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Best Starting Car

A

Anonymous-0

Well-known Member
We all have our opinions, but does one manufacturer's car start better than another? While I have not read any studies, I'm going with Chevy.

Dad bought a like-new '39 Plymouth and about ten years later he bought a new '51 Dodge. Neither of them started well. Dad said IF he put in new plugs & points every fall they would start MOST days through the winter.

1961 Dad bought a new Chevy Impala, and it was a whole new world. That thing would start EVERY day, new plugs or old. So we became Chevy people overnight.

And while we've owned other brands over the years, Chevy remains king around here.

Back in '77-'82 I attended a university in SW Michigan. My brother & I always had a Chevy there. Come time for home leave & hoods would be up all over the parking lot, but our old Chevies would click right off.

Fast forward a few decades. My '88 Astro is probably the oldest ride in the parking lot by 15 years, and it'll out start 'em all. I've jump started the Principal's Toyota pickup, and the rich snob UWM graduates' new car that Daddy just bought for 'em.

I'm sure the '61 Chevy's twelve volt system was a plus, but I know our '51 DC CASE will click right off on six volts with just a couple revolutions.

....And the nine year old plugs, wires, cap, and rotor on my Astro van have over 136,000 miles on them.

What do you folks say....?



Cabin Fever Glenn
 
We have had a couple of Subarus over the past 7 years and they have both been good starters except for one time when the battery was getting old and I used the inflator that ran off the cigarette lighter without starting the car first. That was in the summer, in the winter they always have done well.
Zach
 
DC Case and good starting do not go together in my memory. I have one here that I can crank by hand, with battery, and finally pull around and round the yard with another tractor without it starting. It was always unpredictable and difficult but last time I tried,, impossible. So it varies . I find most of today's vehicles start well if they have a decent battery to crank in the cold.
 
I second Zachary, Subaru seems to make a easily stared car. I have had 4 of them and all started easily. 10-40 oil and charged battery, no life support, and 20 below actual temps. When it is colder -47 in Montana once (burrrrr) the power steering fluid turned to the constancy of crayola crayon. The engine ran but the belt made a horrible noise. We stayed home. Jim
 
Interesting on the DCs. We currently have three of them.
All excellent starters. I'm sure the Ms, Allis, etc. start well
too, I was just making the point they don't have to be 12
volt.

Largely I agree they'all start well with a strong battery &
reasonable tuning, but I can guarantee you the cars in the
parking lot at work are tuned better than my old Astro.

Glenn
 
New car wise I think they all start well. Dad had a 69 GMC pickup with the 305(?) truck V6 that would start anytime down to -20 degrees. I don't remember him trying it when the temp was lower than that. If I remember right we had to crank it awhile when it was hot. Jim
 
I am a Ford man (as a matter of fact my Dad said he thought they brought the wrong baby home from the hospital). All my Fords after they went 12 volt in '56 have been good starting vehicles. Keep your PMs up to date, and a good battery they will go. I did buy a '72 Dodge Dart Swinger new with the 225 slant six, and I must say, that car started when it saw you come out the door, no matter how cold it was. Oooh for the good old days!
 
My cousin had a Model A Ford that was the fastest starting engine I have ever seen. Just touch the starter pedal.
 
I get out of my VE-pumped Cummins and everything disappoints me when I bump the key and it doesn't start. The new diesels have to build fuel pressure to the rail before they can fire.
 
My old '68 Chev C50 grain truck wins here...327 was so worn it was 'swappin holes',but would jump start every thing else on the coldest days.NEVER failed to start....
 
When I was a kid, I had a succession of Chrysler flathead 6 powered cars. None of them started well when it was really cold...until I discovered the wonderful world of headbolt heaters! By simply replacing one of the interior headbolts with such a heater, I found that my old, worn out Plymouth and Dodge 6s would start no matter how cold it was. An electric fuel pump helped some too.

Later I had cars with V8 engines. I added engine heaters to most of them, usually either the lower radiator hose type, or else the percolator type. After plugging in the electric heaters for an hour or so, my cars and pickups always started, even at 20 below.

