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Northstar 4.6L V-8
The Northstar 4.6L DOHC V-8, making its second consecutive appearance on the Ward's Best Engines list, has become symbolic of the engineering muscle GM brings to bear when it's of a mind to do so. The Northstar remains a state-of-the-art engine design and the most powerful engine available in a domestic luxury car.
Major service intervals of 100,000 miles (161,000 km) are augmented for 1996 with the addition of GM's new Dex-Cool coolant, which the automaker says is also good for 100,000 miles. In fact, the Northstar sometimes doesn't need Dex-Cool at all: one of the engine's most intriguing design features is its "limp home" mode that converts some of the cylinders to air pumps, keeping the all-aluminum Northstar cool enough to drive if all coolant is lost.
Sam Winegarden, Northstar chief engineer, says not much has been needed to keep the Northstar updated. "We went from a speed-density engine control system to a mass-airflow system (for 1996). This gives us refinement in the emissions-control and fuel-economy system," he says. The engine exhaust note also has been slightly retuned for 1996, and the Northstar's availability has been extended to the standard DeVille -- meaning every front-drive Cadillac now enjoys a Northstar powertrain.
The only driveability aspect that puts a slight hitch in the Northstar's otherwise outstanding performance is a slightly cranky idle quality and what some editors believe is an annoying amount of torque steer when the tractive force of 300 hp tries to fight its way through the front wheels. Wheelspin itself is never a problem, of course, thanks to the Northstar's slick and quick integrated traction control.
Members of the 1996 Best Engines panel were once again seduced by the Northstar's stunning power and generously broad torque curve. "Highway passing power is phenomenal," notes one staffer. "The STS hammers past slowpokes as if they're moving backwards. And nothing can stay with it if you want to keep your foot down."
Mr. Winegarden says the Northstar will continue as GM's "flagship" engine. "We're going to refine it, make the small, subtle changes that'll improve the already exceptional NVH, reliability and fuel economy." We also can look forward to a V-6 version of the Northstar to debut in 1997.
next...
Ford 4.6L V-8
Last year, Ford Motor Co. barely missed making our Best Engines list with its 4.6L DOHC V-8. A natural competitor to GM's Northstar and BMW's 4L V-8, not all the Ward's testers were sufficiently impressed by the Mark VIII -- at the time the only package offering the DOHC version of the modular V-8 -- and some believed this high-tech engine should deliver more than the "mild" 260 hp in the standard Mark.
Ford's changed that this year with a high-specification, 305-hp 4.6L for the 1996 Mustang Cobra. Reworked intake plumbing with long and short runners that provide for maximum torque and volumetric efficiency and a low-restriction exhaust are the primary power-enhancing tricks over SOHC versions of the 4.6L.
But that doesn't include all the exquisite details, like oval-shaped valve springs that save a minuscule amount of weight over round springs, or the elaborate engineering at the engine's bottom end -- the sort of stuff that would make an Indycar engine builder squeal with rapture.
The fun part of the exercise is that the Ford guys have managed to make this overhead cam engine throw the power down in the tradition of pushrod-packing musclecars of the past. It doesn't hurt that the Cobra comes agunnin' with a 5-speed manual transmission -- the first such coupling for the modular V-8 -- but engineers even changed the manifold's air intake to make this engine sound more like a ponycar should. "Titanic in all speed ranges," said the 4.6L's logbook, "this ultra-sophisticated engine in a ponycar is pure magic."
Non-hotrodders needn't despair, as Ford's also seen fit to apply some of the Cobra engine mods to make a 280-hp Mark VIII this year, de-mothballing the LSC designation for the new, higher-powered Mark. But it's the righteous 305-hp Cobra engine that swings Ford's all-aluminum modular V-8 onto 1996's Best Engines list.
Don't know what my opinion is...I would sway towards the Northstar...
Northstar 4.6L V-8
The Northstar 4.6L DOHC V-8, making its second consecutive appearance on the Ward's Best Engines list, has become symbolic of the engineering muscle GM brings to bear when it's of a mind to do so. The Northstar remains a state-of-the-art engine design and the most powerful engine available in a domestic luxury car.
Major service intervals of 100,000 miles (161,000 km) are augmented for 1996 with the addition of GM's new Dex-Cool coolant, which the automaker says is also good for 100,000 miles. In fact, the Northstar sometimes doesn't need Dex-Cool at all: one of the engine's most intriguing design features is its "limp home" mode that converts some of the cylinders to air pumps, keeping the all-aluminum Northstar cool enough to drive if all coolant is lost.
Sam Winegarden, Northstar chief engineer, says not much has been needed to keep the Northstar updated. "We went from a speed-density engine control system to a mass-airflow system (for 1996). This gives us refinement in the emissions-control and fuel-economy system," he says. The engine exhaust note also has been slightly retuned for 1996, and the Northstar's availability has been extended to the standard DeVille -- meaning every front-drive Cadillac now enjoys a Northstar powertrain.
The only driveability aspect that puts a slight hitch in the Northstar's otherwise outstanding performance is a slightly cranky idle quality and what some editors believe is an annoying amount of torque steer when the tractive force of 300 hp tries to fight its way through the front wheels. Wheelspin itself is never a problem, of course, thanks to the Northstar's slick and quick integrated traction control.
Members of the 1996 Best Engines panel were once again seduced by the Northstar's stunning power and generously broad torque curve. "Highway passing power is phenomenal," notes one staffer. "The STS hammers past slowpokes as if they're moving backwards. And nothing can stay with it if you want to keep your foot down."
Mr. Winegarden says the Northstar will continue as GM's "flagship" engine. "We're going to refine it, make the small, subtle changes that'll improve the already exceptional NVH, reliability and fuel economy." We also can look forward to a V-6 version of the Northstar to debut in 1997.
next...
Ford 4.6L V-8
Last year, Ford Motor Co. barely missed making our Best Engines list with its 4.6L DOHC V-8. A natural competitor to GM's Northstar and BMW's 4L V-8, not all the Ward's testers were sufficiently impressed by the Mark VIII -- at the time the only package offering the DOHC version of the modular V-8 -- and some believed this high-tech engine should deliver more than the "mild" 260 hp in the standard Mark.
Ford's changed that this year with a high-specification, 305-hp 4.6L for the 1996 Mustang Cobra. Reworked intake plumbing with long and short runners that provide for maximum torque and volumetric efficiency and a low-restriction exhaust are the primary power-enhancing tricks over SOHC versions of the 4.6L.
But that doesn't include all the exquisite details, like oval-shaped valve springs that save a minuscule amount of weight over round springs, or the elaborate engineering at the engine's bottom end -- the sort of stuff that would make an Indycar engine builder squeal with rapture.
The fun part of the exercise is that the Ford guys have managed to make this overhead cam engine throw the power down in the tradition of pushrod-packing musclecars of the past. It doesn't hurt that the Cobra comes agunnin' with a 5-speed manual transmission -- the first such coupling for the modular V-8 -- but engineers even changed the manifold's air intake to make this engine sound more like a ponycar should. "Titanic in all speed ranges," said the 4.6L's logbook, "this ultra-sophisticated engine in a ponycar is pure magic."
Non-hotrodders needn't despair, as Ford's also seen fit to apply some of the Cobra engine mods to make a 280-hp Mark VIII this year, de-mothballing the LSC designation for the new, higher-powered Mark. But it's the righteous 305-hp Cobra engine that swings Ford's all-aluminum modular V-8 onto 1996's Best Engines list.
Don't know what my opinion is...I would sway towards the Northstar...
