The New Big Block

In muscle car circles, a big block is something special.

The term refers to what is literally as well as figuratively true. A big block is a V8 engine with a big block; i.e., it is physically larger on the outside than a small block. It also larger internally – in terms of its cylinder displacement. The classic example is the contrast between a Chevrolet big block V8 such as a 396, 427 or 454 and a small block 327 or 350.

Car people can tell the one from the other at a glance. The 396/427/454 are big engines – externally as well as internally (i.e., in terms of the size of their cylinders).

Some engines – such as the Pontiac V8 – can be big externally and internally as well as big externally and small internally. A Pontiac 455 looks the same on the outside as a 326. Both look big. You cannot tell the difference at a glance. It is necessary to look inside (or check the stampings).

Today’s analog of a “big block” is a little smaller.

I’m driving a 2026 Mazda 3 this week and it comes with one of the biggest four cylinder engines around – and it’s more than just that. This car’s 2.5 liter engine is huge – in comparison with the 1.5 liter (and even smaller) fours – and in some cases, threes – that are to be found under the hood of other modern cars. Even a number of luxury-brand cars come standard with 2.0 liter fours. Examples include the current BMW 5 Series and the Mercedes E-Class, both of which are much larger cars than the little Mazda as well as more than twice the cost. It says a lot about the Great Diminishment – about the acceptance of it – that so many people are willing to pay nearly $60,000 (the starting price range of a new BMW 5 Series or Mercedes E-Class) for a “luxury” car that comes standard with the kind of engine that used to come standard in economy cars.

It is interesting to note here that Mercedes and BMW have not adjusted the model designations to reflect the Great Diminishment. The Benz E350 used to come with a 3.5 liter V6. Hence E350. Today’s “E350” comes with a 2.0 liter four, so why not “E200”?

Because that would be telling. I mean, if this were not a diminishment, why not proudly tout “E200.”

Of course, relatively speaking, the 2.0 liter fours in the Mercedes E and the BMW 5 are “big.” So also the 3.4 liter V6 that comes standard in the Lexus GX550 I recently reviewed (this model used to be the GX460 and it used to come standard with a 4.6 liter V8. Like Benz and BMW, Lexus did not rechristen the GX to reflect the diminishment, because “GX340” would be telling.

The current Honda Accord comes with one of those 1.5 liter fours and several Buicks come standard with 1.2 liter three cylinder engines. These Buicks are not motorcycles, by the way. They are 3,200 lb. cars such as the 2026 Envista. The Great Diminishment is particularly evident as regards Buick, which was once famous for big things, including under the hood. The high water mark being the Electra 225 of the Before Time. The designation referred to its length – 225 inches – and keep in mind this was a car. Today, a full-size, half-ton truck with crew cab and a six foot bed such as the current Chevy Silverado is only about five inches longer than a ’70s-era Electra 225 and that full-size truck comes standard with a 2.7 liter four cylinder engine.

The Electra of the ’70s came standard with a 7.5 liter V8 engine.

It is a lot like noticing that what’s inside the box of whatever you bought at the supermarket has less inside than it used to – even though the price has gone up. The only thing that seems to be getting bigger in America is the cost of things – as well as Americans’ bellies. (Another interesting incongruence in that back in the Before Time, when things like cars and the engines they came standard with were big – and you got more in the box of whatever it was you bought at the supermarket – Americans themselves were not as big as they are now.)

In the context of the Great Diminishment, the little Mazda’s relatively big 2.5 liter four stands out like a 454 Chevy once did – relative to “little” 350 small block (which by today’s standards is regarded as a “big” V8). It is one of the lingering few engines of its type that is big enough to get by without needing to be augmented by a turbocharger, in order to force more power out of it. The italics are used to emphasize a dreary truth – another facet of the Great Diminishment – which is that the ever-smaller engines being pressed into service have to be forced to produce adequate power because without the turbo-boost, they’d be inadequate, being too small for the vehicles they’ve been tasked to move.

A 1.2 liter engine is big enough for a motorcycle because a motorcycle generally weighs less than 1,000 pounds. The Buick Envista weighs three times that. The turbo makes up for the smallness by literally cramming more air into the engine’s small cylinders, increasing the pressure inside the engine. Things that are under pressure tend to succumb to that pressure sooner.  It’s why the use of turbochargers was once – in the Before Time – generally restricted to high-performance applications, where more power was desired from an engine that alreayd made plenty. Examples include the Porsche 911 – which even without the turbo has a six cylinder engine that is plenty big (and powerful) enough to deliver high-performance. Adding a turbo increases the performance. It is not a replacement for displacement.

The distinction is important.

Meanwhile, the Great Diminishment motors on. Also, the chocolate ration has been increased – and the war is won.

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