When this question popped into my head recently, I quickly realized there would likely be a delightfully broad spectrum of answers.
The largest displacement engine I have owned was the 460 cubic inch (7.5 liter) V8 in my 1975 Ford Thunderbird. While defanged due to pollution controls, it still pumped out a terrific amount of torque and was simply unfazed my hills of any nature.
As for operating, I briefly drove a Kenworth T-800 road tractor around my office complex one Friday afternoon. It was rated at 475 horsepower or thereabouts, so it’s likely in the 15 liter range.
So, what is the largest displacement internal combustion engine you have operated? Better still, what was it in?
7.0 Liter V8 in a 1979 Cadillac Deville D’Elegance I bought for $500 at a hotel that rents rooms by the hour.
Did you end up selling that car? I remember seeing it over on TTAC at one point.
I’m a locomotive guy, so:
GE 7FDL-16
ALCO 16-251 (688 cu in per cyl)
EMD 16-645
Cadillac 500 in my buddy’s Eldorado
Hmm back up gen at work is a 1640 Cu in Cat I’ve run that a few times.
Ran a GE 44 tonner locomotive back when I used to volunteer at a rail museum looks like that’s 2 x 1662 cu in.
GE quarter pounder locomotive looks like it had a 885 Cu in Cummins (I know it was a cummins)
I’ve run some 11L Cummins equipped boats and some old 6v92 and 8v92 equipped ones as well.
Run a few 502 powered boats, Outerlimits and Fountain that’s likely the largest gas engines I’ve run.
The 460 in my dad’s 1972 Lincoln Continental sedan (a demonstrator bought from a friend who was a dealer; he’d sold Pontiacs before, and we bought many of those; this was our only Lincoln). Very quiet and very powerful. I believe 1972 was the first year that engine was designed to run on regular fuel instead of premium. I drove the car 10 or 20 times between 1974 and ’77, when too many issues developed (driver’s armrest falling off, for example) and it was replaced by a ’77 Chrysler New Yorker; lovely body, but the Lean Burn 440 was a real dog of an engine.
The largest displacement car I have ever driven was a Cadillac 500. The torque of that car made it immune to hills, and in typical GM fashion of the era, it loved to cruise at 65 mph. There was no hill that would cause it to downshift with the cruise control engaged.
281 Modular in a Town Car, being only 18 means I have not had the pleasure of driving as many cars compared to most people on this website
Cat 3406 in a 1988 Freightliner semi
My personal record is very modest: 350 cu.in (the 5.7 Vortec in my Tahoe) but for a European, that’s not that bad 🙂
1976 Buick park ave. Limited. My moms car in the early 90’s
455 with a Rochester four barrel carb. I miss that old barge
But the turbo diesel 6 in the old R11’s I drove for the Airforce might have been a bigger displacement
4100cc (250 Cid) straight six, runs In my Ford Falcon XB.
This is the maximun today.
For many years, was the 2300cc TD, installed In my Opel Omega A2, oe Capri II 2300, that still own
That’s a great question;
– Truck: Cummins NHC 250 (14 Litre) in a M-939 6X6 5 ton.
– Car: Olds 455 in a 68 Delta 88 (I think it had as much torque as the Cummins…..)
9.6L Volvo HD100 in a Volvo B58 bus.
Cat C15, in a D8 and 740 rock truck.
Biggest diesel engine driven, DT466 7.6L diesel in an International S1900 straight truck with a reefer body. Biggest gas engine driven, mid-70s Lincoln 460, 7.5L displacement. Largest engine owned, 92 Buick Roadmonster, 5.7L, largest 6 cylinder engine owned, 95 Jaguar XJ6, 4.0L inline six, largest 4 cylinder engine, 1990 Nissan Stanza, 2.4L.
Biggest on-road vehicle I’ve owned would be my old 7.3l Powerstroke F250.
Biggest off-road diesel would be a Cat D11T. Biggest off-road gasoline-powered vehicle would be the four-engined B-17 Flying Fortess (.3 hours, and the first entry in my logbook!).
Biggest petrol motor I have driven in the United States goes to the 8.1-litre Vortec 8100 L18 in Silverado. Biggest in Europe is the current generation Bentley Mulsanne with its ‘six and three-quarter litre’ V8 motor.
Biggest diesel motor in the US is Ford 7.3-litre Powerstroke motor. Biggest in Europe is a torquey 4.5-litre V8 in Toyota Land Cruiser (one of the best diesel V8 motors I have ever driven).
Suzuki Swift 3 pot non turbo. 55mpg at 65mph.
Alright, I’ll just go sit out back.
Operated: ’67 Lincoln Continental with a 430 or 460-don’t remember what was correct for that year. Lost the brakes coming down a large hill on Route 10 in Wayne, NJ one stormy day. Amazingly they came back right before I killed a brand-new Chevy S-10 Blazer.
Owned: My ever-fabulous and much missed 1966 Ford Galaxie 500 convertible, 390 2v, Cruise-O-Matic, black with a red interior, power white top that never operated under power, 71-ish Torino wheels, terrible single master drums, fantastic power steering, no other power options. Miss it every day. That thing hauled and got amazingly good gas mileage for what it was.
12,900 c.i., an ElectroMotive V20 645E3 engine in an SD45 locomotive.
That’s ONE locomotive. Does multiple-unit operation…several locomotives operated together simultaneously…count as multiples of that?
ElectroMotive made a V20 version of its 710 engine (14,200 c.i.), too, but it didn’t sell well to the railroads. It was still made for stationary and marine use when the company was sold by General Motors, but I’m not sure current owner Caterpillar has continued it.
JD 7810: 8.1L PowerTech I6 making around 167 hp. The 7.6 in the 8300 is both more powerful and more refined, but not as satisfying on a primal level.
Operated: International DT466 from my days in the Armored Car business
Owned: 400 CID B-Block in my ’78 Chrysler Cordoba.
Largest would be the 6.8L V10 in a Ford F-650 rental truck (also the largest vehicle I’ve operated). My grandmother’s Grand Marquis with Ford 460 was gone before I was old enough to drive.
Smallest? A single-cylinder Briggs & Stratton, bane of my adolescent lawn-mowing existence. 😉 (I suspect many of us would have the same answer for that one.)
Biggest owned: 542 stroker Cadillac.
Biggest driven, truck: mid-80’s Mack R-model concrete mixer truck, 728ci (12 litre) Mack diesel. 250HP, IIRC, 5-speed main with a 20-speed auxiliary gearbox, 24″ wheels with tube tires, steel springs all around, and a, top end of about 50MPH loaded. Unlike some, the one I drove had power steering.
Biggest driven, bus: 1998 MCI with 12.7 litre Detroit Series 60. It was 500HP and no governor from the factory, but dropped to 350HP and 75MPH after the company’s safety manager got a speeding ticket.
Honorable mention, bus: 1962 GMC PD4106 with 8V71T and 4-speed manual. I loved driving that one! Despite only 275HP, it would pace the 400HP coaches up any grade. (It was much lighter.)