The ULTIMATE American V8 Engine Tier List

American car culture is primarily known for the howling V8. Over the years, many V8 engines have been produced, but which is the best? In this video, there is a full ranking engine tier list of Chevy, Ford, and Dodge's greatest V8 creations.

V10 Tier List:

ZR1 Review (LS9):

C8 Review (LT2):

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Thanks for watching and have a great day.

00:00 Introduction
00:21 Chevy V8s
05:09 Ford V8s
08:46 Dodge V8s

[runningredline]

A few things to note / common questions:
- These are solely my opinions and if yours are different that’s fine. This video is purely for entertainment.
- I did not forget any engines (LSA, LS4, Super snake) etc. I simply stuck to the newer and highest production volume engines to keep the video a reasonable length. I might do a video on older ones eventually.

Thanks for watching and have a great day!

[OleSevers]

4.6 2v deserved a spot. Incredible motor for reliability

[davidkuhfeld]

14 GT500 owner here, can only confirm everything you said about the trinity engine. It's really something special glad to see it getting the respect it deserves

[stevensimunov]

The entire LS engine series shares the harmonic balancer problem. The LS6 valve spring failure was actually quite rare and those engines were often thrashed at the track.

[wazza]

As an australian we're very lucky with the LS lineup, the holden commodores had verious LS engines. L76/LS2 was in the VZ and VE SS, L77 was in the VF SS series 1, LS1 was in series 2 VT and VX commodores, LS3 in some holden clubsports and VF SERIES 2 COMMODORE, LS7 in some commodore senators, LSA in VF gtsr and even the LS9 was in the HSV GTSR W1 commodores

[sarmatiancougar]

Ford Modular V8 1991-2009 is the best engine design ever. The 2v 4.6 variant is the most reliable fuel-injected motor ever sold commercially. The 5.4 4v was the first engine to take a car to 300 mph. And Koenigsegg chose the 4.6 4v as a base for their V8s. Bonus point: those are the best sounding V8s.

[Drunken_Hamster]

The 6.1 hemi might be the real goat of the big hemis. The stock internals are said to be better than the 6.4, and so is the base "block" or platform as far as custom-built motors go. Hell, it's been said that even the modern 5.7s has a stronger factory setup in it than the 6.4, and you can get a 5.7 to do hellcat numbers easier/more reliably than a 6.4. My point is, you missed one, and kinda underrated the other.

[relapsenow]

LS9 should also be in S tier very reliable for a forced induction motor from factory and are know to produce +1000hp on stock internals

[danw]

I'm old school. I love old Big blocks. 383, 413, 426 wedge, 426 Hemi, 440 Six pack. The big block buster 340 six pack, Ford 390, 429 GM 409, 427, 454. These engines rule and can make wicked power for not that much money. No computers required.

[chkntndy]

Gen 2 Coyote is probably one of the best engines for making high power off of. Most coyotes making over 1000+ hp are based off of Gen 2 coyotes. Even the Predator and Voodoo are based off of the Gen 2 Coyote. Engine definitely deserves A or S Tier, as we wouldn't have gotten the Voodoo or Predator Engine without the Gen 2 Coyote.

[xDMRmrkiller]

just wanted to mention a difference between the VooDoo and the Predator. Voodoo has a flat-plane crank, which gives it that beautiful sound you talked about, where as the Predator went back to the original cross-plane crank like the 5.0s have, which is why it goes back to that gumbly V8. great video! just the one thing i would have mentioned for those 2 engines!

[paulj]

Missing the terminator 4.6 which was bulletproof and should be S tier.

[Matthewba]

Missed quite a few modular v8s, 4.6 2v, 5.4 4v cobra etc & I would’ve chucked in the l77 or l98, not having cathedral ports made them stand over the ls2 quite easily. Otherwise, nice list

[jkinerk]

I disagree with the LS6/LS7 ratings. The LS7 issue was a BIG issue that cost way more money to fix than swapping valve springs, and I would venture a bet, nuked way more engines than the LS6 yellow valve spring issue (which only came on a few early LS6 engines). I've owned 5 LS engines in various trims, modded and uin-modded, and the LS6 was the gem of them all. LS7 is badass, I agree, but a C tier rating on the LS6 is criminal in my opinion! Cool video though, especially if it brings comments like this ;-)

[rapid]

The 90s ZR1 carried the LT5, not LT4. The LT4 was a single year engine in 1996 found in the 96 Grand Sport and was an option for other models.

[homer]

This is a solid list, but you underrated the LS2 in my opinion. The LS2 is a downgrade to the LS3 because of power output, but a faulty harmonic balancer is an easier flaw to fix than timing chain tensioners or faulty valve guides. I would have it in the B tier or even the A tier.

[danio]

was expecting older smallblocks to appear on the list as well

[rander]

The LS2 was also found in the '06 and '07 CTS-V. I've owned an LS6 in my '05 CTS-V, and I'm not sure I've ever heard anyone have a valve problem with theirs and I was very active on the CTS-V forums and have "talked" with a lot of owners over the years. I supercharged mine at 35k miles and sold the car at 82k. Never an issue. Just FYI.

[CODZOMBIES-mlsm]

4.6 Vic owner here, yes we’re slow but, reliable and sounds great, that D rating was un-called for

[JordanSVT]

The Terminator not getting a mention in this video is pretty heart breaking 💔 but I liked it other than that.