NationStates Jolt Archive

Anyone interested in any new cars this year?

I am, the 2010 Ford Taurus SHO

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jlshmh6ZMeQ&feature=channel

I cant afford it without a good promotion. I guess my Impala SS will have to get me through the next few years.

They still make cars? :confused:

They still make cars? :confused:

you know ford turned down the bail out money. turns out everything got better when gas prices dipped, that and once people could get auto loans again.

Anyone interested in any new cars this year?
Porsche 998 is due to be publicly released somewhere late 2009.

I'm not looking forward to buying one, TBH, not now anyway. But it will drop the prices on the used 997, one of which I'm very much looking forward to getting.

Although the new 998 looks a bit Japanese from the side, with a flush aerodynamic spoiler integrated with a Kammback tail, but that is for the better as far as performance is concerned. And it looks all right from most angles, plus they have the time to make the changes look prettier.

The changes inside are quite good too, so while the not-yet-released Corvette has managed to cheat its way around the track faster than its two year old price rival from Porsche, mainly due to a high engine tune, the new 998 will certainly put the poseur in its place.

Porsche 998 is due to be publicly released somewhere late 2009.

I'm not looking forward to buying one, TBH, not now anyway. But it will drop the prices on the used 997, one of which I'm very much looking forward to getting.

Although the new 998 looks a bit Japanese from the side, with a flush aerodynamic spoiler integrated with a Kammback tail, but that is for the better as far as performance is concerned. And it looks all right from most angles, plus they have the time to make the changes look prettier.

The changes inside are quite good too, so while the not-yet-released Corvette has managed to cheat its way around the track faster than its two year old price rival from Porsche, mainly due to a high engine tune, the new 998 will certainly put the poseur in its place.

I actually love the way the new 998, sure the changes don't look like much, but I think they help the overall picture a lot. To bad I'm still years away from being able to afford cars like that. But hey, all the more motivation for me to get my 4 year :D I've always loved 911s, I love how they never really changed the styling at all, and I love how its one of the only rear engine cars that any good. Ive ridden in an older one, and I was pretty impressed.

I assume you mean the new ZR1 Corvette? If so, its been out already and while I think its a great car, its not really a production car. Limited number of em. I've never thought that GM really competes on Porsche's level on a consistently .

Car's your looking forward to this year?
I cant afford it without a good promotion.

For your sake I hope you don't work as a proofreader.

For your sake I hope you don't work as a proofreader.

Thank god for that. My English sucks ass, I don't know how I passed english at my tech school. My profession doesn't have much to do with english, other than writing down numbers.

I dont want to look at cars....They just make me feel how bad my car is and my lack of money for a new one.....

I'm not really looking forward to any car as such, since I'm not in the market for a car at any price, but there are some things I'm looking forward to.

Both are cars I wouldn't buy even if I had the cash, but I'm glad to see them coming back to the track as road racers: The Dodge Challenger and the Chevy Camaro. Both of those cars will be racing in the Koni Challenge GT series which supports the Grand Am series. The Challenger had a lackluster debut at Daytona this year, but I'm hoping they'll stick it out. That will mean that Mustangs that look like Mustangs, Camaros, and (for the time being a) Challenger will be out there dicing it out with BMWs and Porsches...Trans Am might be back, but it's spirit is running in the Koni Challenge. All that's missing is dipping panels in acid...

In the same vein the new Audi R8 GT3 is going racing, but I fear it won't be in a series that %(*$%()^ SPEED will show...(no, no...don't show FIA GT or anything like that, you need to make room for another seven NASCAR talk shows all with the same three hosts...) I'm sad to see the Audi R15 won't be doing ALMS this year, but really all that might mean is that LMP1 might be a race again (or, at all...), though I suspect the Acura will just take the Audi's place at the front of the parade.

I think there was a new car competing in GT2 this year, but I've forgotten it. So, more variety in road racing this year, that's what I'm looking forward to.

I actually love the way the new 998, sure the changes don't look like much, but I think they help the overall picture a lot.
Well, depends on the eye.

