Do you prefer a V8 in your car?

[exdeath]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: exdeath
Not necessarily a V8, but more displacement always leaves room on the table to make more power without increasing boost (boost = heat and higher compression ratio = detonation). Which of course means you can run on pump gas instead messing with leaded race gas, nitrous (small IAT cooling shot), meth, etc.

A V8 of course is the only practical way to increase displacement once you get to a certain size, and beyond that, V10, and so forth. But not every car needs it.

To those who prefer a smaller 1800 lbs car with 200+ HP and say you don't need a big engine to go fast, well if you think 200+ HP on a 1800 lbs car is impressive, how bout a 1900 lbs car with 800+ HP? No reason to decrease power just because you decrease weight.

Also just because you can use more recent technology to make the same power with a smaller engine, how bout keeping the big engine still and applying the technology to that, and in turn getting even more power? If a 300 HP V6 can replace a 300 HP V8, then take whatever it took to make that V6 have 300 HP and then get 400 HP out of the V8, for example. The bigger engine is always going to have more POTENTIAL, it doesn't matter if a 400 HP B18C whooped a 205 HP 454 or not, that 454 *could* be built the same way and have 2000 HP, something you aren't ever going to do on a standard gasoline 1.8L engine. At the end of the day the difference in power of two engines is going to be proportional to the difference in their displacement, all else held equal.

Again, not every car needs that kind of power, but I'm just giving my counterpoints to common fallacies.

What kind of street legal car weighs 1900lbs and makes 800hp though? A Formula One car weighs about 1300lbs and makes 800hp but it definitely is not street legal. Most people don't own track only cars...I know I don't, so I assumed that we were talking about street legal cars here.

Just saying, decreasing weight doesn't have to mean less power. Why not decrease weight and ADD power at the same time and have a real rocket? The original AC Cobra concept. Example is the Elise. If it's fast with only 240 HP (?) because it's light, then put a bigger engine in it and add 10% more weight but 200% more power potential, how fast would it be then?

Not that it NEEDS it, but then nobody NEEDS 240 HP either

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: exdeath

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: exdeath
Not necessarily a V8, but more displacement always leaves room on the table to make more power without increasing boost (boost = heat and higher compression ratio = detonation). Which of course means you can run on pump gas instead messing with leaded race gas, nitrous (small IAT cooling shot), meth, etc.

A V8 of course is the only practical way to increase displacement once you get to a certain size, and beyond that, V10, and so forth. But not every car needs it.

To those who prefer a smaller 1800 lbs car with 200+ HP and say you don't need a big engine to go fast, well if you think 200+ HP on a 1800 lbs car is impressive, how bout a 1900 lbs car with 800+ HP? No reason to decrease power just because you decrease weight.

Also just because you can use more recent technology to make the same power with a smaller engine, how bout keeping the big engine still and applying the technology to that, and in turn getting even more power? If a 300 HP V6 can replace a 300 HP V8, then take whatever it took to make that V6 have 300 HP and then get 400 HP out of the V8, for example. The bigger engine is always going to have more POTENTIAL, it doesn't matter if a 400 HP B18C whooped a 205 HP 454 or not, that 454 *could* be built the same way and have 2000 HP, something you aren't ever going to do on a standard gasoline 1.8L engine. At the end of the day the difference in power of two engines is going to be proportional to the difference in their displacement, all else held equal.

Again, not every car needs that kind of power, but I'm just giving my counterpoints to common fallacies.

What kind of street legal car weighs 1900lbs and makes 800hp though? A Formula One car weighs about 1300lbs and makes 800hp but it definitely is not street legal. Most people don't own track only cars...I know I don't, so I assumed that we were talking about street legal cars here.

Just saying, decreasing weight doesn't have to mean less power. Why not decrease weight and ADD power at the same time and have a real rocket? The original AC Cobra concept. Example is the Elise. If it's fast with only 240 HP (?) because it's light, then put a bigger engine in it and add 10% more weight but 200% more power potential, how fast would it be then?

Not that it NEEDS it, but then nobody NEEDS 240 HP either

Again, you add weight and you're going to decrease performance. Not straight line performance but certainly cornering and braking performance...which is where the Lotus excels and then the car will lose all it's appeal to the type of person who appreciates a small lightweight car.

 

[thedarkwolf]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: Toastedlightly

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: Ktulu

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: thedarkwolf
There is more to gas mileage then engine size. My little 1.8l miata gets the same gas mileage as my dad's 4.6l v8 mustang. Mine turns twice the RPMs on the interstate and it needs to have any power. Even my old 5.0l mustang with 3.73s gears did around 24mpg on the highway which isn't far behind my miata at 26mpg but it did suck down some gas around town.

Um, I had a 1994 5.0l Mustang GT with 3.73 gears and the best I could do on the freeway was 17mpg...which is close to what I got around town with it. That sucker was turning at almost 3000 rpms at 65mph in 5th.

