Here are five cars with some of the very best four cylinder engines

Subaru Impreza WRX STi EJ207

Alfa Romeo GTV 2.0 Twin Spark

Alfa Romeo GTV 2.0 Twin Spark

Alfa’s twin spark development didn’t die with the Series 105. In fact Alfa persevered with TS engines until 2009 when they were finally replaced by direct injection units. The 2.0-litre Twin Spark, as used by the GTV, wasn’t especially powerful (just 150bhp), but was renowned for its raspy character and high-rev eagerness.

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Honda Civic Type R K20A

Honda Civic Type R K20A

Honda has built incredible engines since the Sixties. We could have included any number of them here, not least the 800cc four from the S800, which revved to 10,000rpm back in 1965. But the K20A that underpinned the EP3 Civic Type R was an absolute honey. Mechanically unburstable, with a furious VTEC top end.

Honda S2000 F20C

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Honda S2000 F20C

Subaru Impreza WRX STi EJ207

We make no apologies for including two Hondas here, even though the engines have commonalities. The S2000’s F20C was a generation on from the K20A and is regarded as Honda’s ‘big block’ engine as later versions had a 2.2-litre capacity. But it’s the 237bhp 2.0 VTEC that we love most, not least for its 9,000rpm limit and 120bhp/litre specific output.

BMW M3 S14

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Subaru Impreza WRX STi EJ207

A toss up: it was either Subaru’s EJ207 or Mitsubishi’s 4G63T occupying this spot. The Lancer Evo’s engine is fizzier and more responsive, the flat four in the WRX STi sounds better. We went with the latter for the only turbocharged engine in our top five. Bored out for the famous 22B and renamed the EJ22.

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BMW M3 S14

A come together engine. The S14 from the first gen E30 M3 used the older cylinder block from the M10 (in production since 1962, a block that was even used in BMW’s turbo F1 era) and combined with a cylinder head from the S38 straight six with a couple of cylinders removed. The result was tough, aggressive and rev hungry.