I personally thinks it looks a bit less of a Porsche, more of a JDM. A bit like the Nissan GT-R in its rear, even.


http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/attachments/international-automotive-scene/75461d1228149530-2011-porsche-998-spyshots-tbhp-porsche-998-5.jpg


On the other hand, on the earliest photos I even doubted it was a Porsche - it looked was so much like, I don't know even what, a depersonified Japanese sports compact, with a pronounced rear box. So they're working on it. I think they'll do something better with the tail on the end result. It's still a prototype, after all.

On the other hand, Porsche aren't good with visual design, their saloon looks ugly, compared to Quattroporte, and the Cayenne got a lot of comments at that as well. So I won't be surprised if they just let it out this way, with a cut-off tail. Nissan GT-R looks great with its tail, and would look good even with this one, because of its overall angular design, but the 998, which is all curves, doesn't.


To bad I'm still years away from being able to afford cars like that. But hey, all the more motivation for me to get my 4 year :D I've always loved 911s, I love how they never really changed the styling at all, and I love how its one of the only rear engine cars that any good. Ive ridden in an older one, and I was pretty impressed.
True, these things are worth every cent. Originally I was looking to get a Nissan GT-R, or a lighter and cheaper Japanese sports car to tune it, but after a few test drives in 993, 996 and 997, I became addicted, nothing else will do. They're controllable and stable, and yet very responsive. Not twitchy like the Lotus, but responsive. A very unusual feeling these days, a car with a character of its own, feeling physical and real, yet not something to be wrestled, but rather finely controlled. And Porsches stand out among other Europe-made cars (apart from Rolls-Royces) in terms of their build quality, and among all sports cars in general, they're even more reliable than their Japanese counterparts. So they're not money sinks like Italian toys, but work for decades, are built to withstand abuse, affordable to service, don't need much of it.



I assume you mean the new ZR1 Corvette? If so, its been out already and while I think its a great car, its not really a production car. Limited number of em. I've never thought that GM really competes on Porsche's level on a consistently.
Well, they have basically found an easy way to win. Tune the engine to the absolute limit, make the car out of plastic, then make the suspension so stiff that it's almost like no suspension at all. It's a fast car - but it's not a good car to drive. Even the regular Corvette, and the ZR1 is an even more race-oriented version. It's designed to lap the Ring faster, while staying minimally streetworthy, and to look good, pretty much just that.

A 996 Turbo engine can be tuned to double its horsepower, and it gets an extra 50% from as little as replacing the ECU and the manifolds. 35% from the ECU alone, and that's in a moderate street tune, not an aggressive racing one. It's in a very low tune initially. Corvette's 600hp engine is actually lighter than the Porsche 400hp engine, despite being low-tech - but it also has a lower tune limit (extreme drag superchargers don't count as tune). Similarly, one can easily cut a lot of weight from the 911 by installing plastic body panels, removing the rear seats, et cetera. Then, the suspension even on the GT variants is relatively soft.

So, basically, the ZR1 is in the race tune, that's why it's faster, not because it's a better car. A street-tuned Porsche could beat that time, or even a right factory tune, they just don't bother to do this.

Snip


Pretty much, I watched a show Called Top Gear, they tested a ZR1 and they liked it, alot. The thing has a 6.2 Supercharged V8. I don't know anything about the Porsche Flat 6 engines, but I own a LS series V8 ( LS4 in my Impala ) , and I can tell you, despite they're out dated design ( IE, Pushrods ), I know they're a VERY robust engine, its easy to go down to the strip the see the things putting out close to 1000 horsepower from the LS1s and LS7s. Myself, I can probably pull close to 500whp, with a full engine workup, and a roots supercharger. However, that would be a BAD idea in a front wheel drive car. It wouldn't be drivable on the street though. And I do plan to do a supercharger setup whenever the warranty runs out. ( which is in 42,000 more miles )

My uncle once had a 99 Boxster, the little shit didn't have any balls in a straight line, but holy fucking monkey balls, driving around light poles at 80mph was fun.

I can say with the new 998, I had no doubt in my mind it was a Porsche, but If I'm honest from the back it almost looks like a TVR.

Want a strange driving experience? A Impala FRONT WHEEL DRIVE, Sedan with 300 Horsepower and close to 400 foot pounds, torque steer is a BITCH.

None.

When I can; the next one will not be American......

My next car will be a used clunker 8-10 years old. I'll pay cash for it and drive it until it falls apart. I won't buy it until my current car falls apart. I refuse to go into neck-deep into debt just to have a flashy ride.

