Inline four-cylinder engines are inherently unbalanced, however skillful design and correctly balanced and counterweighted crankshafts mix with smooth engine mountings to make trendy four-pot fashions of refinement and civility. Supplied the reciprocating plenty are pretty low and the stroke not too lengthy, they are often very easy. However large-capacity four-cylinders are historically coarse and susceptible to vibration, as a result of the heavier unbalanced rotating meeting then turns into fairly apparent.
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As a result of the pistons transfer in pairs in reverse instructions, these engines’ major steadiness is ideal, however their second-order steadiness isn’t attributable to the acceleration and deceleration of the pistons through the prime half of the crankshaft’s rotation, exceeding the values in comparison with when the pistons are within the backside half of rotation. Even with balancer shafts to quell these imbalances, there’s a restrict to how huge you can also make a four-pot. Let’s have a look at the largest-capacity ones presently obtainable in common vehicles and vans.
To make this a wise checklist, we chosen solely fuel engines obtainable in common passenger vehicles, SUVs, and vans, not diesel engines, which are sometimes of huge displacement for his or her cylinder rely, corresponding to the two.8L Duramax four-cylinder in some GM merchandise. The truth is, many diesel engines in common pickup vans used worldwide have 4 cylinders and will be over 3.0L in capability, so we don’t embrace any of them. All of the engines on this checklist can be found on the American market in new automobiles in the present day.
10 Mitsubishi 4B12 2.4L
Engine Capability: 2,360 cc
Engine Configuration
2.4L NA hybrid I4
Horsepower
131 hp fuel 248 hp PHEV
Torque
144 lb-ft
Noteworthy Purposes
Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV
Manner again in 2002, Chrysler, Mitsubishi, and Hyundai based the International Engine Alliance three way partnership, from which was born a household of 1.8L-2.4L chain-drive inline four-cylinder engines individually developed and utilized by the separate manufacturers. The final Tigershark 2.4L Jeep variant disappeared with the 2023 Cherokee’s discontinuation, however evolutions of the remainder survive right here and there, most popularly as a turbocharged 2.0L. The one huge one – the naturally aspirated 2.4L – left is the one within the 2025 Mitsubishi Outlander plug-in hybrid presently on sale within the US, the place it’s utilized in low-output Atkinson Cycle format, although common variations with direct injection developed as a lot as 200 hp in some Hyundais.
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9 Subaru FA24 2.4L
Engine Capability: 2,387 cc
Engine Configuration
2.4L NA/turbocharged I4
Horsepower
228-260 hp
Torque
184-277 lb-ft
Noteworthy Purposes
Subaru Outback, BRZ, Toyota GR86.
Subaru makes its 2.4L boxer four-cylinder in high-revving naturally aspirated format for the Subaru BRZ/Toyota GR86 sports activities vehicles and with a turbocharger for greater crossovers such because the Outback. The large capability is hardly noticeable, even with the excessive revs of the naturally aspirated model, as a boxer engine is so significantly better balanced than an inline four-cylinder. As you’ll see, a few of the greater engines on this checklist are additionally boxers.
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8 Toyota Dynamic Drive T24A 2.4L
Engine Capability: 2,393 cc
Engine Configuration
2.4L turbocharged I4
Horsepower
228-278 hp
Torque
243-339 lb-ft
Noteworthy Purposes
Toyota Highlander, Tacoma, Crown, Lexus NX, TX.
The household of long-stroke Dynamic Drive engines from Toyota now embrace many configurations, from the common naturally aspirated 2.5L and turbocharged 2.4L four-cylinders on this checklist to the turbo-I3 within the GR Corolla and the three.4L twin-turbo V6 in lots of Lexus fashions. The two.4L talked about right here is turbocharged and normally used along side a hybrid system in vehicles just like the Highlander, Tacoma, and Crown, and lots of Lexus fashions. A characteristic of the Dynamic Drive engines is that they’ve twin (port and direct) gasoline injection.
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7 Toyota Dynamic Drive A25 2.5L
Engine Capability: 2,487 cc
Engine Configuration
2.5L NA I4
Horsepower
174-207 hp
Torque
162-186 lb-ft
Noteworthy Purposes
Toyota Camry, RAV4, RAV4 PHEV, Crown HEV, Lexus ES, NX.
