10 Good Cars With Bad Engines

Most production vehicles do not inspire much enthusiasm as they are built to fulfill the demand for affordable transportation, offering reasonable comfort and utility. They may be fine cars, but we also know that some models cater to buyers looking for more than just a means of transportation. For example, sports cars and luxury cars are meant to elevate driving into an experience unto itself and possibly turn the drive into a destination of its own. For some, owning a good car means owning a car that evokes an emotional response. Many cars succeed in this endeavor, although sometimes they still come up short in delivering the whole package.

The parameters on which to judge whether a car is "good" are admittedly subjective. You would be hard-pressed to find two individuals who can agree on every detail of a good car. Handling, comfort, reliability, and efficiency can all contribute to an overall evaluation. Nonetheless, you would surely find widespread agreement that any good car must have an engine that enhances the driving experience and is built to a degree of quality that does not detract from the driving and ownership experience as a whole. Unfortunately, some cars you might consider good fail under the hood. A good or even a great car can get hobbled by an engine with a mismatch in performance or one that may be prone to breakdowns and decreased longevity. These are the reasons the following 10 cars fall short of greatness due to simply having bad engines.

Debuting in 1967 alongside the Chevrolet Camaro, the Pontiac Firebird blazed an independent trail, differentiating itself from the Camaro and making it a performance icon in its own right. Pontiac's independence made it one of the most desirable American performance cars of the 20th century, and its 2002 demise came too soon. Over the years, Pontiac released various performance editions of the Firebird, including the SD-455, GTA, and Firehawk, but one model produced from 1980 to 1981 came saddled with an early but unimpressive attempt to boost power with technology.

With the onset of the "Malaise Era" resulting from new emissions regulations, engine sizes had dropped as had output, and by 1980 the only Firebird V8 was a new Pontiac 301 — the exception was California cars with a Chevrolet 305. With just 140 horsepower, the 301 floundered.

With turbos helping Porsche, Saab, and especially Buick squeeze more power from less, Pontiac adopted the tech for its 301. Proclaiming to have "the World's Only Turbocharged V-8," Pontiac released its Turbo Trans Am in 1980, pushing nine pounds of boost through a Quadrajet carburetor to achieve an output of 210 horsepower in ideal conditions. However, the turbo brought with it multiple challenges, and the technology was far from mature. Ultimately, it only lasted two years as it failed to bring performance prestige back to the brand. The Pontiac 301 was the last Pontiac V8, leaving prestige to return to Firebird with the 1987 GTA and its Chevrolet TPI 350 under the hood.

Triumph started building cars in the 1920s and gained widespread popularity after WWII with its stylish and sporty roadsters. Despite decades of success, the end came when Triumph quit making cars in 1984 as parent company British Leyland imploded in dramatic fashion. But before the factories closed for good, Triumph gave us a car that simultaneously demonstrated the best and worst qualities of an automobile.

Styled by famed Italian designer Giovanni Michelotti, whose portfolio includes Ferraris, Maseratis, and Aston Martins, the Triumph Stag is a handsome roadster built as a grand touring model to sit high in the Triumph hierarchy. And with its lofty placement, a more powerful engine was needed, especially since it would be offered in America, where V8s reigned supreme. Lacking its own V8, Triumph developed one in-house.

As a subsidiary of British Leyland, Triumph had access to the legendary Rover V8, but demand already outpaced production, leaving Triumph to go it alone. Therefore, engineers used designs from its slanted 4-cylinder, flipped it around, and married the two together into a 2.5-liter V8. However, this would be its undoing. Terrible overheating issues plagued the cars as well as warped heads from poorly placed head bolts. Furthermore, bearings were too thin, and timing chains stretched and broke, causing pistons to engage valves, destroying both. Its reputation as a ticking time bomb kept buyers away from the showroom, leading to an early market withdrawal.

Plans to build a V12 by Jaguar stretch back to the 1940s, but it would take many more years for a production version to come to fruition. A prototype engine was built in 1964 but did not make it into production at that time. Not until plans to build a successor to the fashionable and revered XK-E, also called E-type, arose did Jaguar begin development on a production V12 engine around 1968.

Several E-type replacement ideas were kicked around the Jaguar development offices beginning in 1965 before a version riding atop a modified platform was created for the then-new XJ6. From the start, the new car was to have a V12 engine with an optional V8, although the latter never made it past the testing phase. Ultimately, the XJ-S debuted in 1975 with an all-new 60-degree 5.3-liter Jaguar V12. The new Jaguar was as imposing as it was elegant and luxurious, and its V12 provided nearly 300 horsepower in unrestricted European models.