That said, I'd like to see Ford pull out of this without gov't bailout cash, get back on its feet, scrap the dead weight in the lineup, and continue with the improving quality trend they've shown over the past several years. I will buy one of their products if I somehow come into riches.

I'm wondering if Kawasaki/Suzuki will ever stop fucking about and release a 1600cc Ninja/Hayabusa.

And I'm looking forward to the new AS DBS, it's pretty hot. The Nissan 370Z is also looking pretty nice.

Pretty much, I watched a show Called Top Gear, they tested a ZR1 and they liked it, alot. The thing has a 6.2 Supercharged V8.
I know. That still doesn't make ZR1 good as just a car. It doesn't work if it's not dry, or if it's not warm, or if the road isn't perfect. TG isn't about practicality.


I don't know anything about the Porsche Flat 6 engines, but I own a LS series V8 ( LS4 in my Impala ) , and I can tell you, despite they're out dated design ( IE, Pushrods ), I know they're a VERY robust engine, its easy to go down to the strip the see the things putting out close to 1000 horsepower from the LS1s and LS7s.
Well, in 1978, the old 3.2 liter version of Porsche's flat-6 in 935 had 950 horsepower. And that was tuned for endurance racing, not drag strip.

Later horsepower was limited by regulations, so they didn't tune the engines to that level. But a modern 3.6 can well do over 1000hp in race tune. It's very rare, however, Porsches aren't about engine power, so people rarely rice them up. When they do, the 996 gets about a 1300hp (http://www.worldcarfans.com/9081223.012/9ffs-1300hp-porsche-911-based-draxster) in drag tune. 997 could do more. But again that's not its real strength. They always kept the power conservative and focused on handling.


I can say with the new 998, I had no doubt in my mind it was a Porsche, but If I'm honest from the back it almost looks like a TVR.
That's a newer picture. A few earlier ones I've seen pics of were extremely Japanese-looking. Couldn't put a finger on what they were like, but almost sure I've seen a JDM car exactly like that.


Want a strange driving experience? A Impala FRONT WHEEL DRIVE, Sedan with 300 Horsepower and close to 400 foot pounds, torque steer is a BITCH.
Strange isn't the same as good. This is strange... but even more strange is a car after you drive it into a wall and only fix the engine, or after you shoot off one of the tires.

The difference with Porsches is that the 911 is, while having a feel, actually good to drive, well controllable. It's not overall better than mid engines, but it's more fun, and in some aspects the rear engine beats the mid one, however, taking a lot more effort to control, and being more restrictive in what can be done with it.

to be honest i wish they would make a production model of the 1985 Mosler Consulier GTP

snip.

Never having driven a ZR1, I wouldn't know how it drives off a track, I have driven a Z06 though, and for 60 grand, its pretty hard to beat. I'd rather have a Cayman though.

I think the car your thinking of is the 3000GT/Dodge Stealth

http://www.3si.org/gallery/data/500/medium/Rear_Dodge_Stealth1.JPG Thats all I could really come up with. Not even close I know, but the only other car I could think of was a Supra, wouldn't work either, or maybe an S2000.

A 9.5 second run isn't to bad for a drag car, pretty interesting actually. Ive NEVER seen one at the track before.

I'll still maintain that the LS Series V8 engines from GM are still pretty amazing for the price ( my car only cost 27,000 )

i like the new Vauxhall Insignia. don't really want one, but its not bad looking and quite good value for the amount of stuff and gizmos it has

i'm looking forward to (hopefully) getting a second (or third) hand Mercedes CLS in a year or 18 months. its beautiful, about the same cost 3 years old as my current car was new, and a 3L 225hp engine will be a nice step up from my current 2L 150hp. wouldn't be able to get the bigger engines cos of insurance stuff, i'm sure. the only thing will be finding the money >.>

the only thing will be finding the money >.>

Did you check the couch? Preferably the couch of a really rich guy who wears wide pockets?

Anyone interested in any new cars this year?


I'm considering to replace my 19-years old VW Polo with the new Dacia Sandero. With government subsidies (1500 €) and some other bonus, it should cost me about 5500 €. I think I can afford it.

Are they coming out with one that can compete economically with internal combustion engines, yet doesn't spew carcinogenic exhaust?

