31st Oct 2011, 15:12

Have you driven a new 4-cylinder car lately? While certainly not as smooth as a V6, they are nothing like the 4-cylinders of the past. The 2.4L in my Camry is anything but thrashy and wheezy. Flooring it from a stop will roast the front tires for several feet, and push it up to 60 in about 9 seconds (very respectable for a car that weighs over 3000 lbs.). Not to mention, when driven conservatively, it will get 37 MPG. I didn't even bother looking at V6 models when I bought my Camry. I drove the 4-cylinder version first, and found it to have more than enough power.

My mother's Honda CR-V also has a 2.4L 4 cylinder in it. It has great low-end torque, and with the added traction of 4WD, it pulls off the line in a flash. The only time I've ever felt it was underpowered was when I traveled to New Hampshire in it. It did struggle slightly to maintain 75 MPH when going up the steep highway inclines. Otherwise, it has plenty of power, and regularly returns 28 MPG.

As for smoothness, well, I've never once felt the engines running in either of these cars. Noise? My Camry doesn't really get loud until about 4000 RPM (and even then, the sound isn't entirely unpleasant. It actually has a fairly decent growl to it.) The CR-V's engine is even quieter than my Camry's, it's always been whisper quiet. It makes hardly any noise even at very high RPMs.

Not to mention maintenance is also far cheaper on a 4-cylinder. Oil capacities are lower (actually all the fluid capacities are lower.) The big thing that gets people today is the cost of a tune-up. On almost all 4-cylinder engines today, the spark plugs are all right on top of the engine, making them extremely easy to replace. For today's V6 engines, the intake manifold plenum is usually covering one bank of spark plugs, and has to be removed in order to change them. Removing the intake plenum is time consuming and costly.

In this day and age of high gas prices and high repair bills, a 4-cylinder engine makes the most sense for most people.

Plus, the turbocharged 4-cylinder in the Sonata makes 274 HP. That beats the 268 a Camry V6 puts out, and the 271 in an Accord V6. V6 power and 4-cylinder economy? That's a win-win.

6th Oct 2012, 10:21

I am currently driving a 2012 Sonata loaner. I take back the negative comments about 4-cylinder engines. This thing really has some get up and go to it. The low-end torque from this 2.4 is amazing. I'll admit, I was wrong.