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BangShift Question Of The Day: Is There Really A Justification For The V8?


BangShift Question Of The Day: Is There Really A Justification For The V8?

I hear the buzzing, I see the nest perfectly fine, and yet I’m still picking up the stick and preparing to swing. It seems like the perfect time to smack the hornet’s nest with this question, so let’s get to it. It’s 2019. We are in the age of the 275-horsepower turbocharged four-cylinder. We have six-cylinders, both in V-formation and in a single row, that would straight-up spank the heroes of old. We have musclecars that weigh in at over two tons that can out-corner, out-brake, and out-accelerate those who came before, and when you get to the versions that don’t weigh as much as a Mississippi River barge loaded for bear, it gets better. The V8s that are being produced today for consumption are anywhere between stout and almost unrealistic. Now is the Horsepower War.

So, in the age of a warrantied 700+ horsepower V8, in the age where a 150-horse four cylinder is considered “adequate and nothing more”, we have to wonder: is there an actual justification for the V8? Look, do not get us wrong in the slightest. We grew up drinking this Kool-Aid, after all. Nothing will wake up that Rat Fink-looking demon in us faster than 6,000 RPM and climbing out of dual exhaust. But we’ve got experience with other options that leave us wondering if that’s the only way to look at things. Look at Buddy Ingersoll’s Regal from the 1980s…thirty-plus years ago, easily half the size of the typical engine in Pro Stock, and he kicked ass. Look at the boosted inline sixes from Japan and Australia. Look at how many learned their lesson against a Civic Si that was driven by someone who had no problem whatsoever finding third gear while tickling redline.

The thread is for discussion, not for a poo fight. But be serious…can you say the V8 is the only way in today’s world? Back in the day, we can understand. But what about the now?

By the way, that dragster: Mitsubishi 4G63. Eclipse motor.


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17 thoughts on “BangShift Question Of The Day: Is There Really A Justification For The V8?

  1. PT

    No, v8 is not the only way but… for me , nothing sounds better , 6 cyl are ok , 4 cyl well , can i say annoying ?

  2. Danno

    Yeah, nothing has the instant torque and throttle response of a V8. Smaller motors need turbos to make up for the lack of ci and turbos, no matter how efficient require time to soil up and make power. Combine that with the sound difference snd I will choose the V8 all day long. I have tried watching import drag racing and quite honestly the sound of the cars just turns me off.

  3. jerry z

    I have owned nothing but V8 vehicles since 1996, so to me yes they’re relevant. Driving 4 and 6 cyl cars and trucks but to me nothing beats a V8.

  4. Stu

    Sorry, anything but a V8 sucks. Remember when Nascar mandated the V6 for the Busch Series, they called it the engine of the future. Didn’t last did it, cost teams a whole bunch of money, then they threw them away. They blew up, they hurt your ears, same as todays screaming lawnmowers.

  5. Motor City OG

    Seems a silly question.
    Sure there\’s boosted fours and sixes that make more power than a 426 Hemi, an LS7 Chevy, or a 427 Canned Ford – but at what price? They don\’t hold up like those \”dinosaurs\” did, and add boost and electronic fuel and spark management to those old monsters and one thousand horsepower is easily within reach.
    Then there\’s the bottom end torque of those beasts – NOTHING pastes your butt in the seat like a big inch V8.
    And then there\’s the sound…
    I love the big power fours and sixes are making now, but nothing, and I mean NOTHING else is a V8.

  6. Paul Rees

    I see some dropped out Camaro. Then it takes off, with that sickening sounding 6 kicker chimes in . My first thought is WHY DIDNT HE BUY A V8 .

  7. KCR

    Well not everyone races. If you tow anything you need torque.The only way to do that with less than 8 cylinders is forced induction. And when you add boost to the side of the piston with solvent in it(gas). Not oil like a diesel engine. You will have early wear on the rings and block. And now to make a V-6 act like a well tuned V-8. You need 2 turbos. And what is the cost of a set of replacement turbos,when the bearings wear out,and they will. $4000 -$6000? All in all ,I’ll just keep driving my powerful,user friendly,great towing,low maintenance bad ass sounding V-8.

  8. claymore

    We are witnessing the demise of Bangshift when they preach there is no need for a V-8. What madness is this?

  9. chevy hatin' mad geordie

    Here mate try growing up in the UK when the only V8 was the weedy fathead in the Ford Pilot and drag racing hadn’t reached our motoring press let alone our shores. If it ain’t got eight give it some hate!

  10. Ed Shop

    Ask any girlfriend or wife if she likes 4 inches, 6 inches or 8. I bet her \’throaty-sounds\’ better too with an 8. Torque makes her wheelie! Heh-heh. \’Nuff said.

  11. Derrell

    No substitute for cubic inches. Probably easier to make horsepower with less money and maybe more reliable.

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