Tell ya what, come on over for a ride in my 2.8L VR6 Jetta. It makes
peak HP of 190 at 5950 RPM (it redlines at 7300 rpm and makes decent
power till 6600rpm) and you can pull away at 35 mph all the way to 150
mph in fifth gear without even lugging the motor. Sure, a four cylinder
might be lighter and make as much or more hp higher in the rpm band (ala
S2000 motor) but for day to day it's still a gutless wonder. In regards
to V8's, true the hp/cu in. is not all that impressive but even a 305 V8
built to make peak hp up high (relative high that is...no relatively
stock pushrod v8 makes power above 6000 rpm) will still be a great day
to day driver because of low end torque. Not saying that Honda's
engines aren't impressive...They are...They just are not practical. I
still say VTEC is a marketing scam.
MKR
>From tsmit@novatel.ca Thu Feb 4 10:13:20 1999
>Received: from ntsrv004.corp.novatel.ca (ntsrv004.corp.novatel.ca
[198.161.70.31]) by fw.novatel.ca (8.6.12/fw_950222) with ESMTP id
KAA08394; Thu, 4 Feb 1999 10:35:58 -0700
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> id <ZPYBKDJJ>; Thu, 4 Feb 1999 11:07:42 -0700
>Message-ID:
<801C5619C066D211AC430008C75675E55D9C29@ntsrv004.corp.novatel.ca>
>From: Theo Smit <TSmit@novatel.ca>
>To: "'Mark Radelow'" <radelow@hotmail.com>, johnson@ids.net,
JPKKMK@aol.com
>Cc: tigers@autox.team.net
>Subject: RE: Rather have a Big One
>Date: Thu, 4 Feb 1999 11:07:40 -0700
>X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.5.2232.9)
>
>The funny thing about engine power is that you can't make it
everywhere. Any
>piston engine built to develop maximum power "well above" 5000 rpm is
not going
>to perform worth beans at 2500 rpm and below. And that means you can't
use 2.88
>gears anymore. Not having 2.88 gears means you get to row the gearbox
driving
>around town, and let's face it: The toploader shifts like a farm
implement
>compared to any Japanese transmission (okay, not Mazda's :) built in
the last 30
>years.
>
>And what's GOOD power in a V-8? 1 hp / cu.in? You won't get much over
that using
>factory heads, even with porting and oversize valves. Even making 400
hp out of
>a 302 only gets you 1.3 hp / cu. in., and I would like everyone who has
a real
>400 hp Tiger that is pleasant to drive around town to share their
secrets,
>please. The only thing that saves high-RPM V-8's is that even if they
are so
>tightly tuned that they only make 60 ft-lb of torque at idle (compared
to say
>300 at peak), that's still enough to move a Tiger off the line with
reasonable
>vigor. With a smaller engine, having that kind of peak to idle torque
ratio is
>going to make the car hard to drive. Not that it can't be done, you
just have to
>drive like you're on a mission everywhere you go.
>
>Theo Smit
>tsmit@novatel.ca
>B382002705
>
>
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Mark Radelow [SMTP:radelow@hotmail.com]
>> Sent: Thursday, February 04, 1999 9:52 AM
>> To: johnson@ids.net; JPKKMK@aol.com
>> Cc: tigers@autox.team.net
>> Subject: Re: Rather have a Big One
>>
>> Funny thing about the Honda S2000 is NOWHERE will you find Torque
>> listings. I am predicting MAX 160 FT. LBS., and that peak being
reached
>> somewhere WAY north of 4500 rpm. That car is gonna be one of the
worst
>> daily drivers ever built. Proof? Go drive a Integra Type-R. Unless
>> you keep that bastard above 5000 rpm, Toyota Tercel's are gonna be
>> passing you. nothing quite like pushrod V8 power. Funny thing is, I
>> have even seem some pushrod v8's make GOOD power well north of
5000rpm.
>> Almost like the best of both worlds don't ya think?
>>
>> Mark
>>
>>
>> >From tigers-owner@autox.team.net Thu Feb 04 05:06:39 1999
>> >Received: from [155.99.188.52] by hotmail.com (1.1) with SMTP id
>> MHotMailB882E65BF8CDD101708C9B63BC340C500; Thu Feb 04 05:06:39 1999
>> >Received: from localhost (daemon@localhost)
>> > by triumph.cs.utah.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with SMTP id GAA17345;
>> > Thu, 4 Feb 1999 06:05:30 -0700 (MST)
>> >Received: (from majordom@localhost)
>> > by triumph.cs.utah.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id GAA17322
>> > for tigers-actors; Thu, 4 Feb 1999 06:05:25 -0700 (MST)
>> >Message-ID: <36B99B6C.70F3@ids.net>
>> >Date: Thu, 04 Feb 1999 08:06:52 -0500
>> >From: Alvin and Lucille Johnson <johnson@ids.net>
>> >Organization: NA
>> >X-Mailer: Mozilla 3.01 (Win95; I)
>> >MIME-Version: 1.0
>> >To: JPKKMK@aol.com
>> >CC: tigers@autox.team.net
>> >Subject: Re: Rather have a Big One
>> >References: <9d0597a8.36b936d2@aol.com>
>> >Sender: owner-tigers@autox.team.net
>> >Precedence: bulk
>> >Reply-To: Alvin and Lucille Johnson <johnson@ids.net>
>> >
>> >Any torque?? That's what makes big displacement V-8s fun to drive
and
>> >little engines wheezy 'round town, and it's necessary to row 'em
thru
>> >the gears.
>> >Al J.
>> >
>> >
>> >---JPKKMK@aol.com wrote:
>> >>
>> >> In a message dated 2/3/99 3:27:13 PM Pacific Standard Time,
>> tigerpb@ids.net
>> >> writes:
>> >>
>> >> << All this talk of engine swapping has got me bench racing again!
>> Did anyone
>> >> see the new Honda sportscar? Normally most Hondas rate a yawn
with
>> me, but
>> >> the specs on this one are impressive. The car is rear wheel drive
>> with a
>> >> five speed. The 2 liter 4 cyl. is rated at 240 HP!
>> >> OK, who's going to be first in line at the wrecking yard when one
of
>> these
>> >> gets totaled? Can you imagine an all aluminum engine like this
>> swapped into
>> >> an LBC? A Hopine that'll kick butt! >>
>> >> And the engine redlines at 9000rpms!!!!!!!! that is my kind of fun
>> >unless they've got a blower or turbo.
>>
>
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