Ram, GM, and Ford are keeping the V8 alive
Automakers are responding with new and revived V8-powered trucks and performance cars, betting that Americans' appetite for big vehicles still has plenty of runway.
If Americans truly prefer big vehicles, then repeal the Chicken Tax. If US auto mfgs are correct about the American preference for big vehicles is accurate, then the flood of smaller imports would sit unsold on the lot and profit would continue to grow.
https://www.businessinsider.com/v8-engine-revival-american-automakers-investment-2026-1Open linkView original on lemmy.ml
4 replies
¯_(ツ)_/¯
The V8 configuration is just a really good engine configuration. It's much better balanced than a V6 and smoother than an inline 6.
You can make them any size you please. I had a bike with a 500cc V4: standard, straight from factory. Anybody could make a 2.2l V8 instead of a designinf it as a 4 cylinder boxer. Boxers are cheaper, though, and the people buying them tend to not know much about cars, so there's no incentive. The only people still buying V8's are people that want lots of power at low rpms and you'll never convince them to buy anything else.
electrics have even more power at low rpms but i don't think people who get huge v8 engines on their cars would be lining up for them.
That is true about electric engines. I imagine it comes down to cost and aprehension about trusting a different kind of technology.
This is one if those last gasp things where old tech has the odd last minute resurgence, before being consigned to vintage car shows. As more and more people prefer the latest technology, and don't want out of date, old tech dumped on them for stock clearance. Old fossil huggers will eventually die and their kids won't know what to do with those funny old, complicated, vintage contraptions that you can't get stuff for anymore. This is always how it goes in a transition period. Dragged out longer by corrupt old grifters.