But lately, I have not bothered to put engine heaters on my gas fueled vehicles. These days they are all fuel injected and seem to start quite efficiently at any temperature I have encountered. I do miss the fact that without having the engine pre-heated, the heater takes a little while to start putting out detectable heat, while with the engine heated up with electricity, the heater works right away.

The diesels are a different story. If I want them to start when it is very cold at all, I plug them in. Lots easier on the starters and batteries and lots more reliable starts than just using glow plugs.

I also think that OUR winter temperatures are a bit more moderate these days than they often were in the 60"s through the 80"s. I say that after just coming in from a long walk on the property. I didn"t look at the thermometer, but I think it was somewhere around 5 degrees. It is supposed to drop below zero tonight, the first time in a couple of years.

It is a little hard to compare cars now to cars of the 30"s through the 80"s. The newer cars are SO much more complicated, and also so comparatively expensive. Even the least expensive cars available today have large amounts of standard features that would have been options, if available at all, not that many years ago. But in my experience, the newer cars sure do start well, in almost any condition I have encountered. Good luck!
 
I've got 2 chevys, a dodge and 2 ford trucks. The Fords are the best starting as far as how quick all it takes is a bump of the starter. The chevys need to be wound up some. Before fuel injection I would have to say Chevy. I've always been a Ford guy but the old Fords were kind of cold shouldered. I had a buddy that had a 66 Chevy truck with a 327 that I swear the starter was wired to the door. You never heard the starter crank, just the door slam.
 
The best starting vehicles I ever had were '71 F250 with a 360, '74 F100 with a 302, and a 74 GMC step van with a 272? 6 cyl. All of those would start instantly.
I've had several Fords that all started great except for an '89 F250 with a 460. It would start fine in the cold but not as well when it was hot.
The absolute worst starting vehicle I ever had was an International Travelall with a 304. The next to worst was a 72 Chevy step van with a 6 cylinder, but it was a tired engine.
Bottom line it has less to do with the make than it does the condition of the engine and how well it's tuned. Except for that danged International. It was just stubborn.
 
I see it's been mentioned already but I'll put my flame suit on here.... My 2 Dodge Cummins are by far my best starters! I have a 1993 12 valve and a 2007 with the 6.7. I do plug them in but sometimes I either forget or am somewhere I can't. Both start effortlessly, even today when our low was -20 and our high was -8 degrees. My wife took off in the 2007 leaving me the '93. It was not plugged in. Bump the key and she's off and running. I own/run a auto repair shop for a living and have yet to see a vehicle start as well as a cummins powered anything...

Casey in SD
 
The Volkswagen Beetle comes to mind. A lot of airline pilots flying out of O'Hare had them. They called them "Instant Volkswagens" or "Automatic Volkswagens". Unless they got water blown up the cooling vents in the engine cowling. Most of the guys parked them into the prevailing wind and then fixed a plastic cover over the engine because they might sit there for a week.
I never had one. Drove Ford V8s (not flatheads). They started fine. Sometimes -39.
 
Most of today"s cars with electronic ignition,fuel injection, computer controlled - start very well. Remember the old carburetor-ed cars - it was hit or miss in rough weather, whether they would start or not.
 
Out west, we are having about as much cold as we ever get, high teens, low 20's. Both my 1950 Dodge with its flathead six with six volt electrical and my '79 Mercedes turbo Diesel both kick right over with a touch of the key. These have been the most reliable and easy starting engines I have ever dealt with. Once they fire, I just take off, driving them easy until warmed up.
I used to have a 1929 Ford Model A that would start right up as long as you set the mixture and choke right.

The worst was a 2004 Ford Ranger I had at work. It liked to run roughly and stumble and would sometimes just drop dead going down the road when cold. Never set any codes and both our mechanics and the Ford dealer could never figure it out.

Seems like all the new vehicles with the electronics like a lot of cranking before they fire off, especially the new Diesels. I know the computer I built and programmed for a friend's hot rod truck has a parameter for how many revolutions of the crank before it starts to inject fuel and have spark. Don't know the reason for this, but I suspect production cars are the same way.