The largest Dynamic Drive four-cylinder is the two.5L, and Toyota has stored the bore small to assist combustion effectivity, so it has a really lengthy stroke, and is understood for being coarse and never very refined, as is pretty typical of a big-four engine. With pure aspiration, it places out simply over 200 hp within the typical fuel Camry, nevertheless it’s additionally generally used as a part of HEV and PHEV preparations, some with over 300 hp. The lower-output Atkinson Cycle variations develop lower than 180 hp and are solely used along side hybrid drive.
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6 Mazda SkyActive-G 2.5L
Engine Capability: 2,488 cc
Engine Configuration
2.5L NA/turbocharged I4
Horsepower
191-250 hp
Torque
188-320 lb-ft
Noteworthy Purposes
Mazda 3, CX-30, CX-50.
When Mazda developed its direct-injected SkyActiv-G engine, it retained the bore and stroke geometry of the previous L 2.5L engine for the two.5L SkyActive-G, nevertheless it’s fairly a refined engine, contemplating the lengthy stroke typical of recent designs. Mazda’s greatest 4 is utilized in virtually all its vehicles, from the hatchback and sedan Mazda 3s to the CX-30 and CX-50 crossovers, in both naturally aspirated or turbocharged type.
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5 Ford Duratec 2.5L
Engine Capability: 2,488 cc
Engine Configuration
2.5L NA HEV I4
Horsepower
163 hp fuel 192-266 hp HEV
Torque
155 lb-ft
Noteworthy Purposes
Ford Escape HEV/PHEV, Maverick PHEV, Lincoln Corsair PHEV
We’ve talked about earlier than how most Ford four-pots during the last 20 years or so are descendents of the Mazda L engine, however most of them are the turbocharged variations of the two.0L and a couple of.3L. That is the one surviving naturally aspirated Duratec 2.5L – the biggest capability this engine household got here in. At the moment, it’s solely used within the Ford Escape and Lincoln Corsair hybrid fashions, with pure aspiration and operating the Atkinson Cycle.
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4 Nissan PR25DD 2.5L
Engine Capability: 2,488 cc
Engine Configuration
2.5L NA I4
Horsepower
181-188 hp
Torque
180-181 lb-ft
Noteworthy Purposes
Nissan Altima, Mitsubishi Outlander
Sure, Nissan nonetheless makes a naturally aspirated big-four engine, however a lot of the vehicles the PR25DD naturally aspirated unit had been utilized in are actually useless, with solely two remaining within the US – the growing older Nissan Altima sedan and Nissan’s alliance accomplice Mitsubishi’s Outlander.
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3 Porsche MA2.22 2.5L
Engine Capability: 2,497 cc
Engine Configuration
2.5L turbocharged H4
Horsepower
350 hp
Torque
309 lb-ft
Noteworthy Purposes
Porsche Cayman/Boxster S
One of many greatest four-pots on sale is a boxer engine made by Porsche. It’s the 718 Cayman/Boxster 2.5L fitted to the Cayman and Boxster S fashions. With a excessive rev restrict of seven,500 rpm and loads of enhance, it generates 140 hp per liter and may get the quickest model of the automobile during which it’s put in to 60 mph in 4 seconds.
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2 Subaru FB25 2.5L
Engine Capability: 2,498 cc
Engine Configuration
2.5L turbocharged H4
Horsepower
180-182 hp
Torque
176-178 lb-ft
Noteworthy Purposes
Subaru Crosstrek, Outback, Forester.
The second-biggest four-cylinder on sale is a boxer – Subaru’s FB25, which does obligation in lots of Subarus presently on sale. It’s a contemporary direct-injected engine with good gasoline financial system, and the cams are chain-driven.
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1 GM L3B 2.7L
Engine Capability: 2,727 cc
Engine Configuration
2.7L turbocharged I4
Horsepower
237-325 hp
Torque
259-430 lb-ft
Noteworthy Purposes
Chevrolet Colorado/Silverado 1500, Traverse, GMC Canyon/Sierra 1500, Acadia, Cadillac CT4
For the previous six years or so, GM’s L3B four-cylinder has been on sale, and although it’s relatively coarse and unrefined in a few of the sedans it’s used – such because the Cadillac CT4 – it’s acceptably refined within the SUVs and vans that make use of it. It was developed to be a extra environment friendly different to a six-cylinder engine, and with loads of reserve when it comes to sturdiness and tunability. Twin contra-rotating balancer shafts assist it run extra evenly.
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