Top 6 Automobile Manufacturers with High-Displacement Engines

The Power of High-Displacement Engines
Which Company Manufactured the Largest Engine?
Some even Exceeded 10,000cc

With the advancement of technology, today’s vehicle engines can produce a lot of power even with a small displacement. New vehicles equipped with supercharging devices such as turbochargers and hybrid systems are commonly faster than cars with much larger naturally aspirated engines. Although they are not welcomed these days due to strict environmental regulations, high-displacement engines remain a symbol of high performance with a loud exhaust sound.

The largest engine made by a South Korean manufacturer is Hyundai Motor Group‘s Tau engine. It is available in up to 5.0L specifications for mass-produced vehicles and was also installed in the early model of the G90. However, when looking at the largest engines in the history of the automobile industry, Hyundai is not ranked. We have looked at six companies that created the largest vehicle engines ever.

6th place: Chevrolet (8.1L)
5th place: Cadillac (8.2L)

American automobile manufacturers took 4th to 6th place. Chevrolet, ranked 6th, has produced an engine with a capacity of up to 16.5L, although it is not mass-produced. When it comes to mass-produced cars, the big block V8 engine is famous. Various variations range from 5L to larger, the largest of which was the 8.1L specification. The engine was installed in the 2002 model Silverado 2500HD pickup truck.

Cadillac, which is under GM along with Chevrolet, is similar. Before being incorporated into GM, it manufactured its 7.7L engine, and in 1970, an 8.2L engine was installed in the El Dorado. What’s even more surprising is that it chose front-wheel drive rather than rear-wheel drive, which was very common at the time and was advantageous for delivering high power. The maximum output of 400 horsepower was transmitted to the front wheels through a 3-speed automatic transmission. It accelerated from 0 to 60 mph (97 km/h) in 9 seconds and a top speed of 192 km/h (119 mph).

4th place: Dodge (8.4L)
3rd place: Renault (9.1L)

The Dodge Viper, which cannot be left out when discussing large-displacement engines, is equipped with an 8.0L V10 engine developed based on the engine design for commercial vehicles during the Chrysler era. With repeated generation changes, the 8.3L engine was launched in 2003, and the 4th generation, released five years later, was equipped with an 8.4L engine. The last 5th generation, produced from 2013 to 2017, was also equipped with an engine of the same displacement. The maximum output of 640 horsepower and maximum torque of 83kgf.m were transmitted to the rear wheels through a 6-speed manual transmission.

Renault, which recently underwent a rebrand in South Korea, originally made mainly subcompact & compact vehicles, so it may seem surprising that it made such a large engine. However, Renault is an early manufacturer in the automobile industry with 125 years of history. In the past, displacement meant power, and there was a time when competition for high-displacement engines was in full swing. In 1920, Renault installed an in-line 6-cylinder engine with a displacement of 9.1L in the 40CV, its flagship model. This model was a single-seater modified version with a record of driving at an average speed of 174 km/h (108 mph) for 24 hours.

2nd place: Peugeot (11.1L)
1st place: Bugatti (12.8L)

Like Renault, Peugeot, a French company producing few large vehicles, mass-produced engines with a capacity of over 10L; the Type 105 model was created in 1908, earlier than Renault, and the 11.1L in-line 6-cylinder engine was used in that vehicle. The volume per cylinder reached a whopping 1,850cc. Because the Type 105 was so expensive, only 23 units were produced over two years.

First place is Bugatti, which is still famous for having the world’s fastest mass-produced vehicle record. The Type 41, commonly known as Royale, was a monster equipped with an in-line 8-cylinder engine with a displacement of 12.8L. Coincidentally, the 1930s, when the model was released, was the era of the Great Depression, and it is said to have been so expensive that even royalty could not purchase it. Apart from the vehicles, the engines were commercially successful, and the French National Railway purchased several of them and used them as locomotive engines until the late 1950s.