The joke that went around for years was that General Motors and Ford would give you a sixteen-valve engine, too, and toss in another four cylinders as well. Why have more valves per cylinder, anyway? Outside of yahoo racers, how many people wind their engines over six or seven grand more than once or twice in a vehicle lifetime? While the four-valve cylinder does have the advantages of high rpm for racing and other high-speed purposes, that’s not what they’re for in most of the ordinary cars we see in the shop.