Gas-strapped car buyers say: I shouldn't have a V-8

The quarterback of engines, the legendary V-8, is starting to have a hard time making the cut.

Most automakers introducing new V-8s are confining them to trailer-towing trucks and a few premium cars or high-performance sports models -- and retreating from putting them under the hoods of family cars.

Even on the high end, Ford Motor isn't going to offer an eight-cylinder engine in its luxury flagship Lincoln MKS sedan. General Motors is dumping the V-8 option in the 2010 Cadillac SRX crossover arriving next year.

"Unfortunately, you look at a V-8 and say, 'Do I really need it?'" says auto consultant Rebecca Lindland of Global Insight. "You get a real nice feeling from a V-6, or even a turbocharged V-6."

The percentage of new vehicles being sold with V-8 engines has fallen from nearly 25% in 2006 to 17.3% most ...