Killing of the V6... anyone else sad?

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R9UKE
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Killing of the V6... anyone else sad?

Post by R9UKE »

The V6 is disappearing!

As a true petrolhead, I've always been a huge fan of a normal car with a big engine. Cast your mind back 10 years and have a look at the family car class.

The Peugeot 406 and Citroen Xantia were available with a nice 3.0i V6 engine, as was the Renault Laguna. Ford offered a 2.5 V6 in the Ghia X Mondeo which, as with the frenchies, offered luxury and performance combined. They also had the purely sport ST200 Mondeo. Vauxhall also had a 2.5 V6 in the Vectra.

Now today. Say I want a nice peppy petrol engine in my new C5. Oh no wait... 1.6 is as big of a petrol engine I can get. Laguna? 2.0 petrol with a miserable 140 BHP. Ford are all EcoNetic with their petrol engines and Vauxhall saves the day with the Insignia VXR.

Now don't get me wrong, my 3.0 diesel Vel Satis was amazing to drive, but there's something so satisfying about running an unnecessarily large petrol engine. And I know most of you won't agree!

My Espace is a 3.0 V6. It's doing 16 MPG, but I know that it can cope easily when fully laden, and the overtaking power is effortless. It was the same story with my C5 V6. The combination of the silky auto box working with the power of the V6 is unreal.

Then there's the wow factor when you get a passenger taking a ride in what they think is just a regular family car... then the right foot goes down!

It is, to me, a sad reality of modern day life. It is completely understandable that manufacturers cannot produce the thirsty V6 anymore. With people having their minds set on money saving and doing what they can for the planet, there's no place for them. What happens when family man wants a bit of petrol power though?

The good news is that the cars of last decade that I mentioned are now fetching around the £1,000 mark. Time to make the most of these guzzlers before they disappear for good.
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Post by Toby_HDi »

It's true.

First V8s, now V6s. Its a sign of the times and the way people think these days. Of course, some of the premium makers still offer them, but they are mainly German, and far too clinical and have no 'soul'. Even they are becoming fewer.

Don't forget the Vauxhall Omega too, as hateful as it was, V6 RWD.

I won't go into details on my views as to why its happening all I'll say it is utter rubbish. Especially the enviromental concerns, my V6 is more economical than most of my friends farty little japboxes. Torque is your friend :D. So it isn't when I'm enjoying it, but thats the point - I CAN enjoy it when I want to.

Today I spotted an article on the front page of Autocar - "Jaguar's shock new super saloon" or something like that - I thought ooo, then I saw the word electric and immediately lost interest.


All I say is this, I will drive V6s and - when I can afford the insurance, V8s - until they prise them from my cold dead hands.
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Post by Xaccers »

Give me a 3.0l V6 hdi any day if I had to get a V6.
Really not a petrol fan, they're far too quiet for starters, something diesels are unfortunately following suit with :(
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Post by addo »

Petrol? I love burning it! :twisted: Couple of the toys tucked away:

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Post by DickieG »

If you get the chance to drive one of the latest 3.0 6 cylinder diesels take it and be amazed by the sheer grunt available, especially the BMW version which I drive on almost a daily basis at work, the performance is so good I'm left wondering why you'd want any more performance. By comparison my 231bhp petrol 3.0 feels almost flat at lower speeds/rev's.
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Post by evilally »

EU emission regulations are killing off a lot of great petrol engines. The V-Tec as used in the Honda Type-R range will no longer be sold in the EU, and Lotus have replaced their 1.8 Toyota engine with a misrable 1.6. The new Focus ST will no longer have the 2.5L Volvo 5 cylinder engine that made it so great, instead being replaced by a new "EcoTec" 2.0 turbo 4 banger :?

I must admit, petrol all the way for me and it's a shame to see it's demise.
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Post by Toby_HDi »

DickieG wrote:If you get the chance to drive one of the latest 3.0 6 cylinder diesels take it and be amazed by the sheer grunt available, especially the BMW version which I drive on almost a daily basis at work, the performance is so good I'm left wondering why you'd want any more performance. By comparison my 231bhp petrol 3.0 feels almost flat at lower speeds/rev's.
I must admit, I do see the appeal of diesels. Both IDI and the newer DI V6 units. The tuneability of the IDI and as you say the sheer torque available on the newer units. Mike and I were looking the other day at some of the huge diesels fitted to luxury cars and were astounded at the torque they put out.

