The engine in my car never has, and never will, win any engine-of-the-year awards.
The 2.5-liter V6 in my 2004 Jaguar X-Type produces 192 hp and pulls the 3,400-pound sedan to 60 miles per hour in 7.9 seconds (when the check engine light isn’t on). My last tank of premium unleaded delivered 22 miles per gallon.
None of those numbers are even the least bit impressive by current standards. The truth is, they weren’t all that impressive in 2004, either.
One thing the engine has proved to be is reliable, as a mostly trouble-free 124,000 miles have rolled by so far.
Reading about the latest list of Ward’s 10 Best Engines sure gives me an inferiority complex, though.
The interesting thing about this 20th annual list from WardsAuto is that three diesels, a 3-cylinder turbo and an electric engine made the cut, illustrating the importance of fuel economy as automakers develop and market advanced new powertrains.
Six of the 10 engines are either supercharged or turbocharged, but most were designed for economy, not performance.
The performance engines, though, are thoroughly magnificent. Here are the 10 best engines of 2014, as determined by Ward’s Auto:
- 3.0L Supercharged DOHC V6 – Audi AG (Audi S5)
- 3.0L Turbodiesel DOHC I6 – BMW AG (BMW 535d)
- 6.2L OHV V8 – General Motors Co. (Chevrolet Corvette Stingray)
- 2.0L Turbodiesel DOHC I4 – General Motors Co. (Chevrolet Cruze Diesel)
- 83-kW Electric Motor – Chrysler Group LLC (FIAT 500e EV)
- 1.0L EcoBoost DOHC I3 – Ford Motor Co. (Ford Fiesta)
- 3.5L SOHC V6 – Honda Motor Co. Ltd. (Honda Accord)
- 2.7L DOHC H6 – Porsche AG (Porsche Cayman)
- 3.0L Turbodiesel DOHC V6 – Chrysler Group LLC (Ram 1500)
- 1.8L Turbocharged DOHC I4 – Volkswagen AG (Volkswagen Jetta)
Eight WardsAuto editors chose the winners after spending October and November evaluating 44 various engines in vehicles during their daily commutes.
They scored the engines on power, torque, technology, observed fuel economy, relative competitiveness, noise, vibration and harshness.
Are you more likely to buy a car that has one of the best engines of 2014?
-tgriffith
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Used Jaguar X-Type
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I want a diesel next. I hope America demands more!
You can see how Wards panders to GM by including its dinosaur cam-in- block pushrod V8 in a list of modern, high tech engines. It’s almost embarrassing to see such an engine in a list of mostly DOHC mills, a blunt force instrument in a world of sophisticated rapiers. In a way, it’s a negative testament to the poor taste and low expectations of American buyers, who like the typical Walmart shoppers they are, prefer quantity to quality.