What Makes The Volkswagen EA888 One Of VW's Most Reliable Engines Ever Made

Volkswagen was the world's second-best-selling automaker last year, with 9.2 million units sold. VW has made several of the best-selling cars of all time: When the Beetle was discontinued, it had sold 23 million models, more than the Model T, and the Golf and Passat also rank among the world's most popular rides. Even after the infamous Dieselgate scandal put a dent in VW's reputation, the German automaker remains beloved in part for the dependability of its cars and their small but mighty four-cylinder engines.

If you've owned a gasoline-powered Volkswagen or Audi of model year 2008 or later, chances are good it had an EA888 series turbocharged inline four-cylinder engine under its hood. This engine was issued in 1.8 and 2.0 liter displacements and went into the fifth through seventh generation Golf GTI, the Jetta GLI, and B6 through B8 Passats. It was also used in the Tiguan, Amarok, New Beetle, and Scirocco.

The EA888's success isn't limited to the Volkswagen brand. The engine powered every single model on SlashGear's list of the the most reliable used Audis, plus Skodas, SEATs, and more.

[Featured image by TD via Wikimedia Commons|Cropped and scaled|CC-BY 3.0]

The EA888 lived through three generations and a mid-cycle update in 2018 that boosted both power output and fuel efficiency, a rare double-whammy credited to a higher compression ratio and lower internal operating temperature. The B-cycle third-gen 2.0 liter EA888 first appeared in the 2018 Tiguan before spreading to the Beetle, Passat and more. Widely considered the best of the bunch, the third-generation EA888 integrates the exhaust manifold with the cylinder head and mounts a more efficient cooling system to lower emissions and ease load on the turbocharger. This allowed the engine to run cooler and last longer without wear on internals. The intake manifold was also beefed up to allow for higher boost pressure, and dual injection was added to models sold outside the U.S. to reduce carbon deposits inside the block. Smaller crankshaft bearings were also used, the valve spring pressure was reduced, and the piston clearance increased. 

The changes made from the second-generation EA888 dropped the engine's weight by 17 pounds and greatly reduced operating friction, making it one of the smoothest and most reliable engines in recent memory. It's common for EA888-powered VWs and Audis to run beyond 250,000 miles without issue.

In a thread on the r/Volkswagen subreddit celebrating this bulletproof engine, u/TheAdventurousMan wrote, "God. The things i put my 1.8T engines through. Those are tanks. Cars rusted out and died before the engine gave up."