Ranked: the largest engine made by every major car company

That said, the recent trend of downsizing means it’s almost certainly true that every manufacturer has already created an engine larger than any it will produce in future.

Here we take a look at examples from 40 automotive brands, listed in ascending order of capacity. To clarify, we’re concentrating on engines used in vehicles available to the general public (even if only in very small numbers), so competition cars, record breakers, dump trucks and so on don’t count. Let’s take a look: 

The first on this list, Citroën’s entry is also one of the only ones powered by diesel. The Peugeot-Citroën-Ford V6 fitted to the C5 and C6 saloons initially displaced 2720cc before being upgraded in 2009 to an enlarged 2993cc version with 237bhp and 332lb ft – more than many of the larger engines you’ll see further on. It was also used extensively in Jaguars and Land Rovers.

In case you’re wondering, Citroën’s SM grand tourer also used a 3.0 litre V6, but it was slightly smaller at 2978cc.

PICTURE: 2006 Citroën C6

Unlike some other Japanese manufacturers, Subaru has never gone in for really big engines, preferring to rely on turbocharging rather than displacement when high power outputs are required. Its largest engine is a 3.6-litre flat-six, used from 2010 onwards in the Legacy and Outback (known in its home market as the Lancaster) and the Tribeca SUV.

Subaru also created a 3.5-litre flat-12, but this was intended for F1 and other motorsports applications, and in any case is not regarded as the brand’s finest work.

PICTURE: 2014 Subaru Outback

The RL and TL sedans and MDX and ZDX crossovers produced by Honda’s luxury brand have all been fitted with the largest engine in the Japanese manufacturer’s V6 J-Series family.

That range started out at 2.5 litres, but the J37 measured 3664cc. According to Acura, it produced 300bhp and 270 lb ft, making it the most powerful engine the brand offered when it was introduced, though it has since been surpassed in this respect. The current MDX does not use it, and the other models have been discontinued.

PICTURE: 2007 Acura MDX

The 3.7-litre V6 mentioned earlier in the context of Acura was also used in the fourth-generation Legend, the non-US equivalent of the Acura RL, but it is not the largest engine fitted to a Honda-badged road vehicle. In November 1993, Honda introduced its first Crossroad model to the Japanese market, and its engine - the company's first and to this day only automotive V8 - had a capacity of 3946cc.

The Crossroad was a first-generation Land Rover Discovery built in Solihull by Rover (with which Honda was in partnership at the time) and exported to Japan with different badges.

A later model of the same name was powered by smaller, four-cylinder engines. In September 2023, Honda announced its first commercially available V8 of its own design, which has a capacity of 4952cc, but this is intended only for marine use.

Volvo used to be a wider group that combined car and heavy goods vehicle production, and the latter division (now separate from car making) made ginned as large as 16.0 litres. On the car side, Volvo’s largest internal combustion is a 4414cc V8 co-developed with Yamaha. It was used in the XC90 SUV (pictured) and the S80 saloon, and produced 311bhp and 324lb ft.

Polestar Racing created a 4989cc variant of the same engine, with a maximum output of around 650bhp, for an S60 silhouette racer which competed in the Australian V8 Supercars series.

Although it has produced many high-performance cars, Lancia is not known for its large-capacity engines. Its personal record has stood for more than a century at 4942cc, the size of a four-cylinder motor fitted to the Theta (famously one of the first European cars with electric-lights and -starter) of 1913 to 1918.

Lancia also designed and built narrow-angle V12 engines with capacities of 6.0 and 7.2 litres, but these were never fitted to cars sold to the public. Much larger V12s which did go into production were used only in aircraft.

Since 2009, there have been Jaguars, Land Rovers and Range Rovers powered by a V8 engine measuring almost exactly 5.0 litres. It’s not the largest ever fitted to a Jaguar, but it holds the record for the other two brands.

While some Jaguar versions have higher outputs, the most potent examples used in Range Rovers (such as the Sport SVR, pictured, which we described as “widely admired yet not roundly loved” by staff members) have maximum power of 567bhp and peak torque of 513lb ft.

The largest engine ever fitted to an Infiniti is a 5552cc V8 designed and built by parent company Nissan, the highest-capacity version of a unit which started out at 4.5 litres.

