Facetious
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Did you check for a potato in the exhaust pipe ? :rofl:
Seriously, most rental cars tend to be what I call ''econo- box'' slugs
unless otherwise specified.
The do most US of A citizens drive cars with 4L engines thread
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Did you check for a potato in the exhaust pipe ? :rofl:
Seriously, most rental cars tend to be what I call ''econo- box'' slugs
unless otherwise specified.
there's actually a lot of people around here with tiny econo cars (gas is pretty expensive up here)...especially in the area i live in, there's a very large percentage of hardcore green freaks...a surprising number of hybrids running around too and none of the little econo cars do as bad as you might think, most of all it's just terrible drivers behind the wheel of them it seems...anyway, the smallest engine in any of my vehicles is a 4.0L V6, i mostly run older V8's, a few trucks and cars with 350 cid (5.7L) chevy engines and a ford pickup with a 5.8L...found a truck i'm looking to buy this summer maybe with a 454 (7.4L)...i personally like horsepower and i've never paid very much for a vehicle so overall i save a fair bit of money even with the extra gas i burn, plus i don't usually drive very far and if i do go far in any of my gas guzzlers i'm usually selling something that pays for my gas anyway so it works out...
Talkin about cobra´s huuhh ? This : http://www.weineck-power.de/
maybe an answer to Carol Shelby ( who was in his time the best motor - engineer round the planet ) . Claus Weineck builds cobra-engines up to 16 Litres, round about 1000 cui.
But this ain´t the problem. The problem(s) are the Chineses +Indiens : Til NOW they still need to buy cars from allover the planet, US , Europe and so on. But THEIR factories are growin rapidly.
I constantly visit the IAA in Frankfurt / Europes biggest car-event. In each corner I see a lil yellow man with a superbig digicam taking pics of all technical details. They copy EVERYTHING .
In germany we have a limousine called *Maybach* about 400k - Euro´s . The same thing ( on a Chinese car-show ) , was something like 80K Euro´s. Well, still not as perfect as the german pendant, ....but wait another 5 years and you´ll see .
About 35 years ago I´ve seen the 1st japanese car on german roads, it was a Datsun, just looked terrible...I just started smiling . ( I´m 55 years old ) . NOW the Japanese build the same quality as we do fully loaded with extra´s that you still had to pay extra if buying a german car . Example : LEXUS .
So what I think : Europe + the US should work MUCH MORE CLOSE together....cause if not we all will buy Chinese + Indien cars within 10 years.
And it´s very easy for them, cause the income of a normal chinese worker is about 100,-- Euro´s in one MONTH , in India too, they easily got the menpower ...what they don´t have YET is the technical knowledge. But they have digicams ......
Another lil Example : Some 5 years ago a midsized town in germany known for steel-factories needed to get a new factory, ...so the oldone had to go.
So we told the chinese to pick it up until end of year cause we need to build the new production.
They sent 10K lil yellow men and til the end of the year was nothin left of the old factory .
Some weeks ago I ordered some stainless-steel for my workshop ... don´t ya ask me for the engraving on some of it ..* Made in China * ...lol.
So we told the chinese to pick it up until end of year cause we need to build the new production.
They sent 10K lil yellow men and til the end of the year was nothin left of the old factory .
Some weeks ago I ordered some stainless-steel for my workshop ... don´t ya ask me for the engraving on some of it ..* Made in China * ...lol.
Rey C.
Racing is life... anything else is just waiting.
As far as passenger cars/trucks, but not including commercial or work vehicles?
I don't know what the average engine displacement is now. But I read several years ago in an SAE report that the average engine displacement in the U.S. has been falling since the 1970's. What's also interesting is that the same report stated that output (torque and horsepower) per liter has been increasing. My daily driver has a 2 liter turbo and has something close to 300 brake horsepower. In the early 80's, the 5.7 liter V8 C4 Corvette only had a touch over 200 horsepower.
Compared to Europe, I'm sure the percentage of 4 liter and above engines is higher here. But we've ALWAYS had larger engines (and larger cars) here than in Europe. The trend here for engine displacement is down. But with advancements in electronic engine management, the output per liter is up. In the cities you might get away with a 1.1 liter car with 90hp or one of those 3 cylinder commuter cars. But overall, I just see us going more toward medium displacement 4's and V6's.
Rey C.
Racing is life... anything else is just waiting.
I bet your dad or your Uncle Elmo told you that... and that's what makes it the truth. Am I right, or am I right... or am I right?!
Say, have you thought about moving to Minnesota? We have a kid from there that makes up "facts" too. You two could adopt a baby and raise him to be a fact finding lil genius too. :lovecoupl
Washing your car causes it to rain... we have PROOF!
I measure in cubic inches so this shite means zero to me!
Great post, and I agree with everything you said. That Weineck site looks amazing!
