DETROIT -- The V8 engine, a gas-guzzler that lost its appeal when fuel prices zoomed a few years ago, made a comeback this year as a more fuel-efficient model, an auto industry publication reported.
Wards Automotive Reports said Monday V8 engines of 5.0 to 5.7 liters grabbed 21 percent of total production this year, compared with 16.7 percent in 1981. Most of the engines were installed in full-size and luxury cars, it said.
In a year when domestic car production dropped about 20 percent from 1981, demand for smaller engines also declined. Wards' analysts said demand for the large engine grew in response to stable fuel prices and more interest in big cars.
'First, I think stable fuel prices and a renewed interest in performance has a lot to do with it,' said Lee Miskowski, general marketing manager for Ford Motor Co.
'People buying cars these days are those who have the income to support a higher gas bill. Many people who would normally buy a (small) car haven't this year.'
James William, a spokesman for General Motor Corp.'s Chevrolet Division, also said V8engines and the larger cars in which they are sold have become more fuel efficient in recent years.
'V8s had a bad reputation because they used to get only eight, 10 or 12 miles per gallon,' he said. 'Now, it's not unusual to get 19 to 20 (mpg) on the highway.'
Today's V8s get better mileage because they are smaller than the high-performance V8 engines of past years.
Wards' said 53 percent of the 162,322 Camaro-Firebird models from GM were equipped with the engine, as were 22.3 percent of the 34,616 Mustang-Capris from Ford.
But analysts predicted the V8 surge might be short-lived because of an increased interest in the smallest engines -- those of 3.3 liters or less, which typically are six- and four-cylinder.
