Help Me Out With Highest Naturally Aspirated Engine Specific Outputs, Please

by "Wobbles the Mind" (wobblesthemind)
Published 04/04/2017 at 22:20

Tags: Engine PWR
STARS: 3

I’m messing around with finding out which cars had the highest specific outputs for a naturally aspirated engine inside a production car. Would you all chime in, please? I started this when I realized V6 engines have been pushed crazy far with forced induction but NA hasn’t really done much. I’ll have to look into some NA 3-cyl vehicles.

Summary for now. I just did naturally aspirated engines in production cars that I could think of off the top of my head, so feel free to add and correct:

Flat 4 - 102.5 hp/L (BRZ/86)

Inline 4 - 123.5 hp/L (S2000)

V6 - 94.59 hp/L (370Z)

Straight 6 - 112.5 hp/L (M3)

Flat 6 - 125 hp/L (911 GT3)

V8 - 132.67 hp/L (458)

V10 - 117.31 hp/L (R8)

V12 - 122.06 hp/L (F12)

S2000 still has the meanest production car 4-cylinder I can think of. The 2.0L I4 makes 237 hp (US/Eur) meaning 118.5 hp/L. The 247 hp (JDM) version placed the specific output at 123.5 hp/L.

Whether you pick a 911 GT3 with the 3.8L H8 rated at 475 hp or the 4.0L H8 rated at 500 hp you will end up with a specific output of 125 hp/L.

Ferrari 458 used a 4.5L V8 making 562 hp and eventually 570 hp (that means 124.89 hp/L and 126.67 hp/L) while the Speciale hit 597 hp (132.67 hp/L).

Audi R8 V10 plus uses a 5.2L V10 making 610 hp which puts it up to 117.31 hp/L. Kind of boring compared to the S2000.

The Ferrari F12tdf has a 6.3L V12 rated at 769 hp so we are talking about 122.06 hp/L.

Everything else I’m just guessing with until I hear otherwise. Give me those I3, I5, and whatever else you got.

Thank you, Oppo

***Im heading to sleep right now. Ill update after everyone has thrown their hat into the ring. Thanks again!

Replies (32)

"e36Jeff now drives a ZHP" (e36jeff)
04/04/2017 at 22:20, STARS: 1

I6 - S54B32HP from e46 M3 CSL, 360hp from 3.2L engine for 112.5 hp/L

V8 - Ariel Atom 500, 500hp from 3.0L - 166.7hp/L

"Wobbles the Mind" (wobblesthemind)
04/04/2017 at 22:23, STARS: 0

Sweet, got it!

"AM3R, lost another burner" (am3r17)
04/04/2017 at 22:32, STARS: 0

I’ve been thinking about S2000's all day... I think I need to start shopping.

"e36Jeff now drives a ZHP" (e36jeff)
04/04/2017 at 22:34, STARS: 1

I think you might have missed the V8 update. to be honest I didnt know about the atom 500 either.

"AkursedX" (akursedx)
04/04/2017 at 22:36, STARS: 0

Mazda RX8-237hp out of 1.3l I think thats 182.3hp/l.

"Wobbles the Mind" (wobblesthemind)
04/04/2017 at 22:37, STARS: 0

I’ll update everything in the morning that way Im not jumping back and forth since I do all my posting on a tiny mobile phone.

"ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)" (adabofoppo)
04/04/2017 at 22:37, STARS: 0

Don’t forget the V16.

The Cizetta V16 is probably the one to look at.

"Wobbles the Mind" (wobblesthemind)
04/04/2017 at 22:41, STARS: 0

Ill check it out. If anyone has V4, I3, I5, W12, W16 and any other naturally aspirated engines inside of a production car then let me know!

"Wobbles the Mind" (wobblesthemind)
04/04/2017 at 22:43, STARS: 1

I was waiting on this one but didnt want to take all the fun out of it. When you think about that kind of power density the reliability and maintenance is pretty reasonable!

"Die-Trying" (die-trying)
04/04/2017 at 22:43, STARS: 0

ford 427 sohc, 657 horsepower with dual four-barrel carburetors

"Trunk Impaired 318" (matteocscaptura)
04/04/2017 at 22:46, STARS: 0

To be fair the Ariel Atom V8 is just two bike engines.

And if we’re going that route the HP/L numbers are going to almost double. Off the top of my head the BMW HP4 makes 193HP from 999cc, and I wouldnt be surprised if there’s other bikes with higher specific outputs.

"ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)" (adabofoppo)
04/04/2017 at 22:48, STARS: 0

Passat W8

"e36Jeff now drives a ZHP" (e36jeff)
04/04/2017 at 22:54, STARS: 0

Thats 6.9L, its below 100hp/L by a bit, and the HP is probably gross, which was a blatant lie about how much power it really makes.

"e36Jeff now drives a ZHP" (e36jeff)
04/04/2017 at 22:55, STARS: 0

The Atom is absolutly two bike engines, but the only restriction is that it was in a car, be a production car, and n/a. the atom 500 is a car, it was sold from the manufacturer as such, and its engine is n/a, hence it qualifies.

"HammerheadFistpunch" (hammerheadfistpunch)
04/04/2017 at 22:56, STARS: 0

except it acts [consumes as much air] as a 2.6 liter in principle for 91.15 hp/l

"e36Jeff now drives a ZHP" (e36jeff)
04/04/2017 at 22:56, STARS: 0

V-12 - La Ferrari, 789hp from 6.3L V12 - 125.3 hp/L

"AkursedX" (akursedx)
04/04/2017 at 22:57, STARS: 0

Yeah, it’s a bit unfair comparing it to traditional piston engines, but it’s still worth noting as far as naturally aspirated is concerned.

"If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent" (essextee)
04/04/2017 at 23:00, STARS: 0

If you can call it a production car (only 15 made) the Zonda R made 740hp out of a 6 liter V12, so 123.3 hp/l

"Die-Trying" (die-trying)
04/04/2017 at 23:00, STARS: 0

well, it IS a naturally aspirated car engine, AS produced. so there is that.......oh, and its from 1964.

"e36Jeff now drives a ZHP" (e36jeff)
04/04/2017 at 23:14, STARS: 2

yeah, but he’s looking for higest specific output by engine type, and a ‘60's era V8 is going to fall painfully short in that category compared to modern super/hypercars.

"Die-Trying" (die-trying)
04/04/2017 at 23:20, STARS: 0

didnt realize this was going to be a per litre thing. hows about the 302 chevy small block at 432.......

"Die-Trying" (die-trying)
04/04/2017 at 23:27, STARS: 0

yeah, i didnt realize that it was a hp per litre thing, but i went and dragged out some more ancient lump of iron. the sbc z28 302. was gonna try and say the 327 “super stocker” by bill jenkins, at 650-ish hp, but that might be reaching/stretching a bit.......

"Die-Trying" (die-trying)
04/04/2017 at 23:51, STARS: 0

and dont forget about the wankel rotary. 126 hp out of 1.3 litres na thats a 2 cyl engine right?

"Autofixation" (Autofixation)
04/05/2017 at 00:28, STARS: 0

The F series in the S2000 barely edges out the Nissan SR16VE N1 1.6 liter making 197 horsepower which puts it at 123.43 hp./L. So yeah, Honda still wins, but only just.

"Decay buys too many beaters" (decay)
04/05/2017 at 00:39, STARS: 0

Aww that’s cute. 200hp per liter.

"ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)" (adabofoppo)
04/05/2017 at 15:44, STARS: 0

Cizeta claims 540 HP. Though, El wiki says that that engine is really only two Urraco V8s shairing a block and not a normal V16. I’d call it close enough.

"ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)" (adabofoppo)
04/05/2017 at 15:51, STARS: 0

VW W8 had 271 bhp.

"e36Jeff now drives a ZHP" (e36jeff)
04/05/2017 at 17:53, STARS: 0

I2 - BMW i3 REX, 647cc 60hp, 92.7 hp/L

I3 - Honda E07A (MTREC), 656cc 63hp, 96 hp/L

I5 -Fiat Marea - 2.0L 180 hp, 90hp/L

"briannutter1" (briannutter1)
04/05/2017 at 18:18, STARS: 0

This isn’t really so much a (multiply) cylinder thing. That just shows lack of manufacturer give-a-shit. Per cylinder is a key anyone can throw more cylinders at the problem

Honda F20c owned it for a while. Ferrari 458 and Mustang Coyote Benchmarked it. Still not a good indicator for moving a car with street gearing and rpm limitations.

Bmep is harder to achieve and therefore more impressive to me.

"ThePenguin" (ThatOtherGuy7)
04/05/2017 at 18:33, STARS: 0

What is bmep?

"briannutter1" (briannutter1)
04/05/2017 at 20:00, STARS: 0

Break mean effective pressure. Torque per cube

"bhtooefr" (bhtooefr)
04/06/2017 at 09:20, STARS: 0

And the Atom 500 is supercharged, so not naturally aspirated.