Especially with the introduction of electric powertrains, there’s never been more of a choice for what you get under the hood of your vehicle than in 2026. Emissions regulations and a strive for the highest efficiency ratings mean there’s a lot of smaller engines on the market today. Still, some manufacturers manage to keep the middle-ground V6 alive, offering standout performance without decreasing the fuel economy as much as larger V8.

Due to the V6’s versatility and proven practicality, you’ll be able to find one in all the major segments on the market at the moment. Considering how expensive new cars are, you won’t be able to get a brand-new V6-powered car on a budget, but if you’re looking for a pickup truck that can tow plenty or a compact sports car with buttery-smooth power delivery, the V6 is still well and truly alive across the board. Here’s a closer look at 12 of the nameplates that still feature a V6 in 2026 for some, if not all, trim levels.

At the smallest end of the Lexus sedan lineup is the IS, which is wearing an all-new face for the 2026 model year. While it’s still part of the third-generation run, its front end makes it look brand new in all the best ways. Under the hood, though, one of the engines from the 2025 model has been brought over: the 3.5L-liter V6. The entry-level four-cylinder was dropped alongside the top-spec V8, leaving the V6 as the sole option if you want the car brand new.

The engine is the powerplant for both of the trims this year, with the F Sport Design only having the appearance of the proper F Sport, just without the performance upgrades elsewhere within the drivetrain. You get a healthy 311 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque from the V6, which doesn’t make it the most powerful on this list, but it is still plenty for a compact sedan that treats luxury equally as important as performance. Pricing starts at $46,895, plus a $1,295 destination charge.

The Jeep Wrangler has been a pillar of the off-roading scene since its introduction in 1986. Throughout its generations, the rugged SUV hasn’t deviated much from its original philosophy, yet it still manages to keep up with the competition in capability. The 2026 model doesn’t change anything major underneath its skin, with features such as leading link suspension at the front and trailing arm at the rear in the base trim. For power, it relies on a 3.6-liter V6 for most of its trims.

Like many SUVs on the current market, the 2026 Wrangler has multiple engines available. The Sahara, 80th Anniversary Edition, and the Willy ’41 come with a smaller, 270-horsepower inline-four. In the top-spec Moab 392 sits a 6.4-liter V8 producing 470 horsepower, but for every other trim, you get the 285-horsepower V6. The engine also gives you 260 pound-feet of torque at 4,800 RPM, striking a solid balance between on and off-road driving. At the lowest end of the V6-powered lineup, the Sport trim comes in at $36,035, with the Rubicon X sitting at $56,560. All come with a $1,995 destination charge.

Another Asian luxury brand that is trying to reach the levels of Lexus and such is Genesis. Only entering the U.S. market in 2016, Genesis has built a very competitive fleet of cars, making good use of a variety of powertrains across the sedan and SUV segments. At the smaller end of the former segment sits the G70, which goes toe-to-toe with cars like the IS. Similar to the Lexus, the G70 is powered exclusively by V6 engines, but has a couple of options depending on your budget and priorities.

The entry-level 2.5-liter V6 for the 2026 G70 can be selected for the base trim as well as the more refined Prestige models, producing a decent 300 horsepower and 311 pound-feet of torque. It’s turbocharged for an extra boost of performance, but the 3.3-liter option comes with two of them. Producing a higher 360 horsepower, this engine will expectably cost you more money, starting at $53,600 for the Sport RWD trim, compared to the $43,450 MSRP of the cheapest 2.5-liter model. Every G70 is available in either rear-wheel or all-wheel drive, giving it an edge over some rivals in that respect.

Despite being tailored almost exclusively for the U.S. market, Acura is also one of the most reserved when it comes to how many cars it has in its lineup. In 2026, you have the choice of just four new Acuras, three of them being SUVs. At the top of the relatively small pile is the MDX, which is very much marketed as a premium performance SUV. Inside, you get features like leatherette-trimmed seats, ambient lighting, and a leather steering wheel as standard for a more polished look, with driving dynamics to match.