If not, then no, I am not looking forward to any of them. I like children to have pink lungs.

im looking forward to wondering how to get my car serviced when gm drops the saturn line.

That £1.2 million Aston in the Top Gear magazine in the doctor's yesterday looked tasty, as did the soft-top Bugatti.

I'm considering to replace my 19-years old VW Polo with the new Dacia Sandero. With government subsidies (1500 €) and some other bonus, it should cost me about 5500 €. I think I can afford it.

The Dacia Sandero as in the car much mocked in Top Gear? Superb.

Did you check the couch?
:eek2:

Preferably the couch of a really rich guy who wears wide pockets?
:(

Only one car, and that's the used car replacement I'm going to buy. Only requirement: it must start in the dead of winter in North Dakota.

Yeah. Current one doesn't do that so much.

im looking forward to wondering how to get my car serviced when gm drops the saturn line.

Won't be a problem, just take it to any other GM Dealership.

What about gas milage?

My all record high in the SS was 33.5mpg. Not bad for a 3200 pound V8 Sedan, sporting 300 horsepower.

My all time worst in the SS was 11.2. When I averaged 137mph from my house to Clarion.

My 1996 Camry, thank you very much. A car I rather like.

The Dacia Sandero as in the car much mocked in Top Gear? Superb.

Yay. My almost-father-in-law bought last year the Dacia Logan MCV, and he's quite happy with it. Lots of space, easy to drive even on winding mountain roads, and a Renault engine. The Sandero is basically an updated Clio, and would suit my needs for a quite reasonable price.

Dacia has become the no-frills brand of Renault, just like Skoda had become the no-frills of VW. I'd consider a Skoda, but they've become a bit less cost-effective than they used to be.

Did you check the couch? Preferably the couch of a really rich guy who wears wide pockets?

maybe i could find a rich guy who has a couch made of money. then steal it.

Anyone interested in any new cars this year?

I am, the 2010 Ford Taurus SHO

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jlshmh6ZMeQ&feature=channel

I cant afford it without a good promotion. I guess my Impala SS will have to get me through the next few years.

:O

Having driven the '89 SHO, I must say my hopes are up.

However, make it a true manual, plzkthx.

:O

Having driven the '89 SHO, I must say my hopes are up.

However, make it a true manual, plzkthx.


I know a guy with a built SHO, its fast as hell.

I've always loved the SHO, its a true average joe sports sedan, taking a sledge hammer to similar priced imported sports sedans.

well maybe not THIS year, but ...

http://www.austrans.com/index.php

as one sort of example

well maybe not THIS year, but ...

http://www.austrans.com/index.php

as one sort of example

Its not a car?

Still pretty cool. It kinda sucks that public transit will never work on a nation wide level in places like the USA.

Never having driven a ZR1, I wouldn't know how it drives off a track, I have driven a Z06 though, and for 60 grand, its pretty hard to beat. I'd rather have a Cayman though.
Yeah, that's what I've heard quite a lot when looking for what to buy. Corvette is very fast for its price, but most people go "I'd rather not", with various reasons.


I think the car your thinking of is the 3000GT/Dodge Stealth
http://www.3si.org/gallery/data/500/medium/Rear_Dodge_Stealth1.JPG Thats all I could really come up with. Not even close I know, but the only other car I could think of was a Supra, wouldn't work either, or maybe an S2000.
Maybe, hard to put a finger on it.

But you have to admit this doesn't look very 911-ish, say, from this angle (http://www.911uk.com/files/998tt205_530.jpg).
They've changed the old lines, where the car would have two distinct curvatures, front and rear, to more of a three-box coupe. This might be the most major design change Porsche has made to their 911 line.
Although Porsches have always been about the go, not the show - it's just that now we know more about aerodynamics. But still, now you can clearly it's the new one from a quick glance at the car.

One thing I've always liked the Porsches for, is that you get at the same time a high-tech car with the most advanced engine to date, yet already a classic. Not just a classic name, but a car that was actually designed over 70 years ago, and pretty much stayed that way. Got two extra cylinders and a new name 45 years ago, but basically didn't change since then, especially not in looks. 2 in 1. Not a classic in the fullest sense, but has that feel. These cars never get old.


