The Smallest Displacement V8 Engine Ever In A Production Car

Summary

• Ferrari developed the smallest V-8 engine ever with a 2.0-liter displacement to meet tax constraints in Italy.
• The V-8 engine has evolved from a naturally aspirated to a turbocharged version with increased power over the years.
• Other car manufacturers, mostly Italian, have also produced small displacement V-8 engines as compact as today’s four-cylinder engines.

The V-8 engine is the most versatile engine configuration ever produced. It all started with the first V-8 engine produced in 1904 and since then the V-8 engine has been used for so many purposes. From sports cars to medium and large trucks, powering boats, and airplanes, the V-8 has powered a wide range of machinery. In the 21st century, the V-8 can still be found in various applications, as it remains the most versatile engine available.

Most V-8s are characterized by their big displacement engines which are great for power, torque, and reliability. A regular American V-8 would have a displacement of about 6.2 liters, which is great for a wide range of applications. However, due to strict emissions standards, most sports car companies are downsizing to 4.0 liters, which is small enough and still efficient. But before these emissions came into play, there was a much smaller V-8 engine from the most unlikely source. Ferrari has been known to make some of the most characteristic V-8 engines, but they also hold the title for making the smallest V-8 engine in history.

In order to give you the most up-to-date and accurate information possible, the data used to compile this article was sourced from Ferrari and other authoritative sources.

Ferrari Made The Smallest V-8 Engine

Ferrari’s first V-8 road car was the 308 GT4, which was the successor to the first Dino line of mid-engine sports cars. The predecessor was powered by a V-6 engine, but the replacement was now powered by a V-8 engine. The Dino 308 GT4 was introduced in 1973 with a 2.9-liter naturally aspirated V-8 engine. This is a significant vehicle for Ferrari, as it began the line of mid-engine V-8 sports cars that Ferrari is known for.

It was transversely mounted for packaging purposes and was fitted with a five-speed manual transmission. European versions of this engine made 255 horsepower, but the American export versions were slightly detuned to just 240 horsepower. It wasn’t much of a surprise as this was the case with most vehicles from European manufacturers.

The Smallest V-8 Engine Ever

In November 1974, Ferrari unveiled another version of the 308 at the Turin Auto Show, but with a small twist, this updated vehicle had a smaller V-8 engine. This was known as the 208 GT4 and had a 2.0-liter V-8 engine which made 170 horsepower. It was an almost identical car to the 308, but the main difference was the smaller engine. The 308 GT4 had a 2.9-liter V-8 while the new 208 GT4 had a 2.0-liter engine, but there was a reason for this.

At the time, there were taxes levied on cars that had more than two liters of displacement. Any car that exceeded this limit would be subjected to a hefty VAT of 38% which was double the amount that was usually required, which was originally 18%. So Ferrari made a much smaller engine to comply with the requirements of the Italian government. However, this tax requirement on larger displacement engines was made mainly because of the 1973 OPEC embargo. This threatened to cut oil supply greatly, so to reduce its effects, the Italian government put a cap on engine displacement.

It Was Only Sold In Italy

Building a brand-new engine to satisfy regulations is a huge task for a company, but more taxing for a company like Ferrari. They may have a few cars in their lineup today, but this wasn’t the case until recently, so making a new engine like this was a big investment for the brand. However, Ferrari never made the 208 GT4 a global vehicle as it was sold only in Italy.

A new 308 had been introduced in 1975 and was sold alongside the 208, so this helped offset some of the cost that Ferrari may have incurred in building a new engine. While they were identical, some subtle changes were made to the 208 GT4. These changes included:

• Smaller tires
• No fog lights
• Black instrument cluster instead of silver.

The 308 and 208 Were Officially Ferraris

The 308 was the 208, originally known as the Dino 308 GT4 and Dino 208 GT4, but a change was made in 1976. These cars were officially recognized as Ferraris, and had all Dino badges replaced with the prancing horse badges. The Dino name was dropped, and became then known as the Ferrari 308/208 GT4. The 208 remained in production until 1980 with a total production of 2,826 308s and 840 208s. The 208s are significantly fewer since they were only sold in the Italian market.

Other Ferraris That Made Use Of This Engine

Ferrari made a big investment by creating a new and smaller displacement V-8 engine. Selling only 840 cars would not be enough to make this investment pay off, so the 2.0-liter V-8 made its way into the successor. Ferrari had already introduced a new 308 in 1975 and had plans to make a smaller engine. The 208 version, which was already in the works.

In 1980, Ferrari introduced the new 208 GTB and GTS with the same 2.0-liter V-8 from the previous car. They were still sold mainly in Italy, but were also offered for sale in Portugal and New Zealand. In 1982, the regular 208 GTB/GTS was replaced with a turbocharged version known as the 208 GTB/GTS turbo. This was a huge milestone for Ferrari as it was the first ever turbocharged road-going Ferrari, It was still intended to be sold domestically, which made them very limited. Production of the 208 GTB turbo ended in 1985, but this little V-8 still has another chapter to its story.

Ferrari GTB/GTS Turbo

In 1985, the Ferrari 328 replaced the previous 308, and this time it had a bigger 3.2-liter V-8 engine which replaced the former 2.9-liter unit. A year later, Ferrari introduced a new model, simply known as the GTB/GTS Turbo. It replaced the former 208 Turbo, but used an updated version of its 2.0-liter V-8 with more power. All of these cars were limited to the Italian market, which makes their production numbers very small.

Evolution Of The Smallest Displacement V-8

Engine Specifications

The 2.0-liter V-8 started as a naturally aspirated engine with just 170 horsepower mated to a five-speed manual transmission sending power to the rear wheels. It was used in this configuration in the 208 GT4, and later in the 208 GTB, which was its successor. The 208 GTB had less power than the original GT4, even with four new Weber carburetors. But the next version of this little rocket would receive some changes in the form of forced induction.

The 208 GTB got an updated fuel-injected version of the Ferrari V-8 with a turbocharger attached to it. This turbocharged version was influenced by the turbo version of the Ferrari 126C Formula One car. It now had 220 horsepower, which is 50 horsepower more than its naturally aspirated version. The final version of this engine came in the successor, which was the 328-based GTB Turbo. It still used the same turbocharged V-8, but with a new turbocharger and the addition of an air-to-air intercooler. This was the most powerful version of Ferrari’s smallest V-8 with a max output of 251 horsepower.

The development of the final turbo V-8 powertrain was headed by Nicola Materazzi. An important man, as he worked on the Ferrari 126c Formula One car, and was chief engineer for the Ferrari 288 GTO. He would apply lessons from these cars on the GTB Turbo, and would later become chief engineer for the Ferrari F40.

Small Displacement V8 Engines

Ferrari may have made the smallest displacement V-8 in automotive history, but they’re not the only ones. There are other manufacturers that have also made very small displacement V-8s, and a common trait they share is that they’re mostly Italian. To describe how small these V-8 engines are, 2.0 liters is the regular displacement of most four-cylinder engines today. This means these tiny V-8 engines are as small as most four-cylinder cars of today.

Other cars that made use of small displacement V8s include:

• Lamborghini Urraco – 2.0 liter V-8
• Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale – 2.0 liter V-8
• Fiat 8V – 2.0 liter V-8
• Ford 136 V8 – 2.3 liter V-8
• Simca Aquilon – 2.4 liter V-8
• Tatra 603F – 2.5 liter V-8
• Daimler V8 – 2.5 liter V-8