Under the hood sits a 3.5-liter V6 engine producing 290 horsepower and 267 pound-feet of torque, which may not seem like a lot, especially compared to rivals such as the BMW X5. However, Acura puts a lot of focus on the rest of the car, using tech such as the brand’s Active Handling Assist, which uses torque vectoring to help keep the car balanced through the corners. The reactive dampers aim to keep the ride as smooth as possible, to also hit the luxury brief. At the top of the pack, though, the Type-S trim gets a turbocharged 3.0-liter engine, putting down a much more competitive 355 horsepower and 354 pound-feet of torque.

The Panamera doesn’t get as much attention as some other Porsches in the current lineup, but that can be somewhat expected. It’s not as flashy or brutally fast as any of the 911s or 718s, but if you’re looking for a nice balance between performance and comfort in a full-size sedan, the German outfit’s offering remains one of the most competitive all these years later. Porsche likes a six-cylinder engine, and for the 2026 Panamera, a healthy 2.8-liter V6 is put to use.

If you want the maximum performance that the Panamera offers at the moment, either the gas-only V8 producing 493 horsepower or one of the four different hybrid options, some of which we got behind the wheel of last year. With the base V6 engine, though, you get 348 horsepower and 368 pound-feet of torque, which is necessary to shift the 4,295-pound curb weight. Pricing starts at $113,000 for the base 2026 Panamera, with the $120,400 4 trim also getting the same engine, but with all-wheel drive as standard to get off the line quicker.

The first pickup on this list is the Toyota Tundra. Ever since it was released in 2000, it’s remained one of the most attractive full-size trucks on the market, despite going up against the likes of the F-150. In 2026, the Tundra continues to build on the complete redesign introduced in 2022, but doesn’t have anything major compared to the previous two model years. That means the same engine carries over, and a truck this big needs plenty of power to do its job.

The 2026 Tundra has three different 3.6-liter V6 options available, with the lower-tuned, single-turbocharged version producing 358 horsepower and 406 pound-feet of torque. The SR5 trim unlocks the twin-turbocharged engine producing 389 horsepower, but the hybrid option comes out on top with a strong 437 horsepower output. With so many different cab configurations as well, the Tundra’s towing capacity can fluctuate massively, but it’s the SR5’s engine that manages to tow the maximum 12,000 pounds that the truck is capable of.

With most American manufacturers moving toward SUV and pickup truck exclusivity, Cadillac has been the primary force in keeping the sedan segment alive in the U.S., at least with an engine under the hood. The smaller of the two gas-powered sedans currently offered by Cadillac is the CT4, introduced in 2020 to replace the ATS. Not long after, the compact sedan would receive the Blackwing treatment for the CT4-V variant, which remains one of the best value-for-money buys if power is your utmost priority.

In the standard CT4-V, you still get solid numbers from the 2.7-liter four-cylinder, offering 325 horsepower and 380 pound-feet of torque. In the Blackwing, though, a massive 472 horsepower and 445 pound-feet of torque come courtesy of the twin-turbocharged 3.6-liter V6. Alongside the bigger engine, the CT4-V Blackwing gets various visual enhancements to drive home the performance element, including a larger front splitter and a defined duck spoiler, to name a few. Starting at $63,600 (with a $1,795 destination charge), the Caddy undercuts plenty of cars that don’t offer this level of power, especially in a compact package.

Full-size trucks aren’t the only type to have a V6 under the hood. In Nissan’s current lineup, there’s only one truck left after its full-size competitor, the Titan, was discontinued in 2024. Now, only the mid-size Frontier keeps the brand active in the pickup truck segment, but it does a solid job of staying in the mix in its segment for raw power.

For the 2025 model year, the truck received a refresh to bring it up to the visual standards of modern trucks, but the rocksteady powerplant remained the same. The same carries over into the 2026 model year, with the 3.8-liter V6 producing 310 horsepower and 281 pound-feet of torque. The former rating is the same as the Chevy Colorado, a direct rival to the Nissan, and 40 more than the Ford Ranger. It’s worth noting that the other trucks offer bigger engines, but for the base price of $33,550, excluding the $2,190 destination fee, the Frontier is certainly worth considering if you aren’t looking to spend a whole lot of money but want plenty of power.