A 9.5 second run isn't to bad for a drag car, pretty interesting actually. Ive NEVER seen one at the track before.
The rear-engined configuration is good for acceleration. Although, since the engine isn't a 9-liter monster, it doesn't reach the absolute limits.
Most Porsche 911 tuning kits only offer between 600 and 1000 horsepower in street tune. 900-980 is the common range, street tune tops out at 1050 horsepower. 1300 is clearly drag tune, although pretty conservative, without frequent rebuilds. Though a high street/track tune Porsche still does around 10 seconds with race gas.


I'll still maintain that the LS Series V8 engines from GM are still pretty amazing for the price ( my car only cost 27,000 )
The LS are good, true. They're the best bang for the buck out of stock motors. Beaten by custom builds, however. There are some really great crate engines one can buy. For instance, you can get 800 hp on pump gas (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BBC-Chevy-stroker-565-572-street-turn-key-crate-engine_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33615QQihZ001QQitemZ110284463366), in street tune. Or 760 hp for just 9 grand (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/454-BB-Chevy-582-Stroker-New-Crate-Engine-NASCAR-Shop_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp4634Q2ec0Q2em14QQhashZitem280201005706QQitemZ280201005706QQptZMotors Q5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories). And even just 5 grand buys 500 hp (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/347-Ford-Stroker-500-HP-New-Crate-Engine-Aluminum-Heads_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp4634Q2ec0Q2em14QQhashZitem250371216619QQitemZ250371216619QQptZMotor sQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories).
GM sell their standard Corvette's LS2 (400hp) for $5,500 new, the C06 LS7 (550hp) for a bit over ten.

Power is real cheap these days. Well, not just this days, it was cheap in the '60s already. That's how muscle cars came to life, with the engine being just 1/10 the car's cost, it's very cheap to just put a bigger one into a car that can't handle it. The price-power relationship in real cars doesn't reflect the engine cost.
Carmakers just rip people off with options, they sometimes sell the base model at a loss, only to have you pay $1,500 for any color other than white, $800 for red dials, and $6,000 for mounting a 2.6-liter engine (worth $2,500) instead of a 1.8-liter one (worth $2,000).
I'm kidding you not, these are real prices, and the engine is one of the cheapest major parts in most cars. The whole question of engine power is a question of model lineup and positioning, it costs almost nothing per se. If you want the biggest bang for the buck, go aftermarket. Of course, you'll need a RWD car to really make any use of a high-output engine. But other than the chassis, aftermarket all the way.



I was even for a brief time contemplating perpetrating the ultimate heresy, buying a 997 with a wasted engine and putting in an aftermarket one. It's cheap, reliable, very fast. Well, by now I've managed to discard that idea, but not completely. Very major price factor, aftermarket engines are cheap to service and fix. While Porsche engines are insanely expensive, yes, they're bulletproof, but in that rare case when they go wrong, it's not wallet money.

But the Porsche's flat-6 is designed for control and handling rather than raw power. Its sits so low that it almost scrapes the ground, and its center of gravity is right there at the bottom, unlike with a V or straight. Then, the flat-6 is inherently balanced, so it needs no balance shafts or heavy flywheels; together with small displacement, it allows it to gain rpm very quickly. Not sure if that's worth the cost, but from track result seems that it is.

What's also great about these cars is the massive choice of aftermarket parts, with the specialized Porsche tuning industry, from independent coders to big tuning houses like 9ff and Ruf. You can make anything out of it, from a dragster to an extreme offroader - after all, Porsche 959 holds the all-time record for Paris-Dakar rally. Even better, today there are chips and kits that can change the car's tune on the fly. With a flick of a switch, the same 997 can be turned from a 750 horsepower racer into a silent 40 mpg hypermiler.

That's not to mention all the chassis, suspension and control improvements available. The car's already great, but the 911 scene always finds a way to make it better. And it's not even particularly expensive. I can't wait to get my hands under the hood of one of these.

snip

Thats always been the real draw of the corvette for the past 10 years, scary fast for the money. And easy to make faster, for cheap.

Sorta like the Muscle car. The stock car's really aren't all that good. But that was the point, you just added things to them to make them louder, faster and more exciting for next to nothing. You should see some of the track based Mustang SL90's, they're thrash nearly anything, but you would NEVER drive one on the road.

