There are many things about the American motor industry that bemuse me, not least of which how they manage to get so little power out of their engines. Take the new Mustang for example. Ford are proud to tout the 300hp, 320 lb-ft, 4.6 litre V8 engine. For the 21st century, that's not stellar, and we're talking about the GT here - it only has single overhead cams. If you stump for the Mustang V6, you're saddled with a 4.0 litre engine which only manages 210hp and 240 lb-ft of torque and it's a cast iron block!
For comparison, look at the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X. It sports dual overhead cams, an aluminium block, 4-cylinder 2.0 litre engine that generates 291hp and 300 lb-ft of torque. That's only 20hp down on the Mustang V8 for an engine with half the number of cylinders and less than half the displacement. Compared to the V6 Mustang, it's 81hp more.
Ford tout their "performance driven chassis" yet the rear suspension is a live axle - that's stone age. Live axle is for lumbering off-roaders (real ones, not SUVs) and trucks. You simply don't put 1950's technology on a 21st century car.
Unless you're Ford.
I'm left thinking of the cockney rhyming slang for pony. The Mustang : the pony car.
2 comments:
I see what you're saying, but the Mustang is a retro car, and people want the classic pushrod sound, and muscle car handling. It is a muscle car, and it is not supposed to be high tech.
Sure, you can get lots of horsepower from small engines with turbochargers but it comes at the price of durability, complexity, cost, and low rpm torque.
Older design do have advantages. For example the use of an OHV engine and leaf springs on the Corvette reduces weight. Even with it's huge 7.0 L engine the Z06 is slightly lighter than a Ferrari F430 which has a 4.3L, and it doesn't handle bad either. Also, the 7.0 L Z06 is rated at 24 highway mpg. While the Honda S2000, having a 2.0 L motor is also rated at 24 mpg.
My point is that big "outdated" engines do have some advantages, and aren't all bad.
I must agree with Chris...
It doesn't make any sense to have such a big engine with little horsepower...
A muscle car is supposed to have awesome power compared to it's size and weight...
Unfortunately... the power isn't that appealing... of course it's superior to a regular 2.0, but not that much superior...
But then again... the last comment has it's point... sometimes... the "old stuff" is better than the "new stuff"...
I used to own a BMW E34... and it has much less problems than the newer BMWs... sometimes I wish i could buy a car that were completely mechanical... nothing electrical or computer controlled... Every car I've owned so far... all had elctrical problems... and i must say... it sucks that everytime it takes a long time to diagnose, find and fix the problem... most of the time... it's just a minor problem...
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