When all is said and done though, they don't sound as nice as a petrol V6 at 6k :twisted:
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Post by Citroenmad »

I dont mind so much as i can't ever see myself wanting such a car, im more diesel orientated so a V6 HDi would do me very nicely. However i do like a good petrol from time to time.

The trend seems to be towards small high powered petrols now, the big lazy engines which we used to have are going. Though i do wonder what a 1.4 petrol engine with a supercharger and turbo will be like after a few miles pile on, especially in larger cars. Id like to try such an engine, they are supposed to be very good, though id rather have a large petrol engine over a highly stressed smaller unit.
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Post by XantiaMan »

evilally wrote:EU emission regulations are killing off a lot of great petrol engines. The V-Tec as used in the Honda Type-R range will no longer be sold in the EU, and Lotus have replaced their 1.8 Toyota engine with a misrable 1.6. The new Focus ST will no longer have the 2.5L Volvo 5 cylinder engine that made it so great, instead being replaced by a new "EcoTec" 2.0 turbo 4 banger :?

I must admit, petrol all the way for me and it's a shame to see it's demise.
Part of the reason for dumping the 5-pot ( a great lump IMO) is because Ford no longer own Volvo who supplied the engine.

Although that glorious noise will be gone, the new engine will have more power.

But today we are fast running out of engines with character, they all do the job, modern diesels are so effortless and this leaves revvy and juicy V6's in the scrap heap. Now i'm off out to drive my 3 litre 240bhp V6 car and burn some fuel.
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Post by R9UKE »

Nice to see so many people agreeing... I had the impression people on here were far more biased towards diesels.

Anyway I was out in the Espace today, thought I'd make the most of the V6 power and the MPG figure is sitting at 9.2

Would I trade that figure for the much larger one of the 2.2 diesel? NOT A CHANCE.
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Post by Citroenmad »

I dont understand MPVs with big engines, maybe if i expereinced one i might, but to me an MPV is always going to be heavy, high and dull to drive, they never handle great and im not sure id like to push one around too much either. I understand that people like bigger petrol engines but in a big MPV?

The cheapskate in me says it should be a diesel with great chugging ability and reasonable economy. A good diesel isnt a boring engine and remapping potential is great.

We had an 8 seat VW Caravelle 2.5TDi which had a remap, it was a stormer, the torque was fantastic and it, being a TDi, had a very nice kick to the power delivery. However on a run it would easily do 40mpg. Handling was car like but due to its high stance and seating so high it felt unsecure to me.

I need to try a big decent size petrol saloon car, i might change my mind, though its the car car as the diesel would be, with similar performance figures (in some cases) but much more costly to run and harder to sell on. I'd like a V6 Xantia or C5 just to see what i think to them, shame there are no manuals though.

My mums car used to be a V8 Range Rover, it was quite some engine and it did deliver storming performance. It used to pull our large horse box and two horses without you even knowing it was on the back. Mind, the Activa also pulled it a few times, probably hugely overweight for it as it was just over 2 ton, but it pulled it very well actually.
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Post by DickieG »

V6's are great but for smoothness straight six is the way to go :D
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Post by myglaren »

DickieG wrote:V6's are great but for smoothness straight six is the way to go :D
Although I'm sure you would agree that that C5 3L V6 HDi was as smooth as silk :?:
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Post by Toby_HDi »

DickieG wrote:V6's are great but for smoothness straight six is the way to go :D
I have heard this, unfortunately I have never sampled a straight 6. I would like to though.
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Post by DickieG »

myglaren wrote:
DickieG wrote:V6's are great but for smoothness straight six is the way to go :D
Although I'm sure you would agree that that C5 3L V6 HDi was as smooth as silk :?:
Smooth but not silk :wink: a straight six is inherently smooth and I can see why BMW used the wine glass test in adverts a few years ago, the BMW straight six really is silk, my 530i is the fifth BMW six I've owned. The only engine that I've found smoother is the Jaguar V12 that I used in my Dax Cobra although that didn't have silencers so was a little raucous :P
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