4 Cylinder Sports Cars 101

Author

Javaughn Barrow

4 cylinder sports cars are one of the most underestimated choices in the sports car genre. When people are looking for something fun and sporty they think or look for the big flashy cars with twin turbo v6’s or the naturally aspirated v8s and even the monster v12s! However, a 4 cylinder can be just as big and flashy, these engines do more with less!

What you will learn about:

What is a 4 cylinder engine?

A 4 cylinder engine is an engine with 4 pistons. The cylinder is a reference for the pistons, because each cylinder houses 1 pistons. Therefore, 4 cylinders means 4 pistons. The same goes for any other number of cylinders like 3 cylinder, 6 cylinder, 8 cylinders etc. 4 cylinder is a blanket term, which all forms of 4 cylinders fall under. There are 3 types of 4 cylinder engines, the arrangement of the pistons is what differentiates them.

The most popular 4 cylinder is an i4 engine (Inline 4). This is where the pistons are aligned 1 in front of the other, in a straight line.The next type is a boxer engine, or most commonly referred to as a flat four. Flat four because the pistons lay fat on opposing ends from one other. The other type of 4 cylinder engine is a V4 engine. This means the pistons are side by side at an angle shaped like a “V”. Each of these types of 4 cylinder engines, comes with their own pros and cons when it comes to efficiency in power delivery and maintenance.

Is a 4 cylinder engine good?

Not only is a 4 cylinder good, it is one of the most used and preferred engines in vehicles. The most used type is the Inline 4. It’s lightweight, efficient and easy to maintain and less moving parts than the bigger engines with more cylinders. Less moving parts means less opportunity for things to go wrong. Four cylinder engines are considered the perfect fit for your typical SUV or car, it strikes a good balance between power and efficiency.

What is the most powerful 4 cylinder engine ?

Mercedes took the win in this category with the CLA 45 AMG. The CLA 45 AMG has a 416 Horsepower engine, with 369 lb-ft of torque. This is the european spec of course, the US gets a 382 horsepower and 354 lb-ft of torque version. The CLA 45 AMG gets to 60 in just 4 seconds flat and a top speed limited to 155 mph.

Talk about performance, the cla 45 amg is the epitome of doing a lot with a little. The engine revs to 7000 rpm in a hurry, shifts happen in a blink of an eye, the result is a car that pulls rapidly on acceleration. Stopping power is great too, with these sports cars you always gotta have confidence to slow down and this gives it to you by breaking from 70mph in just 157 ft, which is quite impressive.

The CLA 45 AMG has pumped in audio engine sound to the cabin area, which is weird to be honest. However, it’s the most fun you will ever have in a 4 cylinder. It’s an AWD Sports car with a drift mode! This sends available torque to the rear wheels and it has a limited slip differential which makes for a lot of cornering and drifting fun! Hope you have money for tires. Speaking of money the CLA 45 AMG prices start at $57,800 and can go as high as 85k.

Other examples of fast 4 cylinder sports cars:

VW MK8 GTI

The new VW GTI code name mk8, is one the most iconic 4 cylinder sports cars of this century. Pioneering the hatchback back designs since 1975. The GTI paved a way for all other sports cars. This new Generation the MK8 comes with a 241 horsepower 2.0 turbo inline 4 engine, with 273 lb-ft of torque. There is an “R” version called the “Golf R” that comes with more power at 315 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque.

When the GTI came out, it was made for the working class man. It meant getting into a cool car, didn’t require you to spend a lot of money, it was an affordable family hatch. The car was so good, it was only a matter of time before the prices started to go north of 30k for a mid tear spec and over 40k for the “R”.

Now is the golf mk8 GTI any good? It’s not only good, but better than the last generation. The GTI still comes in a 6 speed manual and they also have a 7 speed automatic option. In terms of great driving dynamics, speed and sound the GTI ticks all those boxes. The GTI has a strong engine for this generation that pulls hard all the way to 6,500 rpm. Every shift hits you in the back with that 6 speed manual. So just imagine how easy it is to be doing front wheel burnouts. Therefore, if you get one for those reasons, it’s money well spent.

2023 Civic Type R

This new generation Type R looks amazing! We all know looks are subjective, but I think we all can agree on that. Prices start at 43,795 and start hitting the dealerships in late October, 2022. Now let’s talk about what you get for that 40k price tag. This year’s Type R comes with Honda’s 2.0 liter inline 4 VTEC engine that generates 315 horsepower at 6,500 rpm and 310 torque from 2,600 rpm, all the way to 4000 rpm.

The new generation interior space looks amazing. It’s simple and elegant, at the same time you get the industry standard digital gauge display. The Type R still comes in a 6 speed manual for this year as well and it is as fun as the last generation. If you’re wondering, how fast will the 2023 Type R go? This new gen, holds the record for the fastest FWD (front wheel drive) car around the Nurburgring. That speaks to its breaking and handling capabilities and its acceleration as well. When that Vtec 4 cylinder starts singing at 6500 rpm it will be music to your ears.

2022 Subaru WRX

The Subaru WRX is a legend. This 2022 year, the WRX didn’t look as great as people expected stock, with the back kind of looking like a last gen civic and some body panels around the exterior looking unfinished. However, once the aftermarket accessories started being available it transformed this car to gorgeous really quick. If you haven’t seen it, just take a look at #subaruwrx on instagram and see what great work these custom builds look like.

The 2022 WRX comes with a 271 horsepower 2.4 liter turbo boxer motor making 258 lb-ft of torque between 2000 & 5200 RPMs. The WRX goes from 0-60 in just 5.5 seconds and can complete a quarter of a mile in just 13.9 seconds, clocking 101mph. Long story short, that’s fast! The WRX is also fun to drive, very fun actually it delivers torque earlier than the previous generation so it feels faster. The all around driving dynamics from handling and shifting feels nothing short of a great experience. The WRX is still offered in a manual, one of the few new cars that is still offered in this platform. #savethemanual

Conclusion

As you can see, the 4 Cylinder Sports Cars market is still hot with options! With inline 4s and boxer engines this sports car segment still rings of fun! There are a lot more options available than listed in this article, so go forth and research! You’ll love what you find!

Javaughn Barrow

Hello! My name is Javaughn Barrow, a young car enthusiast who writes all the articles for Karcandy.com. I’ve written over 50 articles about automobiles. With each article, I deepen my understanding and expertise in writing and the automotive world. Ever since childhood, I’ve always had a strong passion for cars. All types shapes and sizes were interesting to me. I’d spend most of my time after school researching cars and the more I found out about them the more exciting it was. In my teens, I created a fan page about corvettes posting content at least ten times a day! Yes, I was crazy about it. The page ended up garnering over 40k followers! After a while, I wanted more than a fan page. I wanted to express my passion differently. I wanted to create more helpful content, higher-quality content. My first car was a 2013 VW CC Sport. Learned very quickly car ownership wasn’t as expected. I spent a lot of time replacing control arms, cam position sensors, brake rotors, brake pads, etc. Walking away with more information than I knew before. As I was growing in my automotive journey I was learning about writing. Starting by writing a detailed outline about 300 words long then I would pay a professional to write a full 1000-word article and learn from them getting familiar with the process of writing. The moment I realized I could use my writing skills to express my passion for cars and help people simultaneously, I started Karcandy.com. I realized with my unique perspective coupled with my hard work discipline and work ethic I can create a space online to help bridge the gap between the complicated and simple in the automotive world. I’m motivated by the challenges and work it will take to create such a space. My work ethic is something I choose to refine and make better each day. I think it’s important to push myself and stay committed to my evolution as a human and this website is only one of the results of that.

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