When it comes to engines, most carmakers tend to be quite sensible with what they put in their production cars but some like to go off the rails a little and fit ridiculous engines in their cars. Engines which are stupidly sized, too big or too small.
Over the years, many auto manufacturers have made sports cars that are powered by ridiculous engines. Some of these cars/trucks are loved by car enthusiasts all around the world, whilst others are just laughed at. Here are the most ridiculous engines carmakers have used in a production vehicle.
10 Dodge Ram SRT-10: 8.3L V10
The first vehicle on this list is the Dodge Ram SRT-10. In 2004, Dodge decided for some bizarre reason to fit the Viper's 8.3L V10 into the Ram pickup. Words can not even describe how silly this decision was, but it was done, and it gave the world one of the most pointless trucks in history.
It sounded great, and it was very fast for a large pickup. It had 500hp, more than a Ferrari F430, and 525 lb-ft of torque. It hit 60 in 4.9 seconds too, which was crazy. It was by far one of the fastest American trucks ever made.
9 Mercedes W204 C63 AMG: 6.2L V8
The W204 Mercedes C63 was such a wild car. It was one of the smallest Mercedes cars, yet it featured one of the biggest engines, the 6.2L V8 seen in the SLS and the original E63 AMG. The E63 was downgraded to a 5.5 Biturbo, whilst the 6.2 stayed in the C63. It was complete madness, as by 2012 the smaller Mercedes had a larger engine than most of Mercedes' cars.
It was a proper muscle car, and it was loved worldwide. This was Europe's answer to the American muscle car scene, and it certainly impressed many muscle car enthusiasts. Now, Mercedes has gone to the other extreme of the spectrum and fitted the W206 C62 with a 2.0 4-cylinder Biturbo.
8 Mazda RX7 FD: 1.3L Twin-Turbo Wankel
The Wankel engine is a very unreliable engine that was infamously placed in many Mazda cars. One of them was the RX7, a car that rivaled the Nissan 300ZX and even the Toyota Supra at the time. The FD RX7 was the last generation of RX7, and it famously featured a twin-turbo Wankel unit. It was heavily unreliable, but it sounded sweet.
It's a very nice-looking car, and it sure is pretty fast too. These sports cars are still pretty cheap today, mainly due to their poor reliability. Mazda should have fitted this car with a 6-cylinder maybe, but then again would it be as cool with a different engine?
7 Toyota Previa: 2.4L Mid-Mounted Supercharged Inline-4
The first-generation Previa is stupidly weird and inconvenient. Its engine is placed in the middle of the car to increase interior space, and you have to remove the seats and carpet to actually access it. The weirdest thing though is that they released a supercharged version of this car.
It was such a weird car that it quickly became a classic. It was a big mid-engined RWD egg on wheels with a supercharged 4-cylinder. What a setup that was! Toyota realized though that the first-generation Previa was just too weird. Therefore, they ensured the next two generations of Previa were front-engined, front-wheel drive, and equipped with a boring engine.
6 Bugatti Veyron/Chiron: 8.0L Quad Turbo W16
The engine in the Bugatti Veyron and Chiron is a work of art. It's a quad-turbo W16 with over 1000hp stock. Back in 2005, this engine was a first. The 16-cylinder engine had been fitted in other cars, some made it to production, whilst others remained a concept. None of them was as this big or as powerful though. This engine ensured the Bugatti Veyron hit 253 mph, making it the fastest car in the world at the time.
The Veyron changed the car world forever. It may have lost Bugatti and parent company VW a lot of money, but it showed the world what they were capable of. Fast forward to the 1550hp Chiron and the company is profiting from the car.
5 Cizeta Moroder/V16T: Transverse 6.0L V16
Another 16-cylinder car, just a bit less successful than the other one. Only 20 were ever produced, and they featured a 6.0 V16 engine, made from two Lamborghini Urraco V8's. It was designed by Marcelo Gandini who previously designed the beautiful Lamborghini Countach.
It was a very weird car, and it was completely over the top. It made the Lamborghini Diablo look like a Toyota Camry. It even had four pop-up headlights, which at the time was unheard of.
4 Koenigsegg Gemera: 2.0L Twin-Turbo Inline-3
Koenigsegg has managed to get 600hp and 443 lb-ft of torque from an engine called the "Tiny Friendly Giant." It's the size of a milk bottle, yet it has more power than the V12 used in the original Murcielago. The Gemera in total with its electric motors and three-cylinder engine combined pushes out 1700hp and 2581 lb-ft of torque.
It hits 60 in 1.9 seconds, which is just insane. The three-cylinder unit only weighs 70kg too making it ultra-light. Maybe, that same unit should be fitted to other cars too? Just imagine it in F1 how much of an animal it would be? It's tiny yes, but friendly? Hell no!
3 Renault Clio V6: 2.9L V6
The Renault Clio V6 is one of the weirdest cars ever made. Instead of rear seats, it has a 2.9-liter 227hp V6 in the back instead. It was a very weird car, and it was the late successor to the bonkers Renault 5 Turbo. It was a crazy car, and the short wheelbase and RWD layout made it a handful.
The Clio V6 was one of the best hot hatches ever made though. It was just over the top in every single way, and in some cases, it attracted more attention than a supercar. Nobody knew the point of this car, but then again it was never made to make a point. Renault just made it to have fun.
2 Aston Martin V12 Vantage: 6.0L V12
The Vantage was Aston Martin's smallest car. Therefore, what's the point of fitting it with the company's largest engine? Well, Aston Martin still did it and the outcome was spectacular, The V12 Vantage was released in 2009, and it was one of a kind. It featured the same V12 as the DBS, yet it was so much more enjoyable. The Vantage was smaller and lighter which made it a better driver's car.
The V12 Vantage originally had 510hp, but that was soon increased to 565hp on the "S" model. Then came the GT12 model with 592hp and finally, the ultra-rare V600 with a similar horsepower output to the GT12.
1 Audi Q7 V12 TDI: 6.0L TDI V12
Fitting a car with a 6.0L V12 turbo-diesel sounds like a stupid idea. Who on earth would do that? Believe it or not, Audi did, with the Q7 of all cars. It was a stupid SUV, with so much torque it could probably pull down the White House. The Q7 TDI was a car that had more power than a Ferrari F430, more space than a mid-sized house and its engine was more outlandish than most supercars at the time.
This was a proper sleeper. Nobody on the road knew when looking at the car, that it packed a great big V12 under the hood. It was a complete one-off car, and there is absolutely no chance that Audi will ever make a car like this again.