Cars With The Biggest Engines In 2020

Car Culture / 42 Comments

From luxury Rollers to demonic supercars.

Now that using forced induction with smaller engines has become standard practice, we're are seeing less and less large displacement engines come onto the market. However, you still can't beat the character and sound of a massive V8, V10, or V12 engine. You can beat the fuel economy, environmental effect, and weight, but there'll always be a certain thrill generated by a massive engine. There's also the fact that adding turbos or a supercharger to big displacement engines can add a whole new level of power. These are the cars with the biggest engines on sale today, both with forced induction and without.

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Bugatti Chiron: 8.0-Liter W16

You can still buy a Bugatti Chiron today, but you'll pay a crazy amount of money, and that's assuming you can afford it. Forced induction can be a replacement for displacement, but that doesn't mean it has to be used that way. Bugatti took an 8.0-liter W16 engine and used four turbochargers to crank the power up to crazy. If you want the fastest Chiron, the 1,577 glorious horsepower afforded by the Chiron Super Sport 300+ will cost you a whopping $2,998,000, but you will also own a car capable of going 300 mph.

Front View Driving Bugatti
Side View Bugatti
Top View Bugatti
Rear View Bugatti
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Ford Super Duty: 7.3-Liter V8

The Ford F-250 and F-350 received significant changes under the hood for the 2020 model year. The 6.2-liter gas-powered V8 is still available, but now there is also an even bigger 7.3-liter V8 available. It makes 430 hp and 474 lb-ft of torque at just 3,900 rpm. It seems strange that Ford would release a 7.3-liter V8, let alone a pushrod engine, now. However, it's a matter of fuel economy. A pushrod engine typically makes lots of torque at low revs, which is where the engine needs to be making peak power for towing. Any weight rating for a vehicle exceeding 8,500 pounds doesn't need to report numbers, but people have been recording around 15 mpg unloaded. With a maximum load trailer, between 5 and 6 mpg has been reported.

Ford
Ford
Ford
Ford

Rolls-Royce Cullinan/Phantom: 6.75-Liter V12

The Cullinan is Rolls-Royce's first attempt at an SUV, and it's stunning. Whether you think that's in a good way or a bad way is entirely up to you. The Rolls-Royce Phantom is a demonstration of just much luxury the British company can distill into a four-door sedan. They're two very different, albeit luxurious, animals, but they both make use of a BMW-derived 6.75-liter V12 engine. It produces 563 hp and 664 lb-ft of the smoothest torque money can buy. It costs $325,000 to get into a Cullinan and $450,000 before any options for the Phantom.

Bentley
Bentley
Rolls-Royce
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Ram 2500 HD: 6.7-Liter Inline-Six

The Ram 2500 and 3500 HD models can be outfitted with a Cummins turbodiesel engine making 850 lb-ft of twist. Amazingly, the 6.7-liter engine isn't a V8, but an inline-six arrangement. You may not actually be able to tow a house but, with the right towing attachments, the Ram 2500 will pull 19,780 lbs. For the 3500 dually, there's the option for an uprated Cummins engine making 400 hp and 1,000 lb-ft of torque. That will pull a maximum of 35,100 lbs. For perspective, the USS Gerald R. Ford is an aircraft carrier and uses an anchor weighing 30,000 lbs.

Ram
Ram
Ram
Ram

Bentley Mulsanne: 6.75-Liter V8

If it weren't for the current pandemic, the Bentley Mulsanne wouldn't be on this list. However, as the Bentley factory was temporarily shut down, the final run of the car featuring its 6.75-liter twin-turbo L-Series V8 has been delayed. A version of the 6.75-liter V8 has been in production since 1959, with 35,898 being built over 60 years. However, along with the demise of the Mulsanne as Bentley's flagship, it will be the end of the legendary V8 as well. At its peak, it produces 530 hp and 811 lb-ft of silky smooth torque.

Bentley
Bentley
Bentley
Bentley

Rolls-Royce Ghost: 6.6-Liter V12

If you can call any Rolls-Royce entry-level, then it would be the Ghost, and the Wraith/Dawn coupe/convertible variants. Each has a 6.6-liter V12 under the hood that is so quiet it wouldn't get shushed in the most tightly run of libraries. The V12 makes 563 hp and 605 lb-ft in the Ghost, but those are just ingredients of the overall luxury and style experience. The bad news is that the Ghost gets 12/18/14 mpg city/highway/combined. The good news is that if you can afford the $311,900, then that shouldn't bother you.

Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce

Chevrolet Silverado HD: 6.6-Liter V8

It has the same engine displacement as the Rolls-Royce Ghost, but it's a very different engine in a very different vehicle. The Chevy engine is a 6.6-liter turbodiesel powered V8 making 401 hp and 910 lb-ft of torque. It'll pull 18,510 lbs and return 15 mpg combined. That would make it an expensive daily driver to run, which is a shame as we love the interior and tech offered. What's worth pointing out here is that you can option the Duramax 6.6-liter engine and all-wheel-drive on the base model, and have a powerful workhorse at a relatively affordable price.

Chevrolet
Chevrolet
Chevrolet
Chevrolet

BMW 7 Series: 6.6-Liter V12

As if to hammer home just how different engines can be, BMW's fastest 7 Series model packs a 6.6-liter V12 making a fearsome 600 hp and 627 lb-ft. Unlike the Rolls-Royce V12 based on the same architecture, the BMW M760i's engine is designed to thrill when the driver wants to go loud as well as offer smooth and effortless power when they don't. It's comfortable, fast as hell, and the M prefix adds uprated suspension components that help handling without impacting ride comfort.

2020-2021 BMW 7 Series Front Angle View BMW
2020-2021 BMW 7 Series Side View Driving BMW
2020-2021 BMW 7 Series Rear View Driving BMW
BMW

Lamborghini Aventador: 6.5-Liter V12

Lamborghini is not a fan of smaller engines and turbos. The naturally aspirated 6.5-liter liter in the Aventador is a testament to that. In base Aventador S form, it makes a thrilling 730 hp all the way up at 8,250 rpm, and 507 lb-ft of torque. The fastest version, the SVJ, cranks things up to 791 hp and 537 lb-ft using a redesigned cylinder head, titanium valves, and an improved exhaust manifold. We rank the SVJ's V12 as one of the best sounding engines ever produced, although the single-clutch transmission retune for the SVJ isn't as snappy as we would want from a $517,770 Lamborghini.

Lamborghini
Lamborghini
Lamborghini
Lamborghini

Ferrari 812 Superfast: 6.5 Liter V12

It's been hailed as one of the greatest V12 engines yet. Amazingly this 6.5-liter V12 comes at a time when Ferrari has been using turbocharged V8s and introducing electrification to its drivetrains to incredible effect. It's an enlarged version of the F140 V12 used in the F12berlinetta, and the 812 name relates to the European measurement of horsepower being 800 and adds the 12 cylinders used to make the engine. In real money, that's 789 hp paired with 529 lb-ft of torque. Matched with Ferrari's 7-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, the 812 Superfast will hit 0 to 60 mph in just 2.8 seconds, and 0-124 mph takes just 7.9 seconds.

Ferrari
Ferrari
Ferrari
Ferrari
Bugatti Chiron Super Sport
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