re: 4-cylinder turbos, you got one?

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C300 has an amazing powerband. Especially when in sport+ where the turbos stay spooled up.

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This.

The 4 cylinder turbo in my C-Class is significantly faster than the V6 in the BMW 330i that I owned previously.

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The ecoboost sounds fun but I opted for a V8 for reliability.

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If you're going to keep it for a long time, good choice. You definitely got the least stressed motor.

Wouldn't you want the best built engine?

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What do you call a long time?

I have 120k miles on a 2016 ecoboost with no issues.

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I think we worry about motors more than we should. They most often outlast the rest of the vehicle.

Still, having said that, I favor simplicity over complexity any day. And the NA V8 is going to be simpler, cooler, and less stressed than a twin turbo V6 every day and twice on sundays.

Again, I think Ford does a good job with the F150 and the ecoboost. But if my aim was to maximize longevity, I'd get the V8.

Remember when the V8 was the premium option? I do. It still is, to me.

Isn't a v6 a more stable engine than a v8 to start with?

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My daily is a 2019 Accord Sport with the 2.0T. Only complaint I have is the 10 speed auto

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Should have got the 6 speed, it turns a ho-hum commuter into an almost-sports sedan.

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Isn't a v6 a more stable engine than a v8 to start with?

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Maybe.

But a V6 without a turbo is simpler than one with. Same with the V8. And less thermal stress.

They're getting a lot of efficiency out of these turbos. And, again, I think a well built setup is going to out last the electronics and transmissions of most of these vehicles.

But I can't get around the the fact that they are more complex, and more stressed thermally, than their naturally aspirated counterparts.

What you do get (with the turbo chargers) is more torque and smaller engines and better mileage, per liter of displacement.

I'm happy to have a Tacoma V6 that doesn't "perform" as well as a Turbo 4 on a Ranger. I prefer the relaxed option.

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That’s cool man, I’m on my 2nd Ecoboost in 5 years and I’ve put 120k miles on each one with no issues. I’d say pretty reliable

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If you get any powertrain wrinkles with any car within 120k I'd think that was a failure.

120k isn't much these days.

300k on the original trans and engine aren't unheard of these days--even on the F150s with Ecoboost.

I think Ford does a very good job with the F150 and the ecoboost.

I'm still picking the NA V8.

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Isn't a v6 a more stable engine than a v8 to start with?

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The only answer to that is yes, no and maybe. You will see lists ranking the inherent balance of the major streetcar engine configurations but they only account for reciprocating phase balance and not the much more complicated to account for torque generation phase balance. So normally you end up with the I-6 at the top of the list (much to the delight of Bimmer-heads) but this really is only at idle to low-midrange engine speeds.

I kinda outlined a post in my head to explain some of this but quickly realized I would need about 20 typed pages to begin to do it service. Possibly the TLDR tOT post of all time. So nevermind.

As to the direct question of V6 vs V8 inherent balance depends on a lot of factors including mass and plane of reciprocating mass, torque generation, compression and rotating mass plane. Things like bank angle have to be figured in as well along with a slew of other variables. The variables become unwieldy but in VERY general terms a V6 designed ground up to be a V6 is easier to design to have better inherent balance than a V8. That said a lot of US V6 engines are a V8 with 2 cylinders lopped off for economy of scale in parts, those tend to have poor inherent balance compared to their paternal V8. All that said some level of NVH is actually desirable in a high-performance engine and no stock streetcar engine is going to grenade itself (barring a defect) under its designated redline.


In the end if reliability and longevity is your desire for a car engine get a NA engine with relatively low specific power. IE don't get an engine that puts out 100+ HP per liter, look around the 75-85 hp per liter range. Even better make sure it has a Toyota or Lexus badge and you are literally good for 1/2 million miles if you maintain it.