Ehh, I'd say its almost like a mix between a Supra and a 3000GT, theres still no doubt thats its a 911 when you really look at it.


Heh, 1000HP isn't to bad, esp considering how small the engine is. I've always wanted to be one of those physopaths with a 2200 horsepower 7 second car, who drives it on the road :D

The BEST way to allcerate a car on a drag strip at least, is a front engined rear wheel drive car, with very hard front suspension, and very soft rear suspension. On a drag strip at least, on a road I've always thought a mid engined AWD car would do best.


Best bang for your buck power wise is ALWAYS going to be a large Stroker V8 with a super charger. The problem with those is that reabilty is not all that good, thats where the LS series changed alot, they're very durable. And have been known to last 250k+ miles. For the money, its hard to beat.

Well, I've seen alot of old 914s with STi engines, or old chevy small blocks, and those haul ass for about 3 grand. Fly's like a bat out of hell. I know a guy with a Northstar V8 in a MR2 :D


Oh C'mon you know you WANT to put a 1400 HP LS engine in a 997 :D My uncle had a couple Porsche. A Boxster and a 911, I never drove the 911, but the Boxster was pretty fun to drive. Though my pitiful poor mans Impala is faster than it was in a straight line. Still, I loved that Mid engine.

Though to say, I LOVE My Impala. I wouldnt trade for anything around the same price.

Gravedig much?

Gravedig much?

Less than ten days is now a grave dig?

Less than ten days is now a grave dig?

Well, a desperate resuscitation then.

Well, a desperate resuscitation then.
Or just being busy as hell and responding to a post, did not have time till now.

Thats always been the real draw of the corvette for the past 10 years, scary fast for the money. And easy to make faster, for cheap.
It's fast as stock, but not easy to make faster. Tuning the Z06 from 500 to 700hp is a big, long, expensive project. Corvette's engine is already in an unusually high tune for a road car, it's hard to increase the power. The only other cars in such high tune I can recall are Noble, Ariel, and some pure tracksters.
It can be improved with better parts, but that is very costly. Short of extreme supercharging, which makes the car purely strip-bound with these engines, due to inability to cool adequately. The suspension is also very stiff as it is, a replacement might actually slow the car down. Corvette is more of a pre-tuned car really, not a base stock for modification.

Out of the higher end, Dodge Viper is more suited for tuning, although it's mostly the older ones. But mostly tuning works well on the lower end, pony cars - Camaros, Mustangs.


Ehh, I'd say its almost like a mix between a Supra and a 3000GT, theres still no doubt thats its a 911 when you really look at it.
When you look at the front. From other angles, it's not 911-ish at all.


Heh, 1000HP isn't to bad, esp considering how small the engine is. I've always wanted to be one of those physopaths with a 2200 horsepower 7 second car, who drives it on the road :D
2200? They don't get that much on the strip, there are 1800-1900 stock-based cars, but that's pretty much it, 2200 is a bit out of the band for anything based on a production car, looks like a dyno queen.
Even less extreme drag strip cars aren't usable on the road at all though. Even if they were road-legal, you'd need an engine rebuild with every next refill, if you didn't run out of fuel before you can get from one pump to another anyway. That's if you managed to drive it without overheating, the heat in these 1500+bhp jobs is not dissipated, just absorbed.

The limit for what can be dissipated in a road car is about 800 bhp, you can have an engine capable of 1000-1200 at the dyno, but be careful not to put the foot down for long. Engines going over 1200, however, rapidly lose efficiency, resulting in lots of waste heat even at low throttle, so effectively on a long track a 1300 bhp car is going to be less powerful than a 900 bhp one. Veyron can put out 1000hp continuously, but that comes at the price of weighing as much as a truck, so the excess power is wasted hauling the radiators, it has much less power per weight than other supercars.

There is a reason stock power costs so much compared to tune power. It's not that it's hard to achieve, but rather that it's hard to handle, and they don't want warranty claims from idiots who blew their engines doing burnouts. A stock xxx hp car will handle xxx hp continuously (within reason), a tuned one may or may not.

Of course, different cars have different safety margins. A regular car is times under its limit. Concepts that aren't going to be sold anyway often take the engine to the limit. Corvette's and Viper's selling point is power, so the tune is high. CTS-V and generally the whole "new muscle" (Vette and Viper are real sports cars, not muscles) keep it a bit lower, but at the cost of weight.

