n00b car question re: Engine displacement and HP

[Mermaidman]

My Olds has a 4.0L, 250 HP motor. Compared to the latest cars, the output seems low for a large motor. Is there ANY advantage over the latest and greatest engines?

edit: FWiW, it's a V8 and made its debut in 1995.

 

[mwmorph]

Your Olds Auroura is a detuned Northstar(L47). It uses the same block and Transverse configuration but with a reduced bore and stroke compared to the higher power, lighter weight L37.

It is actually heavier than the L37 because of thicker cylinder walls thanks to the decreased bore but it does retain mos of the advantages of the Northstar engine the L37 has. For example, if your L47 ever has a coolant leak and runs completely dry, you will still be able to limp home on 4 cylinders, alternating cylinder banks and vastly reduced power instead of having your engine overheat and blow a head gasket for up[ to 100 miles. It also has a die cast aluminum oil pan designed to prevent oil stravation at high cornering loads.

It does have a nylon-thermoplastic intake manifold that can become problematic and fragile as time goes by though though it does decrease intake air temps over a metal intake manifold by not conducting heat as well.

On top of that it has a bit of a fail-resistant fuel pump. If the electronic relay for the fuel pump goes bad, the fuel pump still can run under oil pressure. Also you have timing chains which are noisier but are easier to maintain.

Overall, its nothing performance wise thats special but should be very, very reliable and able to take a beating(try taking an VW/Audi group 1.8T engine and putting it under the same beating an Northstar can take and it'll fail quite spectacularly since the Audi 1.8T is very, maintainence sensitive.)

 

[KLin]

Originally posted by: mwmorph
Your Olds Auroura is a detuned Northstar(L47). It uses the same block and Transverse configuration but with a reduced bore and stroke compared to the higher power, lighter weight L37.

It is actually heavier than the L37 because of thicker cylinder walls thanks to the decreased bore but it does retain mos of the advantages of the Northstar engine the L37 has. For example, if your L47 ever has a coolant leak and runs completely dry, you will still be able to limp home on 4 cylinders, alternating cylinder banks and vastly reduced power instead of having your engine overheat and blow a head gasket for up[ to 100 miles. It also has a die cast aluminum oil pan designed to prevent oil stravation at high cornering loads.

It does have a thermoplastic intake manifold that can become problematic and fragile as time goes by though.

That's a helluva lot better than what I was going to say :thumbsup:.

 

[Eli]

I'm not sure what the question is?

Are you asking if there are any advantages to an older engine vs. a newer one? In that case, no, there are none, without getting into comparing specific engines against eachother.

For example, if your L47 ever has a coolant leak and runs completely dry, you will still be able to limp home on 4 cylinders, alternating cylinder banks and vastly reduced power instead of having your engine overheat and blow a head gasket for up[ to 100 miles.

What? I have never heard of this. How is that even possible? Do the 4 inactive cylinders still recieve fuel, but don't fire? That's the only scenario I can come up with that might keep the engine from overheating.

 

[91TTZ]

Originally posted by: Eli
I'm not sure what the question is?

Are you asking if there are any advantages to an older engine vs. a newer one? In that case, no, there are none, without getting into comparing specific engines against eachother.

For example, if your L47 ever has a coolant leak and runs completely dry, you will still be able to limp home on 4 cylinders, alternating cylinder banks and vastly reduced power instead of having your engine overheat and blow a head gasket for up[ to 100 miles.

What? I have never heard of this. How is that even possible? Do the 4 inactive cylinders still recieve fuel, but don't fire? That's the only scenario I can come up with that might keep the engine from overheating.

The Northstar's engine management system will alternate firing the cylinders, so that half of them just pump air and don't fire. This cools the engine down.

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: 91TTZ


The Northstar's engine management system will alternate firing the cylinders, so that half of them just pump air and don't fire. This cools the engine down.

Wow, cool.. you learn something new every day.

I'm surprised that it's effective enough to actually keep the engine from overheating. Neat.

 

[Mermaidman]

Originally posted by: Eli
I'm not sure what the question is?

Are you asking if there are any advantages to an older engine vs. a newer one? In that case, no, there are none, without getting into comparing specific engines against eachother.

For example, if your L47 ever has a coolant leak and runs completely dry, you will still be able to limp home on 4 cylinders, alternating cylinder banks and vastly reduced power instead of having your engine overheat and blow a head gasket for up[ to 100 miles.

What? I have never heard of this. How is that even possible? Do the 4 inactive cylinders still recieve fuel, but don't fire? That's the only scenario I can come up with that might keep the engine from overheating.

Yah--the Northstar has the "Limp Home" mode, but I don't know the tech specifics. I guess my question boils down to this: Does an older, less sophisticated engine have any benefits? It's probably too broad to make generalizations.

/thread?

 

[91TTZ]

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: 91TTZ


The Northstar's engine management system will alternate firing the cylinders, so that half of them just pump air and don't fire. This cools the engine down.

Wow, cool.. you learn something new every day.

I'm surprised that it's effective enough to actually keep the engine from overheating. Neat.

I read about it in popular science a long time ago. Back then they said the computer would also limit your speed to 60 mph or something like that.

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: Mermaidman

Yah--the Northstar has the "Limp Home" mode, but I don't know the tech specifics. I guess my question boils down to this: Does an older, less sophisticated engine have any benefits? It's probably too broad to make generalizations.

/thread?

It's going to vary widely between individuals and what they deem a "benefit".

I guess the most obvious one would be that older engines tend to be quite a bit less complex, and therefor are easier to fix.

But yeah, in general it's probably too broad to make generalizations.

 

[Strk]

Originally posted by: 91TTZ

Originally posted by: Eli
I'm not sure what the question is?

Are you asking if there are any advantages to an older engine vs. a newer one? In that case, no, there are none, without getting into comparing specific engines against eachother.

For example, if your L47 ever has a coolant leak and runs completely dry, you will still be able to limp home on 4 cylinders, alternating cylinder banks and vastly reduced power instead of having your engine overheat and blow a head gasket for up[ to 100 miles.

What? I have never heard of this. How is that even possible? Do the 4 inactive cylinders still recieve fuel, but don't fire? That's the only scenario I can come up with that might keep the engine from overheating.

The Northstar's engine management system will alternate firing the cylinders, so that half of them just pump air and don't fire. This cools the engine down.

GM puts that in a few engines now.