Like you, I have watched for years as the Japs steal all their designs from the European and to a lesser extent, the US automakers. I've told people for a long time that if anyone wants to know what the next generation of Lexus is going to look like, just wait until Mercedes comes out with their newest models.
I don't doubt what you're saying about the Maybach either. The nice thing is that the Japs and the Chins will always be content to copy everyone else. This means they will always be a step behind in style and technology, and that the best cars in the world will always be made in Europe and sometimes in the US.
For example, even though Lexus makes a very nice car for the price, I think if you drive a comparable Mercedes or BMW, they are nicer deep down. It's hard to describe, but they have a "breeding" you can feel that is nonexistent in any Asian car. I won't even go into comparing the Japanese cars to the likes of Ferrari. The Italians are light years ahead of anything the Japs could ever come up with.
To me, it is worth paying a premium for this, because it's always worth having the best. Also, why reward the Japs for taking the lazy way out and stealing ideas other people worked hard to create.
In my original post about Carrol Shelby, I was just making a friendly jab at the European automakers, but I will be the first to agree that, for the most part, the Europeans build nicer automobiles than the US does.
The Japanese may build reliable, well built cars for the masses, but they have no style whatsoever. You can tell a *** car from a mile away. They have no style, and no imagination. All they can do is copy others.
Porsche sums it up well: "There is no substitute".
Oooh yes, there is : Just see the Aston Martin , Bentley , Caterham , ( dutch + british ) , Triumph, Austin Healey, Jaguar. When EVER there were cars with style + class, our british neighbors made em ...
Well, cause I was in need of a station-wagon I did´nt keep my Jag - limo, so what to buy ? No mercedes nor BMW, no Audi but a VOLVO V 90. 10 years old now, fully loaded with all kinda extra´s and 280k miles on it and still goin strong.
But the ideal car for me woud be an Aston Martin Vantage with the ( stick-shift ) transmission + electrical wiring of a Porsche.
You said : The Japanese may build reliable, well built cars for the masses, but they have no style whatsoever. You can tell a *** car from a mile away. They have no style, and no imagination.
Right, but if you just need * transportation * , no image and a good mpg , so this japanese or ..... soon .. chinese car will be a very good thing to get from point A to B . And India will follow ...wanna bet ?
Some engines are excessive, but I love the 4.2L V8 in my Audi. When you downshift, you GO
Some engines are excessive, but I love the 4.2L V8 in my Audi. When you downshift, you GO
Yup, one of *our* small V-8 , but runs like heaven + hell
Oh jesus christ why is everytime someone says that they have a car/truck that doesn't get good gas milage some other idiot brings up the old dick size issue. Do yourself a favor pal stop believing the environmentalist whackos they are so full of shit it's amazing.
I purposely buy gas guzzling trucks I like to think it's my way of pissing the environmentalists off.
yup precisely...plus if you're mechanically inclined and have some tools the basic tune-up and minor work that a lot of used cars tend to need works out to be pretty cheap as well...
Huh?
Did you mean 4L or 4 cylinder?
I drive only 4 cylinders -- a 15 year-old 2.3L pick-up that gets about 24mpg and a 13 year-old 2.4L car that gets about 31mpg. That's not bad considering their age, and pick-ups usually don't get good gas mileage.
Many 3-4L, 6 cylinder American cars these days can get nearly 35mpg highway, and average nearly 30mpg city+highway. I'm waiting for some of the models to shake down before maybe upgrading to a V6 myself. Direct gasoline injection (now on-par with direct diesel injection) and selective drive that turns off 3 of the 6 cylinders, result in 20-30% better gas mileage in new designs over just a few years ago as well.
Heck, despite what the EPA says, the 6.2L, 436hp Corvette gets over 30mpg on the highway (and nearly 25mpg at 100mph because the engine is barely doing 2Krpm in 6th gear). It's only let down by its city gas mileage. I honestly don't know who runs some of these tests at the EPA, because I read how they test, and I'm scratching my head on the horrendous numbers they turn out.
Did you mean 4L or 4 cylinder?
I drive only 4 cylinders -- a 15 year-old 2.3L pick-up that gets about 24mpg and a 13 year-old 2.4L car that gets about 31mpg. That's not bad considering their age, and pick-ups usually don't get good gas mileage.
Many 3-4L, 6 cylinder American cars these days can get nearly 35mpg highway, and average nearly 30mpg city+highway. I'm waiting for some of the models to shake down before maybe upgrading to a V6 myself. Direct gasoline injection (now on-par with direct diesel injection) and selective drive that turns off 3 of the 6 cylinders, result in 20-30% better gas mileage in new designs over just a few years ago as well.
Heck, despite what the EPA says, the 6.2L, 436hp Corvette gets over 30mpg on the highway (and nearly 25mpg at 100mph because the engine is barely doing 2Krpm in 6th gear). It's only let down by its city gas mileage. I honestly don't know who runs some of these tests at the EPA, because I read how they test, and I'm scratching my head on the horrendous numbers they turn out.
