Straight From the Grave: An Iconic Engine Design Makes a Comeback [Inline 6!]

www.popularmechanics.com ^ | Aug 21, 2018 867 | By Matthew Jancer

[tubebender]

My son has a 2017 Chevrolet Colorado and I think it has a inline 6?

[trebb]

Straight 6 engines are also great workhorses. My wife had a 4.0 Liter Jeep Cherokee and I hauled a Chevy Blazer 400+ miles with it on a route that took it through some of the Tennessee mountains....highway mileage went from 22 unloaded, to 19 at double weight (Blazer actually weight more than the Jeep and tow dolly added a few hundred lbs.).

I had a V-6 3.7 Liter Jeep Liberty that boasted about 20 more HP than the straight 6...pulled a 1200 lb trailer over same rout and highway mileage went from 24 to 15...

[usconservative]

I had a ‘96 Cherokee Country with the 4.0 High Output I6. Couldn’t kill that motor if I wanted to. Smooth, great power curve, all the low-end torque I needed. Still regret selling it when it turned 15 and ran like a top!

[usconservative]

I still have my 2003 GMC Envoy with that same 4200 I-6 under the hood. Just replaced the coil packs, spark plugs, fuel filter, transmission cooler lines and upgraded the air intake at 110,000 miles. Runs like a champ and will push you back in the seat accelerating hard off the line from all the low-end torque that motor has. Great engine and transmission on this thing. Can't kill it.

My oldest son drives it when he's home from college. Whines about the gas mileage all the time but still can't keep his foot off the gas pedal .....

[Ransomed]

Yeah, I’ve been looking around the internet since this thread and there are a lot of fans of that atlas/vortec 4200 straight six. 270-290 hp and tons of low rpm torque depending on the year. I have an envoy too, so far all I’ve had to do besides simple maintenance is replace the coil pack, knock on wood.

Freegards

[Red Badger]

Two V-6’s make a V-12 which is balanced but would make a huge engine.

Yes, it does................

[strider44]

I had a great BMW with a straight 6 when I was stationed in Germany. Bought it used for $3,000 in 1994, drove it 3 years all over Europe, and sold it for $2,500 in 1997 to another soldier when I PCS’ed. One of the best purchases I ever made. It was a sweet ride on the autobahn up to 130 mph before I chickened out!

[jjotto]

I4, not I6

[usconservative]

There are some nice tweaks you can do to the computer like turn off throttle management for example that’ll really boost the acceleration. I added a cold air induction kit to mine which gave me 5-10 extra ponies and improved gas mileage too. There are some nice tuning tweaks out there and last I looked a few years ago a few places that will custom tune a chip for you that’ll boost mpg and performance.

[Ransomed]

It’s definitely something to think about. There’s a lot of stuff on the internet for this motor, a lot of fans.

Freegards