Hacker News Reader

Comment by pmontra | Hacker News Reader

That's a series of engines, not a single model. The FIAT FIRE [1] series has been in production for 36 years from 1985 to 2021 and, maybe you wouldn't expect it from FIAT, those engines were reliable.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fully_Integrated_Robotised_Eng...

View on HN

The Jag XK platform had 45+ year run. I'd bet that as long as the 911 is made, it'll have an inline 6 and to someone's thinking it will be the same platform as the air-cooled version from 1964.

Engine architectures tend to last unless they are bad. They can do a lot on one also, the Toyota GR platform started out as a fairly vanilla V-6 but it has variations with GDI and variations with turbochargers and has been used a lot of different vehicles. A lot of different variations with different levels of compressions and such. It's basically the block and cylinders configuration.

I'll shout out the K-series though, it's a shockingly good platform. Lots of little details have been thought through, it's relatively simple, inexpensive and reliable and maybe one of the easiest engines to work on. If you were new to cars and wanted to start wrenching, the K-series is a pretty good place to start. It can take boost and make power and has lots of aftermarket support. I know civics aren't everyones cup of tea and it's not a big V-8, but I've yet to meet an engineer that isn't at least slightly impressed by the k-series.

Ah man, I owned a Jag XJS with the V12. Nothing on that car was what I'd consider 'normal'. Want to change the brake pads - down the rabbit hole I went. That car was why I own a voltmeter. I was a lot more knowledgeable after that car - smart enough to run, not walk from an XKE opportunity.

The 911 is a flat-six, but I agree with your point wholeheartedly.

> 45+ year run... I'd bet that as long as the 911 is made...

Hardly. The first Porsche 901 came out in 1963 (and was renamed 911 for Peugeot had the right to "901" for car models even though they never used it).

That's 62 years that the 911 exists now.

Heck my 911 Carrera is now 38 years old and it's a late 80s one.

Indeed, long lived engines are not unusual

Chrysler LA - 1964-2003

Ford Windsor 1961-2000

Ford Inline 6 1960-2016

Modular V8 1990-2014

The BMC A Series is another exceptionally long lived one. 1951-2000 in original form, and then licenced by Nissan until 2009.

> Modular V8 1990-2014

Still lives to this day. The 5.0/5.2 engines are modular.

Debatable if the Coyote counts, I chose the conservative answer, even if I would otherwise agree with you

Nissan VQ series, 1994-today

There is zero commonality between a ‘64 911 and a modern 992.

Came here just to rant about the FIRE and the Firefly. The Multijet was also extremely reliable.

Instead, they were tossed aside to promote whatever garbage came out of citroen design centers, i guess to achieve the destruction of stellantis. (except in south america, they still get to use the Firefly)

For a short while we had them in the US, on the Dodge darts and some other Fiat applications. 1.4 + multiair + sometimes turbo.

Great little engine that powered my first car, a 2005 Fiat Uno, made for the Argentinean market in Brazil: 1.4 (1.345L), 8v of reliability.

In the couple years I've owned my (now) 10 year old wee-Fiat I think I've opened the hood once, when I first bought it, just to confirm the engine was actually there. Other than that, what engine?

Probably should pop it open (heh, Fiat Pop, no pun intended) to fix the headlight which has been out for about a year but it was a lot easier to get a (free) veteran's plate than poke around in there and you pretty much have to commit vehicular homicide in front of a cop to get pulled over with a veteran's plates so... I mean, it came with an extra headlight for a reason.

But, yeah, tiny little engine for a tiny little car which does it's job without issue, what's not to love?

I counter you with a Cleon engine[0] with 42 years. ;)

But in the end an engine can be reliable but still be an environmental liability.

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renault_Cl%C3%A9on-Fonte_engin...

I had the first Twingo model with that engine. Sure, reliability was exceptional, and it also felt nice to drive for a low power engine (55 HP). What wasn't exceptional however was fuel economy, which significantly increased the total cost of ownership of a car like the Twingo.

I think the car made it to almost 300000 km with the engine showing barely any sign of wear. Some parts broke down, and there was still regular maintenance, which, combined with poor fuel economy and state subsidies made it not economically viable to keep the car even though it still ran. The newer model we bought later didn't last as long, the engine was good but not as robust, but it was still worth changing because of fuel economy alone.

At no point we considered environmental factors, only cost, but they are tied, since better fuel economy means both lower costs and lower emissions.

So in the end, you we a engine that was reliable for sure but didn't meet modern standards in terms of running costs, emissions and performance. When the Twingo came out, the use of the Cléon-Fonte engine was generally considered a serious downside, and it was changed to the more modern and appropriate "Energy" engine shortly after.

I’ll counter with the jaguar xk engine in production for 43 years.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaguar_XK_engine

I assume the American s will be by with a pushrod v8 soon.

Actually I'll give a V6 instead:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buick_V6_engine

1961-2008.

I had a lot of Minis, so I'll counter with the BMC A-Series: 1951-2000

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMC_A-series_engine

i counter you all with the 70 year legend

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_air-cooled_engine

You win :) That was actually my first engine... would have thought I'd have remembered the Beetle engine.

Ford Kent engine[0] was first produced in 1959 and is still being produced and used in motorsport, so technically it qualifies for a pension now.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Kent_engine

Fiat FIRE engines are reliable workhorses, but they arent cool nor overbuild like K series. You can tune NA K20 to over 250 whp, or 400 whp turbo with _stock_ bottom end. Same reason 2JZ are legendary with stock bottom end good for at least 600 whp.

I’d consider it very bad marketing for Fiat to use the brand ‘FIRE’ for their engine. :)

Meh, GM 3800 had a good 40+ years of production (although some of those years were 3rd party,) I'd take one of those over a FIRE.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com