It has been available in the M56 and the Q70 executive saloons, and is the only engine offered in the two generations of QX80 (originally named QX56) produced so far.

PICTURE: 2022 Infiniti QX80

The Infiniti 5552cc V8 just discussed is also the largest engine ever fitted to Nissans available for sale to the public. It has been used in the Titan pickup truck and the Armada, Patrol and Pathfinder SUVs, as well as several competition cars.

Nissan has also produced an even larger, 6373cc V8, but you won’t have experienced a vehicle powered by it unless you are part of, or closely associated with, Japanese royalty.

PICTURE: 2024 Nissan Titan

The third-generation Lexus LX SUV and its counterpart, the Toyota Land Cruiser, were both available with a 5663cc V8, the largest engine ever fitted to a vehicle of either brand. Supercharger kits were available, but in standard form the motor, codenamed 3UR-FE, had power and torque figures of 383bhp and 403lb ft.

The V8 was not carried to over to the current LX, which is powered by a lower-capacity turbocharged engine.

PICTURE: 2013 Lexus LX 570

As well as the Lexus LX, Toyota’s 5663cc 3UR-FE V8 has been used in that vehicle’s close relative, the Land Cruiser.

It has also found a home under the bonnets of two other hefty Toyotas, namely the Sequoia SUV and the Tundra pickup. Both have recently entered their third generations, and in each case the 5.7 has been dropped in favour of smaller turbocharged engines.

PICTURE: 2020 Toyota Sequoia

The largest engine fitted to a production Porsche is also the brand’s only V10. Originally developed for motorsport, though never used for that purpose (due to a rule change), it appeared in the mid-engined, carbonfibre monocoque Carrera GT sports car manufactured from 2004 to 2006.

According to Porsche, converting the 5733cc V10 for road use involved little more than paying attention to noise and emissions regulations. The standard power and torque outputs were 604bhp and 435lb ft without the benefit of forced induction.

Opel is over 160 years old, and has been making cars since 1892, when it graduated from producing sewing machines and bicycles. By 1928 it was pushing further upmarket with the 24/110 HP Regent which utilised a 5972cc straight eight with a then-impressive 108bhp. Maximum speed was an equally strong 62mph, or 81mph with the optional Maybach-supplied overdrive.

In 1929 Opel was taken over by General Motors, by which time 25 Regents had been produced, but GM feared internal competition with Cadillac, so all were bought back and scrapped. There are no known survivors.

The Jaguar V12 engine first appeared in the E-Type in 1971, and remained in production until 1997. It started out at 5.3 litres, but in the late 1980s it was extended to 5993cc. In this size, it was offered in the XJS sports car and the mechanically identical XJ12 and Daimler Double Six saloons.

For motorsport applications, and in the Lister Storm, it was taken out further to 7.0 litres, and on to 7.4 litres in the XJR12, but for standard production Jaguars 6.0 litres was the limit.

PICTURE: 1995 Jaguar XJ-S

The only engine over 5.0 litres ever fitted to a Maserati wasn’t actually a Maserati unit, but the Ferrari 140 which first appeared in the Enzo. While Ferrari took it to 6.5 litres, it was used in 6.0-litre form in the Enzo’s close relative, the Maserati MC12.

The street version of the MC12 was a homologation special to created to allow the company to take part in GT racing, which it did with considerable success. Slightly different power outputs have been quoted, but Maserati itself says the engine produced a maximum of 621bhp.

Enthusiast might protest that neither the 9-7X nor the engine fitted to the high-performance Aero version really had anything to do with Saab, since the former was based on the same platform as several other General Motors SUVs (among them the Buick Rainier, Chevrolet Trailblazer and Oldsmobile Bravada) and the latter was the Chevrolet LS2 smallblock also used in, among many others, the sixth-generation Corvette.

The fact remains, though, that this 5967cc V8 is the largest engine ever fitted to a Saab-branded production car – and, at just under 400bhp, also the most powerful.

Although the Volkswagen Group has been responsible for larger engines, the one with the greatest capacity used in a car with a VW badge is the 5998cc version of the only W12 ever developed exclusively for road use.

It produced 414bhp and 406lb ft in the Phaeton luxury saloon, and 444bhp and 443lb ft in the Touareg SUV. The difference meant that, although the Touareg was heavier and less aerodynamically efficient than the Phaeton, it was also slightly quicker.