That '39 Plymouth didn't have a Bendix "Folo-Thru" starter drive. Chrysler products didn't get that until I think 1949, my '48 doesn't have it. Those old ones, the starter would kick out if the engine tried to fire at all. The Folo-Thru would stay engaged until the flywheel was spinning faster than the drive or you let off the key.

Josh
 
(quoted from post at 17:52:42 12/07/13)
The absolute worst starting vehicle I ever had was an International Travelall with a 304. The next to worst was a 72 Chevy step van with a 6 cylinder, but it was a tired engine.
Bottom line it has less to do with the make than it does the condition of the engine and how well it's tuned. Except for that danged International. It was just stubborn.
Click to expand...
I've actually had good luck with both the 304 INternationals I have owned. A 72 Scout II that never failed to start for me, hot or cold. The 71 Loadstar also is a reliable starter. If it is really cold and I need to start it I have dual block heaters to plug in as a starting aid. Those Holley carburetors could leak their gas out of the float bowl gasket and make it hard starting.
 
Best I ever had was a 1973 gmc 1500, with a 350, point ignition, it started on half a turn on the starter. I mean you just touch the key and it was running. That was one great engine.
 
This is a fun topic. I like seeing the vehicles people have owned.

I am constantly surprised how well my Farmall M starts. It was close to zero this morning and it rolled over three times and took off. I didn't plug it in or use the choke. It's a perfect loader tractor cause I never worry about it.

The best starting car around here is my 69 beetle. I built the engine about 10 years ago and it has never failed me since. It only has to crank until there's fuel in the carb and it takes off. It is a little fussy until it warms up but then the stumble goes away.

The worst (but I think I have the kinks out) is my 1977 convertible Beetle. It is a low mileage fuel injected car. There was just to much electrical stuff on there. If I start it every few days then it is OK, but if it sits a month I am in trouble. Last time it was some plastic electrical connector in the spare tire well that was loose and cut the power to the fuel pump. Funny, I drive it in that shed and shut it off. I swear it just likes to try my patience.

In high school I had a Beetle. I used to pray that it wouldn't start so that I could borrow my folks car with decent defrost. It never failed. I always had it full of everyone else whose car wouldn't start. I finally started keeping four ice scrapers in it so that all of the passengers could keep the window nearest to them clean on the inside. I can remember it snowing so much while I was in school that it piled up on the trunk lid and you couldn't see out the windshield. The sucker still started and got us all home without fail. If you slid into the ditch you just put it in reverse and it would climb out. The only vehicle better in snow was the VW bus I drove in college. It was a billy goat.
 
I'm a Ford guy, but my 12 valve Cummins gets my vote. Its supposed to be -2 tonite. Its been cold all week, but the old Dodge fires right up whether I plug it in or not.
 
My old '64 Ford pickup with a 292 V-8 would start reliably at -20, never let me down. Like to froze riding in it after it started, but that's another issue.
 
My old 1979 dodge w150 Powerwagon with a 360 will start instantaneously even today at 3 degrees, and my new 2012 dodge Powerwagon with a hemi will start anytime to doesn't matter how cold it is it fires before you can even let go of the key.
 
If we would talk tractors, my MH44 with carburetor will start anytime, I am struggling with the fuel injection to get enough fuel into it to start, but will figure it out.
 
My '06 VW Jetta Diesel and '99 Suburban and even my 1949 Ferguson TO 20 all start as soon as they see me reach for the key. The Fergy with old tech ignition etc starts just as good as the others but it takes everything being "right" as apposed to the later computer controlled vehicles which will self correct for a lot of wear parameters and start good almost forever.
 
Well as i have only owned four cars in my lifetime they were all great starters no matter the weather . and as for pick up them too would start . They had better because they had to go and move the snow . My 95 Dodge with the Cumming has nver been plugged in since i have owned it and it starts , may not like it but it starts. I keep sayen that i am going to put and outdoor plug on the back of the house each and every year and it still ain't done . To do this i would have to go back into the crawl space to run the wire, i would rather have a root canal then go in there.
 
yes mine will too ,,,. amazing aint it,...brother had a 65 chevy 283 that was the only thing in the driveway that would start in the blizzard of 77 , no electric for 4 days,, 20 below nites ,with a evil wind chill , we jump started moms new 1975 302 grenada ,, then pops new ford truck . all automatic trannys ,,. .my 429 mercury marquis convertible was practically stone dead ,, but the starter was a boat anchor too .. down in the barn ,we hand cranked a 51
DC Case to life every day ,,then pull started anything else we needed , and then started the neighborhood ..
 
