Quote:
Originally Posted by Ezio
like i said, i drive a M3 not a corvette. so that says something. But i do see why people would like the push rod V8s. they make great power and actually get decent MPG if put in a sports car.
i quoted you and made that comment because you were acting like big V8 motors are not making the power per liter. coming off like European engines are just better or something. really anything that BMW does GM CAN do. (goes both ways). there is no secret to engine building. its simply the style of motor. some like big non stressed V8 motors, some like the high tec motors. i wouldn't say one is better than the other.
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I wasn't trying to imply that Euro engines are "better" than US. Then we first would have to agree on a universal definition of what is a "better" engine. In many applications a low stressed V8 is better than a high rpm V8. Don't see room for a S65 or Ferrari V8 in a pickup
In that application a traditional US V8 does the job way better. And culturally and historically that's probably what suits the Vette better as well. But I prefer what Ford does because they combine large(ish) displacement with modern tech. Showing that one doesn't exclude the other.
And in my example above with the pickup truck engine lies the "problem" for me with attaching any kind of "mystique" or exoticness to the Chevrolet V8. It's a engine which is not only related to the same engine you find in a pickup truck, but it still keeps that low specific output low rpm character. Don't get me wrong it's a VERY powerful engine and credit to GM for making it!
But Ford's SOHC 6,2l V8 for the F150 makes 411hp and 434lb.ft, only 49hp and 26lb.ft down on the 460/460 numbers of the 6,2l LT1 engine in the C7. So Ford makes a short stroke, SOHC 6,2l V8 that has nearly the same power as the C7 engine, only it's for a pickup truck... That 6,2l pickup engine would be a 464hp engine in a 7l configuration, only 41hp down on the LS7 engine. And that would still be a engine in a pickup state of tune (it would only need an additional 6hp/l to be at a LS7 power level)... To me that puts a perspective on the LT1 and LS7 engines degree of development over a competitors pickup engine... And probably also shows the benefits of Ford's more modern engine architecture with SOHC and DOHC engines.
And instead of just putting that big 6,2l V8 in the Mustang they make a 444hp@7400rpm 5l DOHC V8, which is only 16hp down on the 6,2l LT1 engine in the C7. Probably once more showing that Ford has a engine architecture that allows them to play around with different ways of achieving power, they don't have to go large displacement.
So as you can see, I'm a big fan of the Ford V8 engines
Not so much the old school GM engines...