PICTURE: Volkswagen Phaeton W12

The first McLaren designed entirely for the road (unlike the earlier race-derived M6 GT), was the 1990s F1, which had a larger engine than any McLaren since. Created by BMW, it had the same cylinder spacing of that company’s first production V12, introduced a few years earlier, but was, in BMW’s own words, “an independent solution in all components”.

At 6064cc, it was the largest automotive engine BMW had produced up to the time, and has since been beaten in that respect only by one we’ll be meeting shortly.

Although it had a British badge, the VXR8 was in fact built in Australia by Vauxhall’s then fellow General Motors brand, Holden, which in turn used powertrains developed in the US by Chevrolet.

The largest engine fitted to this or any other Vauxhall-branded road car was Chevy’s 6162cc smallblock V8. The supercharged version had a smaller compressor than the one attached to the same motor in the Corvette ZR1, but it was large enough to give the big saloon impressive power and torque figures of 576bhp and 546lb ft.

Alfa Romeo attempted to break into the luxury car market in the 1920s with the G1, but found almost no buyers.

At either 6299cc or 6330cc, depending on which source you believe, its mighty straight-six was the largest engine ever fitted to a production Alfa. Maximum power and torque of 69bhp and 216 lb ft seem ridiculous now, but were more than adequate for the time.

Volkswagen’s W12 is, as mentioned before, the only engine of that type used in production road cars. As if to make up for lost ground, however, VW has fitted it to several models, including the Phaeton, the Touareg, the Audi A8 and several Bentleys.

It has usually had a capacity of 5998cc, but this was increased to 6299cc in the single case of the third-generation, long-wheelbase Audi A8L. With power and torque figures of 493bhp and 460lb ft it was the strongest of the naturally-aspirated versions, but not in the same league as the turbocharged 6.0s used by Bentley.

The Ferrari F140 V12 engine made its debut in the Enzo in 2002, when it measured 6.0 litres, and has since been enlarged and modified several times. It has reached 6496cc in its current form, as fitted to the 812 (and derivatives), the SP1 and SP2 roadsters, the Daytona SP3 and the Purosangue SUV.

Power outputs range from a relatively restrained 715bhp in the Purosangue to a considerably more potent 829bhp in the Daytona SP3. The 812 Superfast and SP1/SP2, however, have more torque than either, with a peak figure of 530lb ft.

PICTURE: Ferrari 812 Superfast

Lamborghini’s first V12 engine dates back to 1964, when it appeared in the manufacturer’s first model, the 350 GT. In those days it measured 3.5 litres, but by the time it was fitted to the Reventón and later versions of the Murciélago, it had reached 6.5 litres. It was then replaced by another V12 of, apparently, the same size.

In fact, the later engine is the larger of the two by a tiny margin, measuring 6498cc to its predecessor’s 6496cc. The most recent derivative contributes 814bhp to the total 1001bhp output of the Revuelto hybrid (pictured).

Of the many V8 engines developed by the American Motors Corporation, the largest measured 6573cc and was initially rated, by modern measuring methods, at 255bhp and 345 lb ft, though increasing concerns about fuel economy and exhaust emissions saw these drop considerably during the 1970s.

The 6.6 was fitted to AMC’s Ambassador, Javelin and Matador, and also to AMC-owned Jeep’s Wagoneer and Cherokee. It is therefore also the largest engine used in a production Jeep, exceeding even the various Hemi V8s which have appeared since the brand was taken over by Chrysler.

PICTURE: 1978 Jeep Wagoneer Limited

Until its recent re-launch as an all-electric sub-brand of GMC, Hummer had a reputation for producing vehicles with large, thirsty and not conspicuously eco-friendly engines. While there’s a lot of truth in this, the engines were not in fact all that large, at least in the context of those provided by other manufacturers on this list.

The biggest, used in the H1, was a 6619cc Duramax turbodiesel V8 produced by DMAX, a Dayton, Ohio, based 60/40 joint venture between General Motors and Isuzu. No subsequent Hummer had an engine larger than 6.2 litres.

