Superfour Challenge :Tuner 4-banger shootout @ Car and Driver

[Demon-Xanth]

What I still can't grasp on these HP figures:

The Neon made 348HP and 257Lb/ft of torque and did 15.5 in the quarter. This seems WAY slow to me.
The SRT-4 Neon is rated at 215Hp and 245 LB/ft of torque (really closer to 250/275) does 14.1 in the quarter. Which is about what I'd expect.

Now, given that they're the same chassis with the same drivetrain driving the same set of wheels. It makes me wonder if some of these manufacturers are measuring tiny little spikes to get thier numbers.

 

[chin311]

Originally posted by: NeuroSynapsis
These are companies showing off their cars y'know

it's not like somebody's paying this stuff out of pocket, it's all a write off anyway


//edit//

have you seen alpine's 250 THOUSAND dollar civic si? yeah, that's right, a csi worth as much as a house

$250k? someone shoot them, PLEASE.

thats two new porsche 911's....

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Originally posted by: NFS4
I can't believe the price tags on these cars :Q

This was my thought exactly when I read the article in my subscription copy. Why the hell would anyone pay these kinds of prices for lukewarm performance and a total lack of prestige? Even if you can make a Civic accelerate like a 330ci for similar money, why would you want to? I can understand spending $20K for a really quick Civic/Neon/Focus, but I sure don't understand spending $35-40K for one.

EDIT: Even so, I am not sticking my wang into a fan - I would rather pay full retail for a TFATF-style neon-yellow-and-primer-colored Civic with coffee-can exhaust, massive torque steer from a watermelon-sized turbocharger, and enough decals to cover the USS Constitution!

 

[Demon-Xanth]

Man, I need to bring up the F-body tuner car shootout from just a few years ago. The prices were about the same but the cars were pulling low 13's to mid 12's.

 

[wicktron]

Originally posted by: BCYL
I'm very impressed with the NA RSX-S in the article... over 300hp with just tuning and no force induction...

Anyone can slap on a turbo, but tuning a NA engine is an art...

Mmmmm, RSX.

 

[KokomoGST]

This is why people mod USED cars on their own... it costs less and you get the same friggin performance for $20k or so. Unless it happens to be a newer car like an RSX-S or WRX or Evo8. But then again, the WRX & Evo didn't cost that much to mod!

That's why I don't understand the Comptech overpriced $69k POS winning? You could prolly buy a new S2000 and do the same performance mods for $15k. So 28+15(or even 20 if you're being generous) doesn't = 69k!!! AUGH!

 

[atom]

Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth
What I still can't grasp on these HP figures:

The Neon made 348HP and 257Lb/ft of torque and did 15.5 in the quarter. This seems WAY slow to me.
The SRT-4 Neon is rated at 215Hp and 245 LB/ft of torque (really closer to 250/275) does 14.1 in the quarter. Which is about what I'd expect.

Now, given that they're the same chassis with the same drivetrain driving the same set of wheels. It makes me wonder if some of these manufacturers are measuring tiny little spikes to get thier numbers.

Those 1/4 mile times are suspect. I mean how does a turbocharged RSX get a 15 second 1/4 mile run when a JDM RSX type-R gets a faster time?

 

[fastz28]

I read the paper version a couple of days ago. There was a snippet about a Z06 ownz them all!!

 

[WinkOsmosis]

Wait.. "Souped up"? I thought it was "suped up".