[Vendetta]

ya thats tru... but i always thought they should turn the thunderbird into an affordable supercar so its kinda like ford's corvette...

...never gonna happen tho, since they like to keep the body old skool

[WLJohnson05]

well they would have to dip their hands in their pockets and pull out big bucks to bring out a new sports car, since they are already doing big things right now with their newer stuff..and from what i hear they are doing newer mustangs and such in the next few years

[ESG-642T]

Originally Posted by Vendetta ya thats tru... but i always thought they should turn the thunderbird into an affordable supercar so its kinda like ford's corvette... ...never gonna happen tho, since they like to keep the body old skool

I thought it was supposed to be fords corvette, didn't ford lose that battle?

[silver stang]

Originally Posted by SSStang Originally Posted by Vendetta ya thats tru... but i always thought they should turn the thunderbird into an affordable supercar so its kinda like ford's corvette... ...never gonna happen tho, since they like to keep the body old skool I thought it was supposed to be fords corvette, didn't ford lose that battle?

Yea..

[orlyr21]

my theory is tht since the gas mileage on mustangs sucks already...if they made them have more horsepower imagine how much the mpg would drop..

i get about 16 city mpg to feed my 210 horses..imagine if it was 290 hp, how much gas i would need to quench those big thirsty horses...

[stephen]

Originally Posted by orlyr21 my theory is tht since the gas mileage on mustangs sucks already...if they made them have more horsepower imagine how much the mpg would drop.. i get about 16 city mpg to feed my 210 horses..imagine if it was 290 hp, how much gas i would need to quench those big thirsty horses...

N

Not really!

Ford/GM have tended to use V8 engines with large displacements and engineer them to run at relatively low RPM.

Fuel use and horsepower are approximately proportional to the volume of fuel/air mixture pumped, which is proportional to displacement x RPM. With the large displacement engine at idle a lot of fuel/air mixture is being used and a lot of fuel wasted. The smaller displacement engines run higher RPMs and use comparable amounts of fuel at cruising speed but less at idle thus better overall gas mileage. Thus, yes if you increase power by increasing displacement you get poorer gas mileage, but if you stick with the same displacement, and design the engine to run at higher RPM, then idle fuel consumption stays the same.

So why don't domestic manufacturers design their engines to run at higher RPMs? Mostly because they are using outdated valve train technology. e.g. the 3.8L V6 is a push rod engine, while most modern engines use overhead cams and multivalve technology to get better flow at higher RPM. It's a better way to go but the domestic manufacturers have been slow to go to modern technology.

A simple illustration of this is the 360 sprint car engine which gets > 500 horsepower; whereas, the stock engine gets < 200. The increase is all in the top end. Of course the bottom end then has to be redesigned to handle the extra loading.

[ESG-642T]

LS1's get ghodly mpg

[silver stang]

Originally Posted by orlyr21 my theory is tht since the gas mileage on mustangs sucks already...if they made them have more horsepower imagine how much the mpg would drop.. i get about 16 city mpg to feed my 210 horses..imagine if it was 290 hp, how much gas i would need to quench those big thirsty horses...

I read that the new 2009+ mustang GTs will have an engine that only uses 6 of the 8 cylinders while driving normally and when you punch the gas it goes back to 8 cylinders that would save gas alot.

[punkafi888]

just like the new silverado

[tsp_2177]

im sorry but if i wanted to drive a car that runs on 6 cylinders then i would buy a v6 if i ever get a gt (which i plan to) i want it to be running on all 8 cylinders the whole time and i dont want to have to wait for the computer to kick in the other to when i want to race a little ricer or something even if the gas mileage isnt as good..... but thats just me
plus ive heard that that technology has already failed a few times so if they havent fixed it then it would be nothing but problems for ford which would put them in even more bankruptcy

[El_Cangri]

the technology acts fast its on the jeep commander and as fast as the computer detect the needs it opens uses all the cylinders

[tsp_2177]

i wonder what that would sound like though when its not runnin on all eights i wouldnt think very good

[El_Cangri]

idk i don't notice anything with the jeep

[stanged out]

is'nt there a v12 mercedes that works like that ??