Help me find a car

[nightwheel]

While not a V6. I can tell you from experience that Ford has a amazing 4 cylinder for their Ford Rangers. Or at least for their mid 90's Rangers.
My dad has a 1996 Ford Ranger with a 4 cylinder. And that little truck is amazing. The engine doesn't burn a drop of oil. And has a quite a bit of power for it's size. Sadly right now, the truck has a major transmission issue that needs to be fixed.

[Metallica Man X]

+1 to Fords 4 cylinder engines. Although not a truck, I've got a 97 contour with a 4-banger in there...and that little guy has a suprising amount of snort!

...I got that beast just above 120 one night...probably could've went faster but I was getting really close to town...

[marshallh]

Arbitrarily limiting yourself to V6 engines is a poor choice.

There are many cars that don't need one to be super drivable. And I have a V6

[Bush]

If i drove a 4cyl I would need to get a rhinoplasty.

[dragonhead]

If i drove a 4cyl I would need to get a rhinoplasty.

so, you need a nosejob to drive a 4cyl?
V6, fuel economy of a v8, power of an i-4...

[Bush]

whoops, meant the one with the vagina And sorry, Any 4 cyl isnt going to work. I want an SUV with at least 6.

[bicostp]

You don't want a vehicle that weighs 2 tons with a wussy little 4 banger under the hood, no. Not if you want it to get out of its own damn way without cranking it to 5000 RPM all the time.

And no, you only need to turn in your man card if your engine compartment looks like this (eew what are all those dirty parts spinning around cover them up!) or you choose to drive one of these (for obvious reasons).

[dragonhead]

fourbangers rock. theyre small, light, efficient, cheaper to work on, and you can usually rev them to the moon and back.
yummy mechanical bits:

[Black Six]

whoops, meant the one with the vagina And sorry, Any 4 cyl isnt going to work. I want an SUV with at least 6.

I drive a Subaru Outback with a flat four and a six-speed manual. You don't need a six cylinder engine to get around quickly.

I understand that maybe it's not the most ideal for off-roading, but there's nothing wrong with them.

[bicostp]

In a small street car, a 4 cylinder is fine. Saturns, Focuses, Civics (well pre-bloat Civics anyway), etc all get around fine with a 2L. In a midsize like an Accord or Camry, a 2 liter engine won't cut it (especially on the highway).

In a truck that's going to see dirt, you will be disappoint unless it's something really small like a Sidekick or Tracker.

[vskid]

In a small street car, a 4 cylinder is fine. Saturns, Focuses, Civics (well pre-bloat Civics anyway), etc all get around fine with a 2L. In a midsize like an Accord or Camry, a 2 liter engine won't cut it (especially on the highway).

Depends on what counts as "fine" for you. Our Civics have a 1.5l and a 1.6l and they both do fine in my eyes, a 2l with proportional power should be enough in a midsize. Sure, you might have to rev it to the moon if you need to pull out into traffic (which is scary until you hit about 4k RPMs and start making power), but that's ok and only kills your mileage when you need it. I personally prefer having low end grunt at my reach at any time, but I sacrifice it for MPGs.

Curse you guys for talking about big engines and powa'. I was set on getting a 96' to ~03' Civic, but now I'm thinking of a Cherokee or Crown Victoria Police Interceptor. It wouldn't be so bad if I lived closer to home, then I would have a place to work and tools to use (to lift and fix the Jeep or soup up the Crown Vic). If anything I'll go with the Crown Vic over the Jeep, I don't know of anywhere to go offroading near where I live or anyone to go with (or be able to call if I need help). Swap the engine and put a manual in it, maybe a supercharger or turbo(s), would make a Crown Vic one sweet sleeper/rice killer (here is an example of how to not make it a sleeper).

[bicostp]

I personally prefer having low end grunt at my reach at any time

Very this. I like having a wide power band with the power coming on early, which probably explains my preference for (old) trucks. I hate spazzy little engines that have to crank the better part of 7k to get decent power. I hate how car shows like Horsepower and Muscle Car do all kinds of crap to an engine so it makes 9007 HORSEPOWER in one little spike right before redline. Tuning like that, you're bound to get crappy mileage AND crappy power in normal driving situations.

Hell, if I had the scratch I'd dump that 3.5L Ecoboost V6 from the new SHO into an early 80s Mustang. 360+ HP and 350 pounds of torque between 1700 and 5000 RPM in a car shell that weighs less than 2500 pounds? Yes please. (Mount it a little lower and further back than the original engine for better weight distribution, install better suspension components...)

[vskid]

I personally prefer having low end grunt at my reach at any time

Very this. I like having a wide power band with the power coming on early, which probably explains my preference for (old) trucks.

Thats what I loved about my Comanche. I could let the clutch out easy until it was fully engaged, then stomp on the gas and it would plant me in my seat pretty well. Left turns were a lot less scary than in a Civic.
My dad's F-350 has a custom built 460 (7.5l) in it. It puts out approximately 375 HP @4500 and 522 lb/ft @3000 (at the crank, calculated by the guy that built it). Actual output is lower because it is used at 4000-10000ft which puts the atmospheric pressure at about 12.5-10.5PSI IIRC (sealevel is 14.7PSI, for those who don't know). It doesn't fly (what do you expect from a truck weighing ~7000lbs with worse aerodynamics than a brick wall?), but it'll move when you hit the go pedal. It even gets ok mileage when not towing, I think my dad said he got 13.5MPG highway once and he usually gets at least 12. My dad has thought about putting a supercharger on it. Probably won't happen because of cost, fuel economy, and it would probably make it scary to drive even with just a few pounds of boost.

[Rekarp]

Yes... I would like some of that please.

[Haunted360]

Australian SVD (Special Vehicles Division) Nissan Vector SSS Owner.

It Drifts, it Smokes Tires and it Revvs like a Japanese Sumo Wrestler hungry for Sushi