Japanese Four-Cylinder Engine Is So Reliable Still in Production After 25 Years
23 comments
·December 4, 2025bluedino
officeplant
I have a feeling GM is going to keep making pushrod v8's until the eventual death of the internal combustion engine.
potato3732842
Someone will, because it's a useful form factor. And that someone is gonna be the people who are the experts in it, which is pretty strongly arguably GM.
kleiba
I don't think that lack of reliability is the key factor for why new motors are still being developed. Fuel efficiency or changing emission standards are two points that come to mind that drive further optimizations.
bombcar
The "Mopar 318" (Chrysler LA engine) lasted almost 40 years: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_LA_engine
stockresearcher
Land Rover bought the rights to use an aluminum V8 that GM/Buick developed in 1960 and it remained in production until 2006.
coredog64
True, but they wore out the casting infrastructure and probably should have stopped in 2001
Lio
When I was a kid I wanted a classic Mini with a transplanted Honda K-Series engine.
It's a big engine for that little car but I'd completely forgotten about them over the years.
It's wild that people are still doing this: https://potentialmotorsport.com/
I might have to reserect that dream. :D
jacquesm
The torque steer on those things is unbelievable, they are really unsafe but a lot of fun. I drove one that had 'only' 160 HP according to the owner and it was incredible. Cars like that will get you shrinkwrapped but you will be smiling...
ceejayoz
> Cars like that will get you shrinkwrapped…
Well that's an evocative term I've not seen before, lol.
Lio
I have a feeling it's one of those things, like owning a Capri 2.8i or one of the really old school 911 Turbos, that is better left to fantasy for me.
I love the idea but I'm a pretty rubbish driver and would probably end up getting myself into trouble.
...would be fun though!
alexey-salmin
Toyota 5A was in production 1987–2006, and IIRC was licensed to Chinese manufacturers afterwards. The A series as a whole lasted 1978–2006. Less modern than Honda K, but these were lovely engines. They just won't fail as long as you replace parts on time.
stockresearcher
One of the interesting quirks of the Honda K-series is that it spins “backwards”. If you try to mate one to a different transmission (or try to mate a different engine to a K-series transmission), it’s going to give you, uh, interesting results! Lots of people found out the hard way when they used their Fast & Furious inspiration to do JDM swaps :)
ianschmitz
You’re thinking of a couple of the older Honda series of engine. K series spin the conventional direction.
officeplant
Funny considering the K20A1 started off with a dogshit reputation and chain tensioner issues just like the F-series engines in the S2000 that honda refused to learn from.
But thanks to aftermarket support you can get third party parts to fix any issue with the K-series, and even see people turbocharging to get them north of 1,200hp. We've got a local guy with a k-swapped Acura NSX that is an absolute monster of a car.
cobalt60
So are the staright sixes from BMW. Running one generation behind B58.
Barathkanna
I was flabbergasted driving a 2023 Honda Civic Sport during a trip to Thailand, easily one of the best-balanced cars I’ve driven. Makes me wonder if that model is using the same engine they’re talking about here
tmerc
Depends on the engine. They had an option for a turbo 1.5l l15 and a 2l k20. Plus a few others I don't know were offered in usdm. No idea about Thailand but if it wasn't a 2 liter, I think it was not a k series.
In a very niche form of motorsport, the civic sport is top in class for a lower tier Street class with the SI being top of another lower tier Street class.
papercrane
It could've been, but it was probably a turbocharged L-series engine.
jeffbee
Engines used in general aviation have interchangeable parts from almost 100 years ago. You could warp a Lycoming engine mechanic in from 1942 using your time traveling phone booth and he'd be able to fix your 172 of any vintage.
GM/Chevrolet are still making small-block 350 engines, they started in the 1950's
https://www.gmperformancemotor.com/parts/19433032.html