting out and patching rust holes isn’t economical.
Salt isn’t much of an issue here, except when I go to Bonneville
And there is salt away.
I’m familiar with panic selling.
Sometimes people have logistics issues which can’t be helped though.
Re blue book, I’m not impressed.
Looked at a guy’s second Gen Dodge Cummins 3500, with an incredibly rare specialty axle.
Perfect truck.
He was told blue book was $600.
I’d say $35000.
The VG/VQ-series Nissan engines make decent power and mine have never burned oil over 300K+ miles of driving in our Nissan Quests.
Nissan VR-series engines quickly became big number earners not terribly long after the GT-R first came out. While expensive they’re still big number earners. Lamborghini/Audi V10s also seem to like turbos a great deal more than expected, though maybe that isn’t as much a surprise given how long lasting the original Lamborghini V12 was. Granted, I don’t know how much work goes into the bottom ends of AMS GT-Rs or Underground Lambos, so take that for what it’s worth.
I believe in the K-Series longevity so much I bought one, it’s 13 years old and 67K miles and if I can keep the car ADD at bay, it could reasonably be the last car I ever own.
My K20C1 (Type R) has been dead reliable through the 107k miles its had. It has a fairly hard life of tracking and autocross too.
I’ve not had the opportunity to track mine yet, need to get my front sway bar end links replaced first, oh and have the time and money to do so. The year before I bought the Si I did track my 03 Lx, which was a ton of (very slow) fun, and back before I was a family man I used to AutoCross my Scion tC as often as I could. I do miss it.
I placed 2nd overall in class out of 14 in the unlimited street tire class locally last year with my two car seats in the back. Such a good family car.
I’ve got teenagers now, so I fortunately don’t have to cart around extra seats anymore, but yes I agree it’s a great family car (I have a sedan). Just need to find a CRV head unit so I can get Car Play working!
The 2002 Honda Civic Si my dad bought back in 2005 ran all but flawlessly for 20-odd years and about 130K miles. Only major issue was the slave cylinder going out one wonderfully frigid day. Never serviced the engine outside of oil changes and spark plugs every now and then. Ridiculously tanky little engine.
Stellantis 3.6 Pentastar seems solid, at least the latest ones. I seen examples with a lot of miles still running with basic manteinance and the only “problem” is the oil filter housing but the aftermarket created a better version of it. This is the equivalent of the 3800 engine from GM in the modern era, still NA and with decent output. Paired with the ZF transmission, its a good combo.
It’s unclear to me if they finally fixed the “pentastar tick” issue with the lifters. Mine was a 2014, so it wasn’t covered when they issued the recall (so nice of them to only recall vehicles that were still under warranty), but I read that post-recall vehicles were still having the issue as they approached 100k miles. It’s not the hardest thing to fix in the trucks and rwd sedans, but in my van the back cylinder head isn’t easily accesible, so it would have been expensive.
Mine didn’t crack the oil filter housing, but the pressure sensor went, which was on the housing. So I went through that mess after it ate the AC compressor, which was a year after it ate the power steering pump. So yeah, I ditched it before the tick got worse. Fuck that motor.
as I understand it, there are 2 versions of this engine a pre and post upgrade series (PUG). The pre models are pretty solid, the post models have some issues.
Any 3.6 that takes 0W-20, probably wouldn’t be the best idea. Like the 5.7 (and the original versions of the 3.6), they cheapened out on cams, lifters, and rockers, and they wear out at random times. You may never need to replace them, the day after you buy a brand spanking new 3.6 you’ll be back at the dealer, and any time in-between.
2014-2023 3.6’s that take 5W-20 oil (so the minivans, 200, Avenger, Charger/Challenger/300, classic Ram 1500) are perfectly fine.
None. Stop trying to make engines cheaper and smaller and higher strung.
Beat me to it. Less cylinders, turbo added to compensate, direct fuel injection, oils as thin as water. What could possibly go wrong?
Toyota 1ZZ engine is way overbuilt for the applications it is installed on. It’s not a very powerful engine, but it does tend to take whatever abuse you can throw at it and keep coming back for more.
Truthfully nothing is going to be what enthusiasts would feel is overbuilt these days because the margins are generally much tighter between the spec output of the engine and the durable power level of the components to survive what the OEM determines to be the full useful life cycle.
Maybe the commercial detuned variants of the heavy duty diesels would be the closest thing left, but the civilian hot rod versions with 400+ hp and 900-1200 lb-ft of torque are ticking time bombs vs their under stressed 200-300 hp and lower torque variants assuming that the OEM doesn’t reduce part quality for the lower output.
Otherwise everything is squeezed to the limit in spec bragging under the emissions compliance requirements as well as targeted useful life cycles and rarely leaves much actual margins for improved performance without failure.
On the other hand, when Ford started building for specific power levels, you knew what you needed for 500 HP. It could still be very cost effective with so many stronger parts, blocks, etc mass produced.
Out of the current Production stuff, the BMW B58/S58 seems to be super overbuilt. Lots of people putting tons of power through the factory stuff reliably. The new Stellantis “Hurricane” seems like it will be similar when aftermarket support really gets into them. Just their JB4 Piggyback, some ethanol, and the folks at Burger were able to get 592WHP and 583 ft/lbs out of it. The VW EA888 and DAZA also hold together with a metric ton of boost thrown at them. My MK7 GTI was turbo limited around 335whp, however the MK8 turbos are significantly more efficient and can handle more boost. The Porsche 3.0 Flat 6s can make silly power with a flash tune and downpipes too. I have a buddy that dyno’d over 600whp on his, and he tracks it regularly. Honorable mention to the LT7 in the new ZR1. Any production engine that makes over 1000WHP has to be overbuilt, and so far with a piggyback people are getting over 1100whp.
Came here to say the B58 has no business being as reliable as it is under the hood of a BMW. What a champ.
B58 was going to be my suggestion as well. Closed deck, forged components, and reliably getting 600+hp on stock internals. It really is the 2JZ of the modern era.
b58 was my take, especially in the Ineos where its detuned.
The Daihatsu/Toyota 1KR:
Economic and durable!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_KR_engine
You hear about the vaunted Lexus 2JZ, but the 2UZ is just as overbuilt.
As the result of the same era, I read recently that the Infiniti Q45 engine (original) was way overbuilt.
My Dad has a ’00 Citroen Xzara wagon he keeps in Portugal as a vacation car. It has a 1.9L N.A. Diesel that ekes out 67 hp. It has over 250,000 miles on it and refuses to die, has perfect compression and oil pressure and has never refused to start. Zero oil leaks. The car is slow as molasses flowing on a sub-zero winter day but it’s a tank. Everything in the car still works too.
Ah, the good old PSA group XUD engine. It sounds like a bag of spanners being thrown down four flights of stairs but it’s an absolute tank.
Hardly “modern” 😀
But I’ve enjoyed that engine too for years. So much torque! And economy. Not that much speed, but kept up with traffic. Great engine!
The 1.6 in my dads superbeetle lasted for decades.
Well it was more of an engine of Theseus kind of deal, where every part of that engine was replaced at least once.
But it was always replaced fairly cheap with the tools provided in the driveway.
It also set us up thinking VW was the most reliable brand money could buy. We actually needed two whole water cooled VWs to get rid of that idea.
Friend had VW beetles for years.
Got to where he and a friend could break down, and they’d get out and swap the engine on the spot.
When he tried getting rebuilt ones they all failed.
He rebuilt one himself, and hes no car genius.
That one never failed, so there’s a lesson.