The engine itself is a fine piece of sophisticated engineering that provides ample torque with quiet and smooth operation, which is everything you want in a luxury grand tourer. However, the sophistication of the V12 makes maintenance solely the domain of a Jaguar specialist. Particularly on early models, the compromises of early technology add a complicated mix of mechanical and electronic parts to keep the Jaguar singing, and one of many small components failing can ruin a Sunday drive.

You may know it as a time machine when it hits 88 mph, but before Doc and Marty made it famous, the DeLorean DMC-12 was just a car, although one as bold and unique as its creator, John Z. DeLorean. Once at the top of General Motors' Pontiac and then Chevrolet divisions, DeLorean left the company and started his own automobile manufacturer, the DeLorean Motor Company. Disenchanted with his previous employer, he sought to build a different kind of car on his own.

Built in Northern Ireland with millions in subsidies from the British government, the DMC-12 featured a stainless-steel body with gullwing doors. Styled by famed Italian designer Giorgetto Giugiaro, its smooth surfaces and clean lines made it immediately obvious this was a car built for drivers.

A late decision to swap a Citroën 4-cylinder for another engine led to a change from mid-engine to rear-engine, pushing more weight behind the wheels. Furthermore, the PRV 2.8-liter V6, developed for use among a wide array of Peugeot, Volvo, and Renault vehicles, was made mostly for use in ordinary sedans. Pushing the engine back made handling worse, and the PRV V6 was woefully underpowered. With only 130 horsepower in American-spec cars, its 0-60 mph time exceeded 10 seconds. Additionally, with a retail price of $25,000, $9,000 more than a Corvette, the DMC-12's lack of history made it a bit of a gamble. Ultimately, it was a very cool car that debuted prematurely and lacked the power to succeed.

Starting with a few guys working on prepping cars to race and, within a few years, building the illustrious and iconic BMW M1, the M GmbH division has been transforming luxury BMW models into true sports sedans for decades. Since the early '80s, BMW has offered high-output versions of multiple production cars, beginning with the 1983 M6, which was built on the 635i, with other models following and continuing to this day.

The first M5 arrived in 1985 and featured ab engine from the M1 with a 282-horsepower output. Fast forward nearly two decades and M GmbH adopted a Formula 1 V10 built for a road-legal car but with a power output of an astonishing 500 horsepower, a dramatic figure for 2005. Built just for the M5 and M6, the S85 V10, the only V10 from BMW to date, came with a reinforced forged steel crankshaft, Mahle Motorsport pistons, and 10 individual electronic throttle bodies. However, for used E60 M5s today, there is a catch.

Many M5 owners experienced rod-bearing failures in engines with less than 60,000 miles. Some specialists, such as those at Sprint Motorsports, believe BMW's recommended service intervals are inadequate and that clearances are too tight. The good news is that there are now fixes that can ensure a long-lasting BMW V10 but at a high cost. Furthermore, when you drop nearly $100,000 on a car, it should last more than four years, given the average American's annual mileage of 15,000 miles.

With a heritage as rich as that of Maserati, you would expect to see many great cars peppered throughout its history. And the truth is you would. From the classic mid-engine Bora and stunning 3500 GT to the cutting-edge MC12 and MC20, the range of Maserati models covers speed, luxury, style, and the occasional innovation. However, not everything bearing a trident is something you might actually want to own.

Finances have never been strong with the brand, even from the start. Since the death of Alfieri Maserati in 1937, it has changed hands to Citroën, Alejandro de Tomaso, Chrysler, Fiat, Ferrari, and eventually, Stellantis. Under de Tomaso, Maserati released the Biturbo, an elegant coupe with a 2.0-liter V6 driving the wheels from its location upfront — a 2.5 and 2.8 variant would follow. Wanting to exceed the competition's output, he sought forced induction and, after testing a few setups, settled on a pair of small turbos feeding the engine simultaneously.

While it was the first passenger car with twin turbos, they both fed a single Weber carburetor. Problems arose as Maserati attempted to transition from a niche supercar brand to a mass-market automaker. Biturbos were rife with quality issues and if the engines did run properly, they leaked everywhere. Biturbo owner experiences heavily tarnished the brand's reputation, resulting in its withdrawal from the American market altogether. Buying one today is a daring proposition most would not recommend, no matter how good it looks.

