American Muscle vs Japanese Technology

[91ProtegeLX]

1969 Hemi Cuda (427 Hemi) it was pushin like 400+ hp in stock trim.

1970 Boss 302 mustang....*drool*

69 Camaro SS *drool*'

66 Nova SS...*drool*

67 AC Shelby Cobra 426 *will own any import*


Just my opinion tho.

[charles]

i hate imports

[GotBoost]

Nissan Skyline R34 V-Spec II and a 69 Camaro SS.

I like both hi-tech japanese cars and Good old pushrod muscle.

I drove a 69 el-camino (sort of) it was tube frame front and rear with a fiberglass bed and hood. the drivers compartment was the only original steel. it had 870 rwhp and on full slicks ran the 1/4 in 9.00 @ 168 (best time i ever got)

but...that car was only good in a straight line. I like curves now so I'll be happy with my msp until the HP bug bites. then I'll start replacing things.

[funkdaddysmack]

I think both have their place, and both earn respect.

And yea, I get 20-24mpg in my protege... The best I ever got was like 29 on 99.5% highway driving

[jnorion]

Both types are fun but I'd take import over muscle cars. Smaller & lighter -- makes for better handling and more efficiency. Muscle cars are great for drag racing, but the imports are better on twisty roads and corners.

[funkdaddysmack]

Originally posted by cablemirc
japanese imports to me are more exotic. if money was no issue, i, of course, would sport my Lamborghini Countach Quattrovalvole 500S in white at the next meet. to me, american muscle is still more associated with brute force as opposed to power through engineering.

While I agree with you that the European supercars are engineering masterpeices, they are also a lot more complex.

But I don't know if I would be afraid if I were a lambo/ferrari owner just to drive it down the road because if something broke, you're going to pay a TON of money to get it fixed.

One of the nice things about the American brute force method is that everything is kept relatively simple. The Corvette and Viper (which I think are two of the premier American supercars) are both still pushrod engines. I don't know as much about the Ford GT-40, but from what I've heard, it's an amazing machine as well (even though I think its OHC design).

Personally, I don't think keeping it simple is a bad thing. If you can build something to be as fast and as reliable (or more) as the competition with 'dated' technology, why not?

[Speed Protege]

Ditto cablemirc I like the fact that they can use technology overbrute force such as Turbos although there are some american turbo cars I personally think japan really brought out this idea of forced induction.

[bruce95fmla]

reason why I want the F150 lightning, It's a practical and fast truck. That and I can make tons of money off all you sucers posting above when your car breaks down and you need me to tow your car... hahahahha

[torpedan]

I think i would favor the Newer jap cause just cause i cant stand the interiors of most of the fore mentioned muscle cars..

*shrug* Skylines are dead sexy too so that is hard to pass up.

[protégébob]

Originally posted by JesseSays
a Camaro with a 6 speed gets better mileage than a Protege....

a Camaro with a 6 speed gets WAY better gas mileage than a tuned Protege.


the end.

True True!!!
Before my m6 94 z28 recieved it's new cam and other goodies it would get close to 28mpg on the highway, compared to the 22-25mpg my Pro now gets. Six speeds RULE!!

[jnorion]

Not even counting supercars though, just the philosophy in general is so different. I think it's a lot more impressive to push a car to high speeds with a small engine. There were some posts on the other forums a while back about a Canadian guy, I can't remember his name anymore, who boosted his 4-cyl mx3 to beat Vipers on the street. That's a lot more impressive than most American car technology.

[asylum24]

Bruce I hear ya.... Im thinkin screw cars and get me a truck... depends on teh money if it'll be a street truck or if I can afford it to be 4x4 then its off roadin for me.... if tis a street truck then im thinkin not like fast but like luxery kind of.... this is gonna sound racist but kind of like black people have their cars with the leather and chrome and stuff.... again not trying to be racist just thats the best way i can put it right now cuz im tired

[funkdaddysmack]

Originally posted by jnorion
Not even counting supercars though, just the philosophy in general is so different. I think it's a lot more impressive to push a car to high speeds with a small engine. There were some posts on the other forums a while back about a Canadian guy, I can't remember his name anymore, who boosted his 4-cyl mx3 to beat Vipers on the street. That's a lot more impressive than most American car technology.

If it's the MX-3 I'm thinking of, it'sdamn fast and damn impressive, I believe in the 11s or maybe even 10s. The thing is though, while getting a smaller engine to put out that much power, your reliability goes WAYYYY down. I'm not even necessarily talking about the engine here (because proper tuning goes a LOOONG way, and to get that much power from the BPT, he has to have great tuning), but the drivetrain is really going to take a beating. If it's the same car that I'm thinking about, he's been through 4 or 5 trannies, and probably countless axles.

The nice thing about the muscle cars is that they can take about the same increase in hp/tq on their stock parts, but you then end up with a lot more HP. Like a 300 hp BPT would be like a 650hp camaro (and getting to 650hp in a camaro isn't all that hard).

[charles]

http://members.attcanada.ca/~dragon64/dave.html

The reliability doesn't have as much to do with the displacement of the engine, as it does with the design.

[jnorion]

I think it was 11's, and yes, something like 5 trannies burned out. But I'm not saying that's the most desirable setup, just that it can be done and that's impressive. I would much rather have a medium size v6 (say a BMW, Subaru, or Nissan type)that was tuned right, because the whole setup is designed to handle that much power but it's a lot more efficient than the camaro.