Old air-cooled Porsches were infamous for engine fires if put in a high tune, so they had to keep the engine in a very low tune. For instance, the 3.2L flat-6 developed 950 horsepower in the Porsche 935 endurance racecar, but only 200 or 300hp in normal/turbocharged road Porsches. And Porsches ran for 5,000 km with no maintenance when they dominated Le Mans, which means the same power could be put on the road - but fire problem kept the tune down. Even modern water-cooled ones are kept in unusually low tune for a sports car (120hp is freed on 997TT by a simple ECU mod), probably to avoid a power race with Ferrari, which they would promptly lose.

Generally due to their true rear-engined configuration Porsches aren't well suited for dissipating a lot of heat, compared to Ferrari's front-mids and even rear-mids, which have loads more space for the engine and its cooling. Still, as far as practical power is concerned, it's very easy to free compared to other high-end sports cars. After 750hp it starts to ruin the car's best points, but until then comes pretty much without side effects.


The BEST way to allcerate a car on a drag strip at least, is a front engined rear wheel drive car, with very hard front suspension, and very soft rear suspension. On a drag strip at least, on a road I've always thought a mid engined AWD car would do best.
The best configuration for both track and strip is a mid-rear engine. Front-engine cars are used in low-end drag racing only because they're cheaper and often the only ones complying with the rules. Besides, most mid-engined cars have advanced, expensive engines, and that's not the best choice for a 10-second job.


Oh C'mon you know you WANT to put a 1400 HP LS engine in a 997 :D
If they existed (and weren't drag strip-only)... Practically, it's possible to get a bit more power into the car with a supercharged V8, like 800-900hp, but it's not worth the major weight increase and loss of handling. The thing is, though, that just a good quality quiet sports exhaust for Porsche costs as much as a complete 500-hp V8 engine. Same with the intake, same with transmission job, same with everything. Not the cheapest parts in the world.

On the other hand, it's a direct competitor to Ferrari performance-wise, and those parts cost five to ten times more. So it's not exactly the biggest bang for the buck, but incomparably cheaper than anything else in the same league. If taking into account not just dry smooth track, but overall performance.

2010 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4WD

Surely this thread has run its course?

Surely this thread has run its course?

What, are you hoping to inherit this thread's stereo or something? You seem pretty anxious to pronounce it dead...

Its not a car?

Still pretty cool. It kinda sucks that public transit will never work on a nation wide level in places like the USA.

never say never. nothing is forever, even "places like the usa". nor are such places all that entirely culturally static. if they were it would never have become the place it currently for the moment is.

ok, a couple of hundred years is a fairly long moment in human terms, more then a couple of life times on end, but in terms even of the history of nations, let alone cultures, the passing of no more then a single day, and in evolutionary terms, let alone geological ones, no more then the blinking of an eye.

not that those longer spans are entirely pertinent to our own lives of course, but my point here is about emotional attachment. that however adamant, the unexpected can and does occur.

the vested interests that perpetuate that attachment are not entirely immortal either.

(also america isn't everywhere, much as it seems like it would like to pretend to be, isn't "gods kingdom on earth", and isn't forever, even if it does outlive me, which is by no means entirely certain, however probable, either)

(it may even be that america's hatered of any viable alternative to economically coercing everyone into indenturing themselves to a personal vehicule, might prove eventually its own undoing. no place without trains can be truly said to be civilized).

I've never purchased a new car. The newest car I ever owned was a '91 in '99 at 8 years older than the current year. That said, I did enjoy going to auto shows for fun when I was a kid. Not sure why.

I've never purchased a new car. The newest car I ever owned was a '91 in '99 at 8 years older than the current year. That said, I did enjoy going to auto shows for fun when I was a kid. Not sure why.

Dude, they give you bags and little promotional items and the models are really nice to you because you're either too young to know to leer or if you do leer you're still young enough where it's cute, and they let you sit in the cars and if your timing is right there will be a loud show where the car drives out to a smoke machine and spins around and somewhere there might be a race car and you can think "I'll drive that someday" and the concept cars, oh, the concept cars, like, really? A truck with seats that turn into lawn chairs and door panels that are also ice boxes...and I don't know why the truck needs its own hose, but dammit it has one...