Very few brands have gone through as big an overhaul as Audi in recent years. Discontinuing many nameplates and merging others, the brand backtracked several times before settling on its current strategy. One of the changes that was made was the removal of the A4 and the old A5 to create the all-new A5, which leans further into both the luxury and performance elements that the brand is built on. The B10 generation was launched for the 2025 model year, subsequently getting no major changes this year.

In what’s currently the top-spec model before the RS5 enters the market, the 2026 S5 is powered by a 3.0-liter V6 engine, producing 362 horsepower and 406 pound-feet of torque. Equipped with quattro all-wheel drive as standard, the sedan can reach 60 MPH in just 4.3 seconds, which isn’t bad for a luxury car of its size. Being an all-new German luxury car, though, it’s quite expensive relative to cars of a similar performance level, starting at $63,300.

Ford is another brand that frequently reshuffles its lineup, with some recent key changes aimed at simplifying things, such as dropping the mid-size Edge from the fleet. In 2026, Ford will have a couple of SUVs within the segment. The Explorer is the way to go if you want a bit more comfort and a standard SUV feel, but for overall capability, the Bronco is Ford’s main weapon. In its lower-trim guises, the inline-four delivers 300 horsepower, which is there or thereabouts with the competitor.

However, the Outer Banks, Badlands, and Heritage edition get a 2.7-liter EcoBoost V6, producing a much healthier 400 horsepower and 415 pound-feet of torque using premium fuel. Only the Stroppe Edition gets this engine as standard. Go right to the top of the lineup, though, and the Bronco Raptor delivers a maximum 418 horsepower and 440 pound-feet of torque from its EcoBoost 3.0-liter V6. While the horsepower bump is only slight, the step up in torque allows the Raptor to be comfortably the best Bronco off the tarmac, but comes with a price tag of $79,995 (with a $1,995 destination charge).

Genesis’ sedans are a huge part of the brand’s overall success, but in the U.S. market, it’s unsurprisingly the SUVs that are the most important in continuing the recent strides. Towards the top-end of the segment, the GV80 is the largest SUV you can buy from Genesis at the moment, until the much-anticipated GV90 finally releases. Like many of its competitors and other Genesis models, the 2026 GV80 comes with a couple of engine options. The base 2.5-liter inline-four produces 300 horsepower and 311 pound-feet of torque, but the higher trims get a 3.5-liter turbocharged V6.

The first trim level that unlocks the V6 is the Advanced, with the Prestige and engine-exclusive Prestige Black also getting the V6 treatment. You get 375 horsepower and 391 pound-feet of torque, which was a massive factor in getting a perfect 10/10 score in our review of the V6-equipped 2025 GV80. Other features, such as the limited-slip differential, help keep the increased power consistent almost all the time, further bolstered by the available Sport driving mode alongside the various other terrain modes. For pricing, the V6-powered luxury SUV comes in at $75,950 with a $1,495 destination charge.

Decreasing the size dramatically compared to some of the V6 SUVs on this list, we get to the Nissan Z. The Z nameplate has been a staple of Nissan’s performance efforts for decades now, with the most recent iteration doing pretty well in offering the more stripped-back, analog feel behind the wheel that you’d expect from a small JDM sports car. Outside of the engine itself, Nissan uses Akebono brakes for all trims and tunes the suspension for the best balance across the board, but the 3.0L twin-turbocharged V6 is what gets most of the attention.

Producing 400 horsepower and 350 pound-feet of torque, the 2026 Z manages to hang on to and sometimes beat its rivals for base performance. The newest GR Supra produces 382 horsepower from its inline-six (not a V6), for example. Nissan doesn’t stop there, though, with the Nismo trim once again topping the lineup with a more powerful version of the twin-turbo V6. Priced at $65,750, it’s noticeably more expensive than the base trim at $42,970, but justifies it through delivering 420 horsepower and 384 pound-feet of torque. Do note that only the nine-speed automatic is available for the Nismo; the rest of the trims also offer a six-speed manual.