Wondering how does one know if a vehicle has a good 4 cylinder engine? I've heard some engines whine when accelerating. Is this normal for 4 cylinders? What liter size should I stay away from? I am looking for one that has some zip (non-turbo). Do I look at horsepower, special engine features (for example dual overhead cams, no idea what this means).

DOHC= 2 cams instead of one, more power! What model and year are you most interested in. There are many 4 cyl out there, to many to coment on!

Depends on the manufacturer, size of the car, new or used?

The best for cylinders in my opinion are in no particular order
1. Suburu, new and old
2. Any Honda vtech - lots of fun to drive, very dependable!
3. Saturn 1.9 DOHC found in the SL2's, Very fun to drive, very simple cars, easy to work on.
4. Toyota 1.8 liter found in the Corolla, Another very dependable motor and vehicle!!
5. New GM 2.2 ecotech, So far it seems to be a pretty good.

Looking at vehicles the size of calibers, focus, vibe. I am just trying to get an idea what things in a 4 cylinder engine I should look for. For example, if I find three vehicles I like what should I be comparing engine wise other than how many liters it is. Does the higher liter mean a better engine?

i was told by a chevy mechaninc to stay away from the GM 4s. (he wasnt talking this eco-tech it he didnt knw much about that yet) if that helps. why a 4 my fiances malibu with the v6 does good on gas if thats what your looking for

The Pontiac vibe depending on the model year will have either a 1.8 or a 2.4 liter built by Toyota. Actually the whole car is built by Toyota. The nice thing about these two engines is that both of them have a timing chain not a timing belt. A timing belt will need to be serviced ruffly every 90 to 100k. A chain will practically last the life of the engine. Its not uncommon for Toyota's to still be running well after 250K!

The focus will have a timing belt. We see a lot of issues with the focuses. Tire wear is huge on some models. Broken rear springs and wheel bearings are also popular.

The Caliber 1.8 or 2.4 is a belt I think and the 2.0 is a chain. I have not serviced any of these yet!

The Liter rating is the amount of cylinder displacement using the metric system. The American counterpart used to be cubic inches. If you still think that way you can multiply liters x 60 and get a ruff idea of the cubic inches.

Liters mean nothing as manufacturer continue to evolve new technology that squeeze more and more horsepower out of smaller engines. One manufacturer might offer an engine with more liters of displacement but that engine may have considerable less horsepower/torque than another or the same manufacturers smaller engine(s). What it boils down to is just because it is bigger doesn't always mean its better!!

Good info. airjer. Thanks.

Something else on the focuses. We are starting to see the older models come in for A/C services. Currently Ford is on there forth update on the evap core/airbox assembly. Yes the evap core is being replaced as an entire airbox assembly to address issues that arose in Florida. Along with replacing the airbox assembly (as needed) the receiver drier has also been updated and no longer works with the stock a/c hoses so they need to be replaced when that is serviced as well. What does this mean for the customer? potentially thousands of dollars for some cold air!

I drive a Toy Celica 94. It has a 2.2 liter 4 cylinder. It also has short gear 5 spd manual, shorter cylinder stroke and wider cylinder bore. It outputs on the flywheel 135hp peak at 5800 rpm and 142 lbs torque peak at 2800 rpm. The zip in this car is its high end torque at a low rpm. Mostly city driving, a person would rarely go much over 3000 rpm, that's when I shift gear. EPA MPG 22/27 but my driving habits gets me 25/30, if I stretch it maybe 32 mpg city.

Don't get a GM Quad Four.

I'll second that. I had one and although plugs were a breeze on it, pretty much everything else was a PIA. The starter kept going out (never did figure out what electrical gremlin was roaming through the system to take it out), and it was not fun to replace.

I'll second that motion! Do they still make the quad 4?

According to Wikipedia the Quad 4 was replaced in 2001 by the Ecotec.

I tell ya what.

I had a Beretta GTZ Quad 4 that had a 2.3 I think.

God was that car FAST!

I think that was part of the problem with these engines. The tolerances were so tight and the compression was so high, it wasn't a good engine for long term

Boy was it fun though.

100mph in 3rd gear


I miss that car

Thank god there's only two of those left on the road!

Unfortunately they show up at the shop one a month!!