PICTURE: 2006 Hummer H1 Alpha

The L-Series V8 engine used in many Rolls-Royce models had a capacity of 6.75 litres. When new owner BMW replaced this with a V12 in 2003, it honoured the tradition by making it almost exactly the same size, at 6749cc. This engine and its identically-sized but twin-turbocharged successor have been powering Rolls-Royces ever since.

As will become clear later, it’s not the largest Rolls-Royce engine, but it is the largest ever used in a BMW production car, since the company also fitted it to the 7 Series. Other BMW units have dwarfed it by a tremendous margin, but they were used only in aircraft, such as the BMW 801, a 41.8-litre 14-cylinder used in the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, of the Second World War.

PICTURE: 2017 BMW M760Li xDrive

Fiat began building V12 aero engines during the First World War, and later designed one for automotive use. It was built with capacities of 6809cc and 7490cc, but only the former version was used for the Type 520 of 1921, also known as the Superfiat. Historians believe it could have challenged the Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost and Packard Twin Six if it had been put into full-scale production, but although 520s were displayed at Motor Shows and offered for sale, Fiat abandoned the project after a unknown but certainly minute number (estimates are usually below half a dozen) had been built.

Another 520 produced later in the 1920s was a much smaller vehicle with a far more modest engine.

The Aston Martin V12 first used in the DB7 in 1999 has a design adjacent to that of the 3.0-litre Duratec V6, largely because it dates from Ford’s ownership of the brand. It originally measured 5.9 litres, but has appeared in other sizes since it made its debut.

During a development programme undertaken by Cosworth, it reached 7312cc and, as fitted to the limited-production One-77, produced 750bhp and 553lb ft. Modified further for the even rarer Victor, its capacity remained the same but its output rose to 836bhp and 606lb ft.

PICTURE: Aston Martin One-77

Buick increased the capacity of its big-block V8 to 7.5 litres (or 455 cubic inches, as it was expressed at the time) for the 1970 model year. In this form, it immediately became the standard engine for the Riviera, Electra 225, Wildcat Custom, Estate Wagon, GS 455 and GSX, and an option in the LeSabre Custom.

Economy and emissions concerns first crippled the engine and later killed it off entirely. By the end of the 1970s, the most powerful Buicks were being powered by engines developed by other General Motors brands, and none was as large as the old 455.

PICTURE: 1972 Buick Riviera

Ford’s 385 engine was a big-block V8 produced in various sizes from the late 1960s to nearly the end of the century. The largest version is known as the 460 after its capacity in cubic inches, which equates to around 7.5 litres.

First used only in Lincoln models, it was later added to the Mercury and Ford ranges, and appeared in the F-Series pickup truck, the E-Series van and the sixth-generation Thunderbird. Ford has also sold 8.4-litre and 9.4-litre versions, but only as crate engines which have never been fitted to any production car either as standard or optionally.

PICTURE: 1972 Ford Thunderbird

Of the three General Motors brand engines with quoted capacities of 7.5 litres, or 455 cubic inches, the Oldsmobile V8 was actually the smallest, though since there was only about 20cc in it this isn’t something we need be too concerned about.

The Olds engine was used in rear-wheel drive models such as the Cutlass and 442, the front-wheel drive Toronado (pictured) and, in stark contrast to all of these, the GMC Motorhome.

Pontiac created marginally the largest of the three General Motors 455ci V8s, a 1970 update of an engine which had started out at 6.9 litres in 1961 and expanded very slightly to 7.0 litres in 1967.

It was fitted to several Pontiacs in the early to mid 1970s, including the second-generation Firebird Trans Am, but like its sister units it was discontinued when very large engines became unpopular, and Chevrolet became GM’s producer of high-performance V8s.

PICTURE: 1972 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am

Although, as previously mentioned, some Lincolns were powered by the 7.5-litre Ford 385 big-block, this is not the largest engine ever used by the brand. That honour goes instead to the highest-capacity version of the earlier MEL V8, which measured approximately 7570cc.

At this size, it was used in the fourth-generation Lincoln Continental, replacing another MEL of 7.0 litres. The car was produced from the 1961 to 1969 model years, but the 7.6 was available only from 1966 to 1968, after which it was replaced by the slightly smaller 385.

The 770, also known as the Grosser (or ‘grand’) Mercedes, was produced in two generations from 1930 to 1943. In each case, it had a 7655cc straight-eight engine, fitted (optionally at first, as standard from 1938) with a supercharger which engaged when the driver applied full throttle.