Sounds like that particular Mustang wasn't taken care of properly I find it incredibly hard to believe that my 5.3L Silverado can get low to mid 20's on the highway while a 5.0 mustang can only get 17 on the highway

And you would be wrong. I took excellent care of it. I bought it used with 36k miles on it and it had a 2.73 rear gear ratio when I bought it. That got me around 17mpg in town and low to mid 20s on the freeway which is pretty much what it was rated at when new. After I changed the rear gears highway mileage went to shit and town mileage dropped a little down into the mid teens. We're talking about a 13 year old car here.

What's also funny is that Edmunds.com (same place I used to confirm the fuel economy rates of my old Mustang) rates a brand new Silverado at 16/20mpg city/highway so either you don't know how to calculate fuel economy or you have some kind of magic truck.

So, you changed the car for performance and bitch about it?

I'm not bitching about it. Show me where I was complaining about it? You need to work on your reading comprehension. I was pointing out that I had a car with the same setup as someone else and never got anywhere near the mileage he was claiming.

Well not exactly the same. My 89 coupe was a couple hundred pounds lighter.
Just noticed edmunds say an automatic 90would get 17 city and 15 highway so that shows how accurate edmunds can be . Anyway maybe mine was closer to 20 highway then I remember. I didn't take a lot of long highway trips with it.

Probably should have just left my old one out. All I was trying to say is a modern v8s cars can get pretty decent mileage and my 89 wasn't exactly modern.

 

[Pacfanweb]

Yes. Got a 5.3 in the Suburban, 5.7 in the Tahoe, a 440" big block in the drag truck (427 bored .072" over) and a 406 going into my Jeep.

Piss on small engines.

 

[exdeath]

Originally posted by: Pacfanweb
Yes. Got a 5.3 in the Suburban, 5.7 in the Tahoe, a 440" big block in the drag truck (427 bored .072" over) and a 406 going into my Jeep.

Piss on small engines.

Could probably lose a small engine in one of those intake ports... be careful

 

[Summitdrinker]

yep V8 for me
last weekend I bought a 2002 mercury grand marquis LS
make mine RWD too

 

[Raduque]

8 is great. :thumbsup:

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

What kind of street legal car weighs 1900lbs and makes 800hp though? A Formula One car weighs about 1300lbs and makes 800hp but it definitely is not street legal. Most people don't own track only cars...I know I don't, so I assumed that we were talking about street legal cars here.

It used to weigh 1800lb......

 

[alkemyst]

Cylinders <> power. Displacement is.

Cylinders and orientation decide mostly the engine's balance.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: Raduque
8 is great. :thumbsup:

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

What kind of street legal car weighs 1900lbs and makes 800hp though? A Formula One car weighs about 1300lbs and makes 800hp but it definitely is not street legal. Most people don't own track only cars...I know I don't, so I assumed that we were talking about street legal cars here.

It used to weigh 1800lb......

And it used to make about 150hp...if that.

 

[Hyperlite]

Of the 2.4L 19k redline variety preferably.

 

[ultimatebob]

I have a hunch that my MINI Cooper would be a wee bit overpowered if they put a V8 in it

It would also be pretty tough to fit a full size V8 under the hood. Maybe they could stick it in the boot if they removed the rear seats?

 

[exdeath]

Originally posted by: Hyperlite
Of the 2.4L 19k redline variety preferably.

The exotic appeal makes that sound fun, but in reality it's not practical or ideal in a street car. For one the heat buildup from friction and more frequent combustion that occurs with high RPM is designed to be dissipated by a car moving at 200 mph at all times.

Think of it like the P4 with a narrow pipe (small displacement) higher clock speed (high rpm) but more more heat (from friction and it's more severe with clock speed than with pipe width).
With small displacement and high RPM you have smaller surface area to dissipate the heat with less time to do so before the next combustion. Large displacement slow revving engines not only have more surface area to soak the heat, they also don't have as many combustion cycles per second.

Street cars don't HAVE to rev to 19k because they aren't restricted to 2.4L displacement.

They don't use small displacement high revving engines because it's better or higher tech or more exotic, they simply don't have a choice because someone in a suit in an office setting the race rules arbitrarily set the limit at 2.4L to LIMIT power, not because it's a better way of making power.

I promise you Ferrari would be using a 6L V8 or V12 that revved to 9k if they had any say in it.

 

[MovingTarget]

There is no replacement for displacement. That being said, a v8 just "feels" better when driving because it is a more balanced engine. It is much more smooth when operating properly. The number of cylinders and displacement aren't strictly related. A 4-banger can still produce quite a bit of power and torque depending on the rest of the engine specs. You could have a 1cylinder engine that displaces 5L, but it would be so rough as to be impractical. Thats why higher cylinder engines were developed. I was really excited when the Cadillac Sixteen concept came out because of how smooth that would be.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: Hyperlite
Of the 2.4L 19k redline variety preferably.

Ah, a fellow Formula One fan! :thumbsup:

Do you think Alonso is going to secure a ride for 2008? I think Lewis Hamilton is going to be unstoppable next season. Can't wait for no traction control and they're talking about going back to full slicks.

