mmarshall

Among ICE's (Internal Combustion Engines), what would be the funniest or most amusing automotive power plant you have ever seen? I think my vote would have to go to the old 1960s-vintage, 841cc (0.8L) carburated Saab in-line three-cylinder, two-stroke. When I had my first job, in a service-station, right out of high school, people were still driving some older three-cylinder Saabs, even though the company had recently designed a newer, more modern V-4.

Two-stroke engines differ from traditional four-strokes in that they have no traditional intake or exhaust valves, and the intake/compression/power/exhaust functions are accomplished by simultaneous venting/intake of the air/fuel mixture and exhaust-porting out the vents. The spark plug fires on every piston-stroke instead of on every other one like in a four-stroke engine. One of the videos I posted shows the operation in detail. The nature of the engines, though (and their oil-use), makes them virtually impossible to control emissions, so they did not last on new vehicles, especially in the U.S. market, after 1970 and the new emission standards.

They also are not lubricated like a normal four-stroke engine. The (needed) oil is dumped into the gas tank, and, as the gas enters into the cylinder, the oil helps keep the cylinder walls lubricated. I remember, when I used to gas these vehicles up (it was mostly full-service in those days), the owner would either hand me a can of Saab factory-approved oil, an aftermarket-equivalent, or open the trunk for me so I could get a can out of the back myself (one normally carried extra cans of it in the car for fill-ups). I'd open the can and, with a clean funnel, dump its contents into the tank with eight gallons of leaded regular gas. Then, after the owner paid and he or she was ready to go, I'd get a kick out of listening to that little puddle-jumper of an engine and its distinctive nasal / singing tone start up and drive off (note the manual choke), going through the column-mounted gearshift. We used to call this engine the "Ring-a Ding-Ding" machine.

Stroock639

i remember seeing the top gear segment about saab's history where james may explained that in these old 2 strokes you essentially had to brake with the left foot while pressing the gas pedal a bit so the engine could stay lubricated, and by doing this the brakes would overheat by the bottom of the hill and be unable to stop you anymore lol

Stroock639

i thought the late 70s eldorado had a pretty funny engine, 8.2 liters and barely over 200hp

the OHC variant of the V6 in the late 90s explorer is also pretty funny for having like 5 timing chains, it's the first engine i've heard of that uses a 'jackshaft' to drive the valve train, which is i think a result of ford not wanting to spend the money to actually develop an overhead cam engine, so instead they just made an OHV engine become OHC

mmarshall

Good point...I had forgotten about that. Yes, that could be a problem on a two-stroke, because if you just downshifted on a long hill like you do with a normal four-stroke, the engine would still be turning good RPMs and providing some compression-braking, but the oil, which is mixed in with the gas, would be drastically curtailed without throttle-pressure, and the engine would lose that lubrication.

mmarshall

I didn't see that so much a function of humor as simply the choking effect of those primitive-era emission controls, with the low compression ratios, retarded timing, lean fuel-mixtures, low-octane gas, and the way that the first-generation catalysts restricted the exhaust flow. With the possible exception of the Pontiac Trans Am, almost nothing in the mid-late 1970s had enough power to pull the hat off of your head LOL. Even Corvettes were well under 200 HP to start, unless you sprang for the L82 version, with 220 HP.

I'm sure you remember John Delorean's stainless steel "Cocaine Special"...what did you think of him using a unreliable V6 of Renault/Peugeot/Volvo origin? I found that rather humorous myself....the Dean of American muscle-cars (at GM, he basically started the whole muscle-car craze with the early-60s Pontiac GTO) turning to a European V6 of 130HP and 153 ft-lbs. of torque.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

A high school friend drove a Citroen 2CV for a while. I don’t recall the specs of his, but get this, the original engine was 375cc (0.375L), 4 stroke, with 9 hp.



More info... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citroën_2CV#Engines

mmarshall

Yes.....a good vote. It didn't sound as silly as the Saab 2-stroke when revved, but the 9 HP and 17 ft-lbs. of torque would make your lawn mower look powerful LOL.

The car, though, was so lightly-built that its minuscule power level actually went a little further than one would think. This was typical of a number of post-WWII European and Japanese vehicles, though, as the whole gas/oil industry had been wrecked by the war, gasoline was a rare and precious resource, and vehicles had to be designed that would strictly conserve it.

Stroock639

i think an engine so enormous which makes that little power is kinda funny... also i'm reminded of this short clip


and yes the delorean is indeed quite slow for a "sports car", and speaking of... the good ol LS 400 put the hurt on a mid-late 00s boxster the other day pulling away from a red light, his passenger had a look of pleasant bewilderment when the lovely 1UZ kicked down into 1st and cruised past the nearly 10 years newer porsche (and yes he was definitely also in the race lol)

Tootsall

I saw a Jowett Javelin in a wrecker’s yard in Ontario (Cda.) back in the late ‘60’s. A flat 4 mounted in front of the front axle. The rad was back towards the firewall with the fan driven by a jackshaft off the front of the engine and running back over top of the engine. Weirdest damn thing. You can read about it c/w photos on Wikipedia.

Fizzboy7

By far for me, would have been Audi's RS4 motor, circa 2004. Had a special Audi drive event I attended when the car debuted, and a pro-driver had us pinned against the seats through the streets of Hollywood. WILD sounds, like an F1, had me and the passengers laughing uncontrollably. Lexus's IS-F motor also gave me a similar reaction on a closed course.

Byprodrive

iTrader: (1)

Being a Pontiac muscle car fanatic, John DeLorean was one of my hero's. I read his book, "On a clear day you can see GM". I followed the DeLorean development closely until it was revealed that the engine was a 130-hp Volvo engine, like the Volvo 144 I learned to drive in.

Byprodrive

iTrader: (1)

Last year I drove a Mitsubishi Mirage, both 2 door & the 4-door which has the distinction of the slowest 0-60 time of any car sold in America! (12 seconds)

They have a 3-cylinder engine, the 1st time I drove one I drove less than half a block before I got out & looked underneath the car to listen to it run. I was convinced there was something wrong with this new car.
After reading the owners manual a bit I discovered it was a 3-cyl. So I got back in & drove down the street to get on the LA 405 freeway. The engine sounds like a outboard motor when you floor it to merge into traffic
This car makes a 1st gen Prius seem like a luxury sports car.

mmarshall

The Mirage is the second-lowest priced new car in the American market....only the Nissan Versa undercuts it. I did a review on a base-model Mirage, several years ago, with hand-crank windows and manual power door locks/mirrors...definitely a no-frills machine, where you adjust everything yourself. No A/C, either, if my memory was right. So, don't be surprised that you don't get very much engine with it.

Stroock639

i guess there's no 'right' answer to this, but i'm pretty sure we're looking for engines that are funny because of how bad or weird they are

the RS4 just has a damn good engine (if you're talking about the B7 model with the 8000+ rpm n/a V8)