Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site watdcsu.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!watdcsu!haapanen From: haapanen@watdcsu.UUCP (Tom Haapanen [DCS]) Newsgroups: net.auto Subject: Re: big block vs 4-bangers Message-ID: <1056@watdcsu.UUCP> Date: Sat, 2-Mar-85 14:33:20 EST Article-I.D.: watdcsu.1056 Posted: Sat Mar 2 14:33:20 1985 Date-Received: Sun, 3-Mar-85 04:39:09 EST References: <281@oblio.UUCP> Reply-To: haapanen@watdcsu.UUCP (Tom Haapanen [DCS]) Organization: U of Waterloo, Ontario Lines: 81 Here we go again... :-) ? In article <281@oblio.UUCP> jeff@oblio.UUCP (Jeff Buchanan) writes: >What's the deal?! I never said you said a 170 hp 4-banger is the ultimate >street car. As far as the mini Cooper is concerned, I don't know what >a Solo II is, but it would have to be extremely tight for a 68 Vette to >lose to a mini Cooper, e.g. 10 foot straight aways, turns less than the >turning radius of the Corvette. Solo II is slalom racing, usually driven in large parking lots or wide race courses with lots of pylons you have to drive around. And yes, Mini Cooper S's blow away just about anything else on a stock chassis. >You put a 68 Corvette in the same >catagory as a GTO Judge. This tells me everything I need to know about >your level of sophistication as a car enthusiast. Ooooohh! I clasified these two as American `muscle cars'; i.e. cars intended for sporty driving with the main emphasis on power. It's no different from putting a GTI and a 944 in the same group. No offence intended by my classification... >100 ponies is plenty to motivate a 2000 lb. car to 35 MPH so that one can >drive to the grocery store, work, or wherever. Is 100 ponies enough to >feel some acceleration when you pull away from a stop light? Of >course not! The GTI has 100 hp and about 110 lbs-ft of torque. It weighs 2000 pounds (900 kg). With its close-ratio 5-speed, you damn well do feel acceleration from a stoplight. 50 hp and 2000 lbs is in fact sufficient for groceries --- look at all the people still happily driving VW Beetles (25 hp to 48 hp) as daily drivers. >The cars you mention are no match in straight line >nimbleness or side to side nimbleness for an '84 Corvette with >Z-51 suspension. It has the nice cockpit you wanted and the handling >is literally the worlds best. A nice cockpit? In the '84 Corvette? Sorry, those `Tokyo by Night' gauges just turn me off completely. For the ultimate cockpit, check out the 928. Many other German cars have excellent cockpits as well. As for the handling, in the C&D tests, Z-28 beat out the 'Vette, and 944 beat out the Z-28. >It isn't a fast car in terms of acceleration, >but it isn't dangerously slow. Of course it costs far more than >those put-put cars you mentioned. What's dangerously slow? Nine seconds from 0-60? Ten? Fifteen? >The Porsche and Ferrari you mentioned are so exotic, I can't take you >seriously, especially at around $100,000 a copy. But think what you >could have at 1/3 the price? For that kind of money, the buyer >expects to have sensational performance. You could buy an '84 >Corvette for say, $24,000, buy a ZL-1 aluminum motor for it for >another $10,000 (including all mods to yield 800+ HP non turbo >charged, blown, or injected), drop the motor in the Vette, and >you would have a car that would blow away those "high price spread" >cars. For that money, I could also buy a completely stock 911 Carrera with the 16" Fuchs forged wheels and P7s. It'd likely last several times as long as the aluminium engine as well. Not to mention the lovely sound of an air-cooled flat-six behind your back... :-) Jeff --- I propose a temporary truce: I won't flame you, you won't flame me. We'll agree that we disagree on how to compromise when the money runs out. We'll also agree that you CAN get handling out of US cars, and power out of European cars if you spend enough money. We'll agree to disagree on what the starting point should be. A '66 Corvette is nice, but it just doesn't appeal to me the same way a '66 911 does... OK? \tom haapanen watmath!watdcsu!haapanen Don't cry, don't do anything No lies, back in the government No tears, party time is here again President Gas is up for president (c) Psychedelic Furs, 1982