Sure your 2 liter makes power, but how much would it make n/a. Well, I'm fairly sure your car isn't n/a. Hummm... thats what I thought.

Dude, you have got to understand the "line of thinking" when it comes to these kind of cars.  Check it out:  I want to build a lightweight, fast, small-medium size sports car that get pretty decent gas milage.  So you choose to go force induction on a small displacement engine that is easy to work on and most of the time taken for granted.  You now have a small nimble car that is very lite, turns on a dime and still gets 30mpg.  Other people choose to go BIG DISPLACEMENT, but with that, you have to go BIG - HEAVY CAR, that knocks off its mirrors on the ashalt trying to catch that import that just blew off his doors and turned onto that street your car just understeered past.  You really can't compare a small displacement engine with a turbo and a large v-8, if anything the v-8 still has the advantage and the two should be about even, now compare a v-8 and a v-8 with a turbo, that is what you would call unfare.  I chose the small displacement with forced induction over the big v/8, Handling is a must, stopping power is a must.  That being said, the new C-6 CORVETTE (FERARRI MODENA) LOVE IT, the new GT 40(ACURA NSX AND LOTUS X13) from Ford- LOVE IT, they both have Europeon and Asian technology all over them, that is the way it is.  Oh, BTW,  your car would be a good street car, until you had to turn....  Don't hate imports, the Ferarris, Acura's, Nissans, Toyota and Audi are all great Manufactures.  Just open your eyes a little, the "muscle era" is gone my friend, deal with it.  What was once the SS Camaro in 69 in now slow as a base civic and their are ALOT of Civics out there that I have seen eat 01/02 SS's for lunch, and I do not like Civic's!  I love cars too man, but I want one that can go ANYWHERE, not just in a straght line.

Torque is force, horsepower is how fast your engine produces work (power). Force is how hard the engine pushes. Work (force X distance) is what moves you down the road. Power (work/time) is how fast the work is produced. The more power the engine produces the faster you move down the road. Peak engine torque is where volumetric efficiency peaks. Peak horsepower is where your engine is producing the most work in a given period of time. Think about lifting a bucket of water over your head to fill a tank. Maximum torque is where the bucket is as full as you can get it and still lift it. Maximum horsepower would be where you're filling the tank the fastest. If you're trying to fill the tank the second method is ideal. It's the same for trying to accelerate a car.

Having lots of low end torque means you have lots of low end horsepower; that's why a car with low end torque is pleasant to drive on the street. It's generating lots of horsepower in the operating range you use it in. Obviously a car with a higher average horsepower is better on the street than a car with a higher power peak but a lower average output. But with proper gearing the higher output engine is going to be faster on the track.

Gear reduction translates the engine's horsepower into a ratio of wheel torque to wheel speed. The more horsepower you have the more wheel torque and wheel speed you can generate. Shifting to keep you engine near peak torque will not generate the most work in any given period of time. Only keeping your engine at peak horsepower will do that.

Joe

V-8 doesn't mean a heavy car. 3100 lbs isnt that heavy. How much does your average import weight? Then match that with the power to wieght ratio. Sure older cars dont handle as well, but a few aftermarket parts make it better, but point is, muscle cars dont need to handle all that well because they aren't ment to fly around corners. They drive down the road an take curves as they should, no need to take a 35 m.p.h curve at 90. My Nova has the stock suspension and can take your average 35 m.p.h curve at 65 no problem. The only reason the import would be flyin past the BIG DISPLACEMENT car is because while he crusing at 65 the damn import idiot though the highway was the Indianapolis 500, but with the BIG DISPLACEMENT cars low torque curve and power band, he would make that distance up in no time.  The most insulting and mentally retarded thing you could say is that the muscle car era is over. Look at what is coming out of the factory now and days. The 400 h.p GTO, 390 h.p SSR,300 h.p mustangs, 345 h.p HEMI magnams, and the charger on the way. Its not over my friend, its beginging all over again.  

"I am tired of argueing, this could go on for days, there is no point." 

There's no doubting that.  This silly domestic vs. import arguement has gone on for years and will surely continue.  IMO, it's a waste of time.  I just don't understand why it matters to anyone what someone else wants to drive or modify by using their own money.  Or, huffing and puffing about a 4-banger vs. a V-8.  [Anybody who has raced enough, has been smoked by a ride which was a complete surprise.]

* I've posed this question before, but have never received an intelligent response:  Was Shelby's AC Cobra a domestic or import? 

Well said.  Sounds as you already have your engineering degree.   

1)  did you read my post...  go read it again  ...as see as you need to put me in reality!!!!

you in your 2nd time of quotin' me  only quoted half of what I said...read the whole sentence and you'll see  I said that shifting at torque peak drops the engine in to the lower torque band...

in your 3rd quote of me  you again only white half the sentence...read what I wrote  I said shifting a car 200rpm over torque peak with a gearspilter(aka gearvendors)  with eat that peak h p time slip

on a  automatic( you pick one)  and shift at the h p peak  where does that tranny put the engine???????   most times(  not all)  in the meat of the torque peak  curve  most engines(again not all)  make  most of there torque peak (torque ) 1500 rpm  before the peak and 1200 rpm after it...  so from shifting till shifting again  it's in the meat of the torque peak... 

when I said shifting 200rpm over torque peak with a gearspliter is faster is because 1) the engine rpm drop isn't as big and 2) your in the same rpm after shifting as you'd be if you shifted at hp peak with out the gearspliter!!!!!!!!!!!!

my car is faster  shifting this way with the gearvendors gearspliter than  shifting at  h p peak   with it or without it(it  being the spliter)

this is my reality......

p.s,  have you driven a car with a gearspliter and "tried it"  ?????

yeah turdley its me, and i know ur car can beat mine, but come on, i bet there's a million "ricers" out there that can beat ur 454ci, u'd just burn out at the starting line, and never get a take off, lol, by the time u get done roasting ur tires, the small *** car will be on the finish line with his stop watch out waiting for u, lol he might get exhausted from waiting and leave, but sure i'll hook up against ur nova when i get some more money invested in my car. Then we will see whos car is best, until then, keep dreaming buddy.......  

O.K., whatever.  

well  have you driven a car with  one  yes or  no!!!!!!!!!!

Shush up bob, ur 1.6 liters will never keep up with my 7.4.  

Thanks, I'm getting closer each semester.

Joe

I'm not saying the new "muscle cars" coming out of the factory today will dominate the streets, but they will help to keep tabs on those pesky imports. Yes, i understand power to weight ratio, thus I mentioned it. Nothing still beats the low end torque of a v-8.  

hey dummy, it matters to some people. If your the same person who posted the comment before, I will say again, piss off. If you dont want to read about it, dont. But dont coming whinning on here about not wanting to read this because i sure as hell dont wanna read about you whinning. People just argue about things, and thats the way it is, hell, we still argure about landing on the moon

"I'm not saying the new "muscle cars" coming out of the factory today will dominate the streets, but they will help to keep tabs on those pesky imports. Yes, i understand power to weight ratio, thus I mentioned it. Nothing still beats the low end torque of a v-8."

OK, Last time I promise.

1) Tabs?, your making it sound like they are illegal or have no right being here.  Dude do you know that Japan has an "IMPORT 300 gt class race series"?  It is comprised of Camaros, Mustangs, and Vipers and cars like that. And you need to understand what "rice" really means.

2) And the low end torque thing, if it is a HEAVY CAR with lots of torque against an import (Asian, Europeon or Austrailian) with the same amount of torque the point is moot and useless.

3) YOU DO NOT NEED BIG DISPACMENT FOR HORSE POWER AND TORQUE.