5 Crate Engines That Give You Serious Horsepower For Your Money

As car enthusiasts, we often believe that cars are more than just machines — that they carry a soul and even a part of us inside. We often draw parallels between a car's engine and the human heart, both of them sparking emotion in us. And since there are great cars that are held back by their engines and aren't all they can be, improving that heart by performing an engine swap is one of the ultimate ways to make a car truly your own.

There is no shortage of great power trains to throw in your engine bay, but unless you want to go with a junkyard find, most engine swaps are expensive. Luckily, there are budget-friendly alternatives that pack serious power for a reasonable price. These five crate engines offer great horsepower potential without making you look financially undisciplined. While some are well-known, there are one or two surprising entries on the list.

We can't do a crate engine list without at least one Chevy V8. In 1955, the bow tie introduced the first small-block, which spawned a long line of reliable, versatile V8 engines with compact packaging. The LS376 series of crate engines are all great, but we went with the LS376/525 for a number of reasons. The LS family of pushrods has always been one of the most compact and lightweight American V8 engines due to their pushrod design. This normally aspirated variant is no exception, weighing approximately 486 pounds fully dressed. Unlike the carbureted LS376/515, the 525 comes with fuel injection, which makes it less of a hassle when wanting to extract more power. 

The LS376/525 not only boasts great value, but also comes with a 24-month/50,000-mile warranty. With a peak output of 525 horsepower at 6,300 rpm and 486 pound-feet of torque at 5,200 rpm, this pushrod crate engine combines modern performance with classic aesthetics and, with the right parts, potential for a lot more than the factory power figures, if your budget allows for that. If your pockets are deep enough, you might even want to take a look at Chevrolet's 632 V8 monster.

With the risk of becoming predictable, we're including another popular crate engine. Ford's venerable 5.0 Coyote is the natural rival to Chevrolet's LS V8. Similar to its pushrod nemesis, the Blue Oval's crate engine comes in a variety of trims, including a supercharged, 815-horsepower version of the iconic Ford V8. While the brand has no shortage of Coyote crate engines, we went with the base variant, which still boasts impressive credentials. Depending on whether you go for the third or fourth generation of the Ford Coyote, you're looking at 460 to 480 horsepower and 415 to 420 lb-ft of torque. 

Regardless of which you choose, they come with a steel forged crankshaft, hypereutectic pistons, and sinter-forged connecting rods. These V8 engines love boost, and even a stock Coyote can easily make 800 horsepower reliably. The upgrade options are vast, and all Ford crate engines come with a 24-month/24,000-mile warranty.

An old saying goes like this: "It's not the size of the dog in the fight. It's the size of the fight in the dog." 4 Piston Racing's K340 engine epitomizes that view, since it doesn't take a lot of mods to produce V8-rivaling horsepower reliably. This crate engine is based on the Honda K24. While you can still pick up one of those from a junkyard for under $1,000, 4 Piston Racing's K340 already has most of the work done for you by fitting the engine with the necessary upgrades to make big power. Its 340 normally aspirated horsepower may not seem like a lot, but the upgraded internals and periphery ensure that the small engine is capable of a lot more power than stock, with forced induction.

Paying almost 10 grand for a four-banger when so many V8 motors are available may seem like a dumb idea, but the K24's eagerness to take boost and make big power rivals plenty of larger engines. According to 4 Piston Racing, which makes it, the K340 crate engine has been meticulously developed for both track and street use. Moreover, with the K-series powertrains having great combustion efficiency, these engines are very power-dense for their displacement. We've already seen the epic results from a K24-swapped Mazda Miata, so imagine this finely-tuned, K24-based powerhouse in a similarly lightweight chassis.

We really wanted to include Chrysler's Hurricane inline-6 engine here, but for $500 less than the least-powerful Category 1 Hurricane, you can get yourself a Hellcat crate engine. The long-block kit is quite comprehensive, and with 717 horsepower and 656 lb-ft of torque out of the box, this is as good a baseline as you can get for under $10,000. As a bonus, you get the signature Hellcat supercharger whine and the ability to make 200 additional horsepower with only the most basic mods. 

While the Hurricane inline-6 is the company's most advanced engine for performance, the iron-block Hellcat relies on brute force and 376 cubic inches to make big, supercharged power. Dodge's Direct Connection program has one of the most comprehensive selections when it comes to crate engines and supporting mods, but you can see why we went with the base Hellcat crate engine. The power potential is similar to more powerful Hellcat crate engines, but comes at a lower cost.

It's hardly a surprise that we're putting another Chevy V8 on this list. In a hot-rod and restomod scene abundant with LS V8 engines, it is easy to forget that Chevrolet has other capable pushrods that can dish out serious damage. The L8P is a completely different platform from the LS series, as it's based on the newer LT family. This V8 crate engine features a heavy-duty iron block and an LT2 camshaft in order to make more power than the L8T on which it is based.

The result is a 6.6-liter torque monster of a small block that produces 523 horsepower and 543 lb-ft of torque. At $8,948.80, the bang-for-buck ratio is certainly there, and it can easily handle more power with a few mods. The L8P is extremely popular for restomods as it combines classic V8 design with modern features like direct injection and the mid-engine C8 Corvette's valvetrain profile.