 

[DougK62]

I'd like to have a small roadster with a tiny little 2.0-2.5L V8. I think that would be really fun if done right.

To answer the original question, I don't care how many cylinders a car has as long as it can get out of its own way.

 

[bwatson283]

My Exploder is great with an 8!!

 

[overst33r]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2lM5SdMVlc I wouldn't mind this...

 

[MovingTarget]

Well, for one I am happy with my 8 as I have mentioned earlier. About two months ago I was having a misfire because my plugs got fouled up. Today, it started misfiring again. I looked under the hood only to discover that the mechanic had not routed the wires correctly, so one of them had rested against the exhaust manifold and melted. You could see the arc between the plug wire and the manifold for every time the cylinder was supposed to fire. Unfortunately I wasn't at home to fix it myself. I was able to drive back to get the warranty work I needed without having it towed. I know it isn't good for the engine to do that, but I made it there without too much trouble. Try doing that in a 4-banger. You would have a much higher percentage of power loss and likely wouldn't be going much of anywhere. I was able to limp on the road at normal driving speed to where I needed. Now she's humming smoothly on the road again.

 

[Fenixgoon]

Originally posted by: MovingTarget
Well, for one I am happy with my 8 as I have mentioned earlier. About two months ago I was having a misfire because my plugs got fouled up. Today, it started misfiring again. I looked under the hood only to discover that the mechanic had not routed the wires correctly, so one of them had rested against the exhaust manifold and melted. You could see the arc between the plug wire and the manifold for every time the cylinder was supposed to fire. Unfortunately I wasn't at home to fix it myself. I was able to drive back to get the warranty work I needed without having it towed. I know it isn't good for the engine to do that, but I made it there without too much trouble. Try doing that in a 4-banger. You would have a much higher percentage of power loss and likely wouldn't be going much of anywhere. I was able to limp on the road at normal driving speed to where I needed. Now she's humming smoothly on the road again.

my VW passat 1.8T wound up with a bad coil pack and ignition control module. i could do about 40 max, and going up hills was seriously painful on the engine (i had to limp it back home)

it's fixed now.. but man, not cool when your car nearly dies on a 55mph highway and you have to limp back at 40 (most people do 65).

 

[MovingTarget]

Originally posted by: Fenixgoon

Originally posted by: MovingTarget
Well, for one I am happy with my 8 as I have mentioned earlier. About two months ago I was having a misfire because my plugs got fouled up. Today, it started misfiring again. I looked under the hood only to discover that the mechanic had not routed the wires correctly, so one of them had rested against the exhaust manifold and melted. You could see the arc between the plug wire and the manifold for every time the cylinder was supposed to fire. Unfortunately I wasn't at home to fix it myself. I was able to drive back to get the warranty work I needed without having it towed. I know it isn't good for the engine to do that, but I made it there without too much trouble. Try doing that in a 4-banger. You would have a much higher percentage of power loss and likely wouldn't be going much of anywhere. I was able to limp on the road at normal driving speed to where I needed. Now she's humming smoothly on the road again.

my VW passat 1.8T wound up with a bad coil pack and ignition control module. i could do about 40 max, and going up hills was seriously painful on the engine (i had to limp it back home)

it's fixed now.. but man, not cool when your car nearly dies on a 55mph highway and you have to limp back at 40 (most people do 65).

Yeah, it can be pretty scary if that first starts on the interstate. Its not so much the loss of power, but also the roughness of the engine.

 

[GoatMonkey]

This topic is just too vague for me. There is no point of comparison in the original post. "Do you prefer a V8 in your car?". As opposed to what? I4, I6, I8, H8, V6, V12, W16, rotary, hybrid, electric, I6 turbo diesel, miller cycle, 2 stroke motorcycle engine, a hamster on a wheel?

Without something to compare it to, there is no way to answer this question.

If it means, "Do you prefer Camaro to Evo, or Corvette to Exige?", then we have something to talk about.

Since we're not talking about real cars, just "V8 compared to whatever you want", I'll just assume that the OP means V8 vs. turbo I4, since that's the debate that always seems to come up.

My opinion is: I don't care all that much as long as the end result is an awesome car. Camaro, Evo, Corvette and Exige are all great cars, I want all of them. Depends on my mood, budget, intended use, etc..

 

[DivideBYZero]

I like my I6.

 

[HannibalX]

Originally posted by: nakedfrog

Originally posted by: amjohns5
Seeing as my Monte Carlo SS has been in the shop, I have been driving my parents Mustang GT, and I prefer the V6.

I'm pretty sure the V8 in the Monte is a piece of crap, as far as V8s go.

5.3L V8 making 300 or so HP is a piece of crap? GM has been making this engine for years and it has proven to be an excellent engine.

 

[dgevert]

I'll stick with my turbo'd H4 thanks.

 

[zerocool84]

Originally posted by: dgevert
I'll stick with my turbo'd H4 thanks.

oh you turbo'd an old bug??? sweet