I don't know about the best but the worst had to be Pa's 51 Ford ton and a half with the Merc flathead. We always had to pull start that thing. In winter with snow on the ground we had to pull it through the double corn crib to get traction. Round and round we would go.
 
As already posted, most modern fuel injected cars that are in good mechanical shape and have good ignition and fuel injection components, and the right viscosity of oil, will start right up.
It was somewhat interesting though, when fuel injection was in it's infancy, that my brother was a naysayer of modern electronic gizmos on vehicles. At that time he had about three cars that were fuel injected and he also had a '66 Bronco pickup with the 200 cu inch 6 cylinder engine. On a really cold day, none of his fuel injected cars would start. His bronco, with a manual choke, fired right up. I think I heard about that for years.
 
Gen 3 Toyota Prius. They have a little 100HP 4 cyl engine with a 45 HP 3 ph motor generator direct coupled to the engine. This big 3 ph motor powered through a DC to 3ph AC inverter, by a battery pack that is around 200 + volts.

Started the Prius today at a bit more than -20.
Starts the same as summer, wham !! and it's running instantly. It has no choice but to start instantly with that huge starter.
 
Best starting car I had before fuel injection was a 1975 Dodge Dart with the 225 CI slant 6. Bought it new and drove it over 200,000 in 12 years. Never failed and I lived in Minnesota and remember temps of -30f. Worst car for starting was a 1963 Pontiac Catalina with the 389. If the temp was below freezing, it was a bear to get going and any temp below zero, you might as well not even try.
 
I need to add a little sideways here. First my 1996 Ford Explorer starts perfect. Plugs and wires have been changed when should be! Air cleaner and throttle body also. Last is the Interstate Optima battery. LOVE those batteries! They have power you can't beleave.
Now my sister's husband was up a few weeks ago and wanted to mow the lawn for fun? Welllll about five minutes later he comes in and says the mower,"Cub Cadet 105" will not start. I walk out , my butt hits the tractor seat, PULL out the choke, and within SIX seconds, start to finish, the tractor is running. My heart just SWELLED!
 
Back in college, I rented an unheated garage for my 57 Chev, 283 Power Pak. It would start after three turns at minus 5 degrees, no engine heater, But wiser heads told me to preheat,
Outran a Chryslers 3000 D with that ride,
 
I had a 1970 AMC Hornet, with a hand choke. And back in the late 70's we had a cold spell -30F for about 10 days. My little 232 inline 6 was the only thing around that would come to life with out jump start or block heater. That cold spell sold a pile of block heaters.The old Hornet was a good little car, plain as a potatoe with a 3 on the tree.
 
Had a "67 Fairlane with a 390. Would fire right up at the touch of the key. Then you had to fiddle finesse and cajole to keep it running. Had to drive a good ten minutes before I would be sure that thing wouldn"t stall. Most cold blooded vehicle I ever owned. Even had a blue cold light on the dash cluster.
 
Reminds me of a brother in law. Had a 68 buick, he would say something like, has 100 thousand miles and never changed the plugs. Later when he tried to change them, they were stuck, frozen into the engine block and broke off. I think he had to get rid of it.
 
blue lite was neat to watch fliker off..//my bro had a 67 fairlane with a 289,.it was a easy starter ,too , and got 20 mpg with 3 on tree
 
Most of my vehicles started pretty good in the cold but I think one of the best was the old Dodge's with the gear reduction starter. I had a 360 in my welding truck and it started at -37C. It did make a lot of strange noises though.
 
old ford f150 with 300 six started a few days ago at -13 without windchill without being pulgged in, power steering squealed real bad so i kept the wheel turned to circulate it and it quit squealing, also the brakes were froze soild had to rock it real hard to get out, doesnt work real well when the front brakes are locked and its a 2wd truck lol
 
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