When Porsche introduced a new engine in the '90s, announcing its cars would be water-cooled for the first time, it ruffled the feathers of many purists. Regardless, it was inevitable. Increasingly strict emissions regulations dictated better temperature control, and the forward march of technology would eventually require it anyway. So, looking progress square in the face, Porsche pulled the trigger and released the 911 996, the first liquid-cooled Porsche.

The 996 was also the first Porsche with integrated composite headlights that lost the iconic round shape of every Porsche before it — fortunately, the familiar round shape later returned. Despite the somewhat drastic changes in styling and engineering, the new Porsche was still everything one would expect from Stuttgart.

Affecting all 996 models except the GT and Turbo models, as well as Caymans and Boxsters, is a design flaw in the intermediate shaft bearing, or IMS. This bearing supports the IMS, which transmits rotation from the crankshaft to the timing chains. In engines experiencing a failure, stress causes cracks that can spread to the point of complete failure. If this is caught immediately, repairing the bearing with an upgraded part is the solution and can leave the engine with plenty of life to run. If not caught in time, failure can lead to pistons engaging the valves, necessitating a costly complete engine rebuild. The IMS repair is relatively easy and affordable, and any 996 bought with an incomplete service history should have this done immediately. Otherwise, the 996 is a great car.

Anyone around in the '80s watching American TV should know well the iconic red Ferrari 308 GTS driven by Tom Selleck in the hit show Magnum P.I. By today's standards, its 232 horsepower is modest, but the shape of the car remains just as alluring as it was back then. And even if it's not the fastest car on the block, it just looks so cool that its performance does not matter. Back in the day, certain Italians wanting this car were forced to take the same approach.

At the same time that Magnum's 308 left the factory in Modena, an identical car was built for domestic consumption, the 208. It was the same in every way except that the displacement of its transverse-mounted amidships engine was just two liters. This reduced output to just 155 horsepower, and given the small displacement, torque was likely as disappointing. The reason for this was a result of a range of "luxury" taxes imposed on a range of goods by the Italian government in the 1970s, including cars with more than 2.0-liter engines. The rate increased from 18% to 38%, a substantial rise for an already expensive car.

Well-to-do Italians back then had to settle for looking good or paying the government for the privilege of acceleration. Ferrari sweetened the deal a couple of years later in 1982 by adding a turbo, its first to raise output to a more acceptable 220 horsepower. This was, in every way, a good car with an admittedly good engine that just did not have the performance to match the package.

As the first mid-engine sports car ever built by General Motors, the Pontiac Fiero had a lot of potential. Its novel design and manufacturing process shaped the development of the car while cost-cutting steered production. It was an opportunity for GM to deliver something great as long as it would never overshadow the Corvette, the corporation's golden child.

Many choices were made to save production costs. For example, to cut costs, Pontiac repurposed a modified subframe from the front-wheel-drive Chevy Citation for the Fiero's rear suspension, fixing tie rods in place to simulate a proper rear suspension. The plastic body panels bolted onto a space frame were cheap to manufacture while offering dent resistance. The design of the car looked great, but management wanted it to be a fuel-efficient, sporty car rather than a high-performance machine. Therefore, it initially only received the Chevrolet 2.5-liter 4-cylinder, often called the "Iron Duke."

Fiero sales started well but quality problems soon beset the little car. Furthermore, the 92-horsepower Iron Duke did not make for very exciting driving, even if it did corner extremely well. But even worse, some engines suffered from oil starvation while others actually caught fire. A spry GT model with a V6 came out later, but it was likely too late as sales fell and Fiero production ended in 1988.

Built from 1976 until 1988, the Porsche 924 might be the most unusual Porsche the company has ever built, not because of the car itself, but because of its development history.

As Volkswagen began its switch to water-cooled engines, it needed to replace the aging Beetle and build cars to complement the new Golf. Among the ideas being kicked around was a small sports car to succeed its Karmann Ghia. Already having a tie-in with Porsche and the co-developed 914, VW asked Porsche to start development on a potential sports car for VW. Work commenced on a small but sporty two-door car with a water-cooled 4-cylinder up front to drive the wheels in the rear. Porsche utilized many VW components and chose an Audi 2.0-liter engine for the project. Ultimately, VW declined to build the car and offered it back to Porsche, and after some more refinement, it became the 924.

Porsche left the Audi engine up front and connected it to a transaxle in the rear, balancing the weight and giving the car great handling characteristics. And in reality, the 924 is a great little car, but many feel it is just not really a Porsche. The engine is from Audi and is not very powerful, with many other components originating from VW. The only real problem is perspective. If you don't care about the badge and look at it objectively, it is a fine car, but if you look through a Porsche purist's eyes, perhaps it is not.