| RE:How much is my car making? |
Subject: RE:How much is my car making? by bogus on 2007/10/6 20:15:04 I always speak in US gallons... that extra bit in an Imperial gallon screws with my math. The 4L60E will easily handle a stock LSx. No question. Just don't abuse it. The 700R4 barely handles a stock L98... that's sad. Figure it this way, the LSx and 4L60E from a late model Camaro is about $3500 USC used from a good salvage yard - complete with accessories, harness and PCM. Figure another $1500 in incidentals - installation kits, things like that. You are now at about 330hp, and fully stock. The LSx responds nicely to a tune, roller rockers and a touch of cam... bam! You are at 400hp. And still bullet proof. I did all this research before I went LT1 for my wifes 87. As for the IP, the digidash isn't all that fancy, it takes standard analogue signals and displays them... BFD... all you lose is the instant MPG. The VSS requires a signal doubler, tho. As for Honda's, I was referring to them as stock beater cars, not for performance. However, a properly built 2.2 litre VTEC will make 800hp. It's just that most folks don't have the patience, skill or money to do it right. Your friend with the 200SX has issues... those things should get better MPG. I bet he was flogging the hell out of it. When I still had my Prelude, one night, coming home to Delaware from Atlanta, GA (a friend of mine and I went down for a big Kyosho RC car race, we finished 6th!), we stopped at a rest station in North Carolina, right over the boarder with South Carolina, going north on Interstate 95 (you can check maps if you want reference points). I-95 in North Carolina is about 181 miles long. Normally, it's a 2.5 to 3 hr drive. That night, I became lead rabbit of a 6 car train. We were cruising at 95MPH for about 170 of the 181 miles. We covered that distance in about 90 minutes. When I stopped for gas in Emporia, Virginia, about 10 miles north of the North Carolina boarder, we averaged 26mpg. The Vette would never touch that kinda MPG at those speeds, 20mpg, tops, is my guess. My point is simple, proper selection can get you a nice little "economy" car, that gets good performance without breaking the wallet, either with maintenance or with random failures. In the 6.5 years and 173k miles I owned that car, it only was on the hook one time, and that was after an accident. I never had problems with failing fuel pumps, or wheel bearings or electrical gremlins that made no sense at all... injectors failing... window seals drying up... head gaskets and valve seals... But even with all our know issues, the Prelude lacked the character that is a Corvette... do we really think people buy Ferrari's cause they are reliable? No, they buy them because they are Ferrari's, warts and all. |
