4-Cylinder Auto Engines

How good do we have it?

If the measure of that is the power and performance delivered by the average new car, the answer has to be: Pretty damned good.

Four cylinder-powered family-haulers like the 2018 Mazda CX-9 I just reviewed haul more ass than the V8-powered muscle cars of my youth. Than the V8-powered muscle car, I have in my garage. At least, when it was new.

But it’s a story with two sides.

The first side is the almost miraculous power and performance – and drivability, reliability, d...