When you're a kid, auto shows are awesome. As an adult, it's just like walking into a den of car salesmen...

Apparently Lada are in trouble and Russia are considering bailing them out. Hopefully they won't.

A Z06 is pretty hard to get more power out of, but the 6.0 and 5.7 are different stories, I know a guy who has a Chevy S10 ( yes, that little pickup truck ) with a 6.0L LS series engine in it, he runs mid 9's all motor, he is putting out about 800 horsepower at the crank, all motor. It only has internal work done to it, and a sick cam and heads set, and all that other fun stuff, no forced induction at all. Though to be honest, its not exactly the most driveable car in the world. The total cost to the engine was about 4 grand, pretty cheap shit ( though the whole swap cost about 15 grand, mostly due to all the other crap he put in it )

I"ll stay a fan of the LS series, esp for being so cheap.

And yes, there are some cars that run upwards of 2000 horsepower on the track, and a couple are even road legal O_O, go to the car meets in Atlantic City if you don't believe me. The top class cars run almost 2000 horsepower, though very very few are road legal at all, and if they are road legal, your sure as hell not driving them on the road. Myself, I ran a 10 second Couger at the Pittsburgh Raceway, and its fun stuff. ( though the carbs always liked to run rich )


Most of the very fast cars down at the strip are front engined, rear drive. The ONLY expect ion to that are the rail cars, ( which can include top fuel ), funny cars are also front engined rear drive, and those go about 20 grand a run :D The main reason why the top fuel cars have rear engines, is because you dont want that 7000 horsepower engine in your face :D

A Z06 is pretty hard to get more power out of, but the 6.0 and 5.7 are different stories, I know a guy who has a Chevy S10 ( yes, that little pickup truck ) with a 6.0L LS series engine in it, he runs mid 9's all motor, he is putting out about 800 horsepower at the crank, all motor. It only has internal work done to it, and a sick cam and heads set, and all that other fun stuff, no forced induction at all. Though to be honest, its not exactly the most driveable car in the world. The total cost to the engine was about 4 grand, pretty cheap shit ( though the whole swap cost about 15 grand, mostly due to all the other crap he put in it )
That's non-extreme, but clearly drag tune. Don't know if he even drives it on the road, but if he does, he never uses more than 300-400hp out of that.

It's not that LS7 is worse than low-end LS models, no, it's better. Just that with 700hp we're talking about a road/track tune, rather than drag. That means the engine is to take full throttle for a long time, not require frequent rebuilds, and have some fuel economy. The first 50hp come almost free, next 50hp cheap, but the rest 100 is a big job, for an actually usable road/track car rather than a dragster.


And yes, there are some cars that run upwards of 2000 horsepower on the track, and a couple are even road legal O_O, go to the car meets in Atlantic City if you don't believe me. The top class cars run almost 2000 horsepower, though very very few are road legal at all, and if they are road legal, your sure as hell not driving them on the road.
I know there are. But on the strip, not on the track. The best results are achieved in the 1700-2000hp area anyway. Absolutely highest horsepower cars is what they call dyno queens - beat everything on the dyno, but not on the actual strip (tracks are out of question here). Highest peak horsepower doesn't mix well with a perfect torque curve and gearbox setup.


Most of the very fast cars down at the strip are front engined, rear drive. The ONLY expect ion to that are the rail cars, ( which can include top fuel ), funny cars are also front engined rear drive, and those go about 20 grand a run :D The main reason why the top fuel cars have rear engines, is because you dont want that 7000 horsepower engine in your face :D
Part of the reason, but funny cars put nearly as much power as well. Rear or rear/mid engine is just plain better. More traction on the rear wheels. Front engines are used mostly for two reasons, regulations and price. When that's not a problem, rear or rear/mid wins.

Apparently Lada are in trouble and Russia are considering bailing them out. Hopefully they won't.
Why do you hate fre...
Why does freedom hate you?

http://lurkmore.ru/images/3/38/8513.jpg

Why do you hate fre...
Why does freedom hate you?

http://lurkmore.ru/images/3/38/8513.jpg

Haha that is excellent :D

This, the Tata Nano. :)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/mar/25/tata-nano-first-public-test-drive