In the earlier model, the engine produced a maximum of 148bhp naturally aspirated or 197bhp supercharged. In the later one, the peak figure rose to 227bhp.

The sidevalve straight-six engine of the Silver Ghost (originally measuring 7.0 litres and later 7.4) gave way to a more modern overhead-valve unit used in the 1925 Phantom. At 7668cc, it was, and remains, the largest Rolls-Royce car engine. In 1929, the original head was replaced by a crossflow one for the Phantom II, but the capacity remained the same.

The big six remained in production for a decade until it was replaced in 1935 by the smaller but more powerful 7.3-litre V12 fitted to the Phantom III.

PICTURE: 1930 Rolls-Royce Phantom II

Bentley hit its peak engine capacity in 1930 and has never matched it since. The straight-six engine fitted to the car known, with the straightforwardness which characterised Bentley’s naming policy at the time, as the 8 Litre, measured 7983cc and produced between 200bhp and 230bhp, depending on the state of tune.

Bentley went into receivership shortly after the 8 Litre was launched, and was taken over by Rolls-Royce. It has changed hands twice more since then, but neither of its subsequent owners has required it to create a larger engine than this one.

Big-block Chevys have been expanded eye-wateringly for competition purposes (up to 16.5 litres in the case of Sonny Leonard’s Godfather drag unit), but the largest version used in a production road vehicle is the Vortec 8100, which was available in several Chevrolet SUVs, pickups and vans in the first decade of the 21st century.

It was also fitted to rebadged but mechanically identical GMC equivalents, so as well as being Chevrolet’s largest production engine, it is also GMC’s.

PICTURE: 2002 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD

While Buick and other GM brands raised their games to 7.5 litres, Cadillac made their efforts seem tentative. Its own V8 already measured 7.7 litres, and for the 1970 model year it was expanded even further to 8.2. It now seems hard to believe that this behemoth drove through the front wheels of the Eldorado it was fitted to, but that wasn’t uncommon in the US auto industry in those days.

Cadillac later made the 8.2 available across its model range, only to delete it when producing such thirsty engines became unsupportable. To this day, General Motors has never used a bigger motor in any of its production cars, and it probably never will.

PICTURE: 1970 Cadillac Eldorado

The V10 engine in the Viper sports car started out at 7990cc, reached 8285cc in 2003 and was further expanded to 8382cc five years after that. When the model was discontinued in 2017, the V10 was the largest engine fitted to any production car.

The Viper was marketed in the US as a Dodge because, according to Chrysler executive Bob Lutz, it was “too big for Plymouth, too outrageous for the Chrysler brand”. In the UK, where the Dodge badge has very little meaning, it was sold as a Chrysler instead. In its final 8.4-litre form, the V10 is larger than any other engine offered by either brand.

PICTURE: 2013 SRT Viper

Long before it was nationalised, and therefore obliged to provide cheap transport for the mass market, Renault was just the sort of company which could be expected to produce a luxury car capable of winning the Monte Carlo Rally.

That car was the 40CV, whose straight-six engine started out at 7539cc in 1911 and was enlarged to 9120cc in 1920, five years before the Monte Carlo victory. A year after that, an aerodynamic single-seater version averaged nearly 108mph for 24 hours.

Peugeot is not known for producing large engines, but it did come up with a monster for the Type 105 of 1908. The company’s first six-cylinder motor measured 11.1 litres, and was reportedly capable of pushing the 105 to a startling 60mph.

Few people could afford such a powerful and expensive machine, so Peugeot built only 23 examples in two years before moving on to other things.

Bentley’s maximum capacity of 8.0 litres has been the standard figure for Bugatti in the 21st century. Like Bentley, though, Bugatti once created an engine whose enormity has not been surpassed since the 1930s. The Type 41, better known as the Royale, had a straight-eight which measured 12.8 litres, a figure exceeded in production cars only by the 13.5-litre monsters created by Peerless and Pierce-Arrow before the First World War.

Commercially, the Royale was a disaster, since it was too expensive even for royalty during the Great Depression era when I launched. Its engine, by contrast, was a triumph – the French state railway bought many examples, and was still using them to power its locomotives in the late 1950s.