Everyone is focused on the death of the manual transmission, but the death of the V8 maybe sneaking up on us without car enthusiasts realizing. Two cylinders are slipping away due to government fuel economy requirements. While the cylinders disappear consumers are at least provided the trade off of more power and torque from turbos, but much is still lost. The new Ford GT has switched to a twin turbo V-6 coming from a supercharged V-8, for the current gen M3 BMW went from a V-8 to a twin turbo incline-6, and they are not the only ones.
Despite these examples of the car industry slowly shifting away from V-8 engines cars like the muscle car trio of Camaro, Challenger, and Mustang are still living strongly with their V-8 options, but lets take a look at some cars you probably did not know are currently available with a V-8 engine. The (Hyundai) Genesis G80/G90 twins come standard with a 3.3-liter 365 horsepower twin turbo V-6 engine, but it is currently available with a 5.0-liter V-8 engine producing 420 horsepower. Kia only offers a V-8 engine in the top trim of their K900 model in the form of a 5.0-liter V-8 engine producing 420 horsepower same as the G80/G90 twins. Infiniti's top trim G70 5.6-liter is available with a 420 horsepower 5.6-liter V-8 engine.
Supercar manufacturers appear to be trying to save the V-8 by equipping engines with turbos without downsizing the cylinder count. Ferrari has done this recently with the 488 GTB by lowering the V-8 engine displacement from 4.5-liter to 3.9-liter and adding a twin turbo set up. There is one case of a manufacturer killing a V-8 option off for a greater amount of cylinders. Audi with the current gen R8 have decided to have a sole V-10 engine taking away the first generations V-8 model, though before it was released rumors had it equipped with a twin turbo V-6.
Our current government leaders seem to be lax on the future fuel economy requirements set in by previous administration and this lax attitude may stretch out the life of the V-8. Only time will tell. We would love you hear our favorite V-8 engined car, post your favorite V-8 below.