That statement was in regards to his POWER comment not how fast a fart can could go down the strip.

 

ooohhh I like this suject. BHP/torque/power/speed HAHAHAHA...erm, sorry

Anyone here a long time F1 fan and I mean from the 80's? Remember the 1.5 V6 turbo pushing 900+BHP?

It all depends on what sort of money you want to spend. I have had a Mini pushing 300BHP that would do 0-60 in under 5 secs but would only do 90 flat out (OK it was not mini engine but it was only a 1.6L I4). I have had a stright 6 that would do over 180 and 0-60 was a little over 7 secs. I have had a v8 that topped 590BHP at the back wheels but it never got above 170 and 0-60 was over 9 secs. One of my last cars was a I4 2.0 turbo diesel that was 0-60 in under 8 and topped over 140MPH (a pic of this is in the posting called 'a little over 60').

I don't think it matters on the engine, it matters on the tech, the money, the time and what you want it to do. Would I spend $100,000 on a Ferrari? Nope. Would I spend $100,000 on a 1992 Honda Civic doing the engine, body, wheels, tyres, etc, etc? Hell yeah and watch me leave that Ferrari in my dust!

Just found this. With a bit of $$ you can do things like this.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cV4HdsDZX6c

 

I owned a 415WHP Civic that I daily drove and got 38mpg on the highway, ~30 city/highway driving. Sold it to build my RX7 though unfortunately. This day-n-age you don't need a large displacement motor to make stupid power. It's all about effeciency and the technology we have available. My rx7 is a 1000rwhp+ car but has better street manners than a 500whp heads/cam car. Boost is a very very wonderfull thing

Forgot to post the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfqV8w8yjLQ

 

The Beast you make a great point and damn those are some sick cars. But it could be debated why not just drop a Supra I6 or a V6 in you know? I understand it comes down to power to weight ratio etc, gearing but in my Chevy Power Magazine they are taking V8's to 802 Cubic inches which i think is sick and making 2000hp, naturally aspirated on pump gas! Why not take A V10 turbo charge the badboy or etc and possibly make more. Like everythings got to be a V8 and I just dont understand why.

 

Those motors can make those numbers on pump gas, but it's not streetable. The idle's are near the 2000rpm range, and the cam doesn't come in until the high-mid to top end. 2JZ's are nice but look at the cost of the parts it take to make good HP with that motor, I like to think of it as the "Supra Tax". It's not that the parts necessarily cost more to produce, but manufactuers know that Supra owners have money and are willing to spend it. Same goes with Corvette parts. The reason so many people go with a V8 is because they're readily available. Think of how many MILLIONS of SBC motors there are in the world? Now think of how many readily available V10 motors there are floating around. The most widely used V10s are probably the V10s used in a very few pick up trucks am I right? So there isn't really a market for it. I'm sure they can make good power, but why not do this. You can safely make upwards of 600whp with a bone stock long block 364ci 6.0L from a 1999+ Silverado 2500 and a turbo.

Summarized: why spend more money on a V10, when you can get the same performance out of a proven V8 at a fraction of the cost.

 

We could run around all day saying that a I4 is better but a V10 will get more power, a I4 will have more useable power but a V12 is used in Ferrari's and they seems to be OK. It boils down to a few simple facts.

One of the reasons we used I4's was weight and size. If you want a small car to throw around and not kill you on the first corner a Civic is perfect, or something along those lines. You can get 300, 400, even 500BHP out of some I4's if you have the time, but if you want something that will do 150MPH for 500 miles, a little I4 is maybe not the best choice. Something like a V6 or V8 would be better. Now I know some of the new V6's are a lot smaller and lighter than they used to be and yes you maybe could get one in a civic but until there are more of them about and parts are easier to get people will still be using the little I4. Now if you want to drive across the USA as quick as possible you're not going to use a modded Civic or even a V6 Kia. You want something that will pull you across with very little effort, maybe a V10 cummins (yes I know thats a diesel). It all depends on what you want it to do and how much $$ you have to spend. If you have 150k to spend you get an Aston Martin, if you only have 20k to spend you buy a Civic and mod the crap out of it.

I use Civic, Aston Martin and other cars to make a point, I know there are other cars out there that will do the job just as well if not better.

 

It basically just boils down to one main concept. More people use v8s because they are in fact cheaper to make fast, especially chevys. I've personally witnessed a caged 69 nova with a budget 383 motor only (had the bottle off) beat a fully gutted hatch (im talking no interior no dash even the core supports for the body had been hacked out just 1 seat for the driver and the necessity guages) which was boosted on nitrous in a legitimate street race.

 

I am actually considering an LS7 swap simply due to the fact that I have been offered 4 of them this year.... in KUWAIT...