Cars That Don't Deserve Their Engines, Cars That Deserve Better

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YSSMAN

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I saw the origional article posted on Autoblog over the weekend, and I have to admit, it is cleverly awesome. But its missing things. Where are the unique European cars? The Japanese? This seems to be a list solely given to American models... And that's not right.

The Autoblog List:

  1. GMC Syclone and Typhoon (4.3L Turbocharged V6)
  2. Dodge Omni GLH-S (2.2L Turbocharged I4)
  3. Saab 9-7X Aero (6.0L LS2 V8)
  4. Lamborghini LM002 (5.2L or 7.2L V12)
  5. Oldsmobile Achieva SCX (GM Quad-4)
  6. Ford Taurus SHO (Yamaha V8)
  7. Dodge Spirit R/T (2.2L Turbocharged I4)
  8. Dodge Caliber and Neon SRT-4s (2.4L Turbocharged I4)
  9. Mercury Marauder (4.6L Modular V8)
  10. Chevrolet Impala SS (5.3L LS4 V8)


But then I got to thinking... What about cars that were otherwise very good, but because of a lackluster engine choice, ended up being left behind? My immediate thought is of the MKIII and MKIV Jetta and Golf, both generations saddled by the otherwise terrible 2.0L 8V I4 with a paltry 115 BHP. The 1.8L 16V that preceded it (good for an extra 10 BHP) was a far-superior engine, and I'm still befuddled as to why VW decided to make that change, especially when some of the other trim levels are taken into consideration.
 
The USDM 6th gen Celica need a G series motor of some sort.

Same with my Spyder. A 2ZZ-GE in that and Toyota could have competed with the S2000.
 
Miata? I keep hearing that the engine could always be just a little more powerful. Then again...

Oh, Ford Five Hundred. I mean, had they had the 3.5 ready by then, the conversion back to "Taurus" may not have been necessary.
 
The SOHC KA24 that is in the HardBody Trucks that are in the 89-90 Nissan 240sx. Too bad that Nissan America didn't keep the CA18DE engine in those years. Or at least fix the common problems that come with the KA24 series. But sometimes I am proud of my SOHC!
 
I still keep thinking that if Ford continued to issue the MZR engine in the current Focus that it'd be a fairly reasonable vehicle. The chassis is still pretty good, they've got a pretty decent suspension tune... Give it the ol' MZR and a better front-end and it'd be one helluva alternative to a Civic or Corolla again.
 
Yeah....Apparently, AutoBlog didn't catch the jest of Lamborghini in the 80's.

Anyone could have built a V8 pickup back then, and our domestic companies did just that. Lamborghini didn't want an American V8 because in the 1980's, Lamborghini was a company about crazy style & insane ideas. The Countach is a perfect example, and the LM002 is no different. A V8 would have just made it a crazy looking pickup with a strong engine. But, who would have thought of adding a Countach's V12 to a truck? How about the creator of the Countach? And they did just that.

As Clarkson has said along the lines of, Lamborghini isn't a company about building politically correct sports cars, they're about building a car with absolute insanity with everything they can think of.
 
Yeah, I think the Smart ForTwo got shafted by not having the Hayabusa engine as an option.
 
Better make it an ball shape, so it will look like it's rolling on purpose.
 
nk4e
The SOHC KA24 that is in the HardBody Trucks that are in the 89-90 Nissan 240sx. Too bad that Nissan America didn't keep the CA18DE engine in those years. Or at least fix the common problems that come with the KA24 series. But sometimes I am proud of my SOHC!
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Nissan America never HAD the CA.
 
Reventón;3260166
But, who would have thought of adding a Countach's V12 to a truck? How about the creator of the Countach? And they did just that.
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I think Autoblog's point was that as a truck, it wasn't that capable. With the added finickyness of the Webber-Carbed V12s, it only made things more strange.

I think the overall point of their article is extremely interesting, but at the same time, I think they're also missing the point with a lot of the vehicles. Simply put, the Syclone/Typhoon are some of the most-epic vehicles ever produced anywhere in the world... Bad chassis design or not, they were amazing cars at that point in automotive history. They miss the point with some, others they are on topic. I disagree with the Impala SS nomination as well, as I still think it is a stellar car for less than $30K.
 
nk4e
I wish they did though. Though its only a wish. T-T Stop ruining my dreams!
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See but Ford had the sense to use the 2.3 SOHC... If only you were a Ford guy... :p

Actually...

Cars that deserved better:

SVO Mustang
Thunderbird Turbo Coupe

Not so much that they needed a different engine, but rather they needed a hotter version of what they had. The Ford 2.3 can hit quite nice power levels easily enough, which makes the 140-180hp (or so) they ran rather disappointing.

250hp would've made just about anyone happy then, even the die-hard 5-0 guys.
 
YSSMAN
I think Autoblog's point was that as a truck, it wasn't that capable. With the added finickyness of the Webber-Carbed V12s, it only made things more strange.
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That hasn't change with today's trucks though. People think or thought, Hummers would make great off-roading vehicles, but as I've read, they take some work for them to handle some really dirty terrain, not those hills and bumps their dealers show off.
 
They might decide to increase the Viper's amount of litres EVEN FURTHER. For excessive engine noise for example. XD
 
This may be an unpopular view, but I dont think that a Cayenne Turbo S needs 500+ hp.

...Or maybe its the V6 that's the problem.
 
For cars that deserve better, two current VW models jump into my mind: The Routan and the MKV R32. For the Routan, just put the 2.0T in there already. It gets better gas mileage, should be lighter than the V6 and will put out more power. And the R32 would be a far more desirable car if it had an engine that separated it a bit from the GTI to justify the $15k price jump and a stick. Maybe the 3.6 or just a supercharger would have helped in the engine department.

As for the cars that don't deserve their engines, it kinda makes sense that everything is American. Americans are a bit in the mindset of putting a big engine into anything and everything. Thus, you get the lackluster cars that American was putting out during that time with a sweet engine that didn't match. Over in Europe, the cars were good to begin with, and they'd put the effort in to make it a match all around. The Japanese never really had high power awesome engines to put in anything, and recently they have been so concerned with reliability and economy they probably wouldn't do anything too outrageous.
 
rotary drifter
MX-5 needs a rotary engine model. that would be awesome
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I think that would be too powerful for a 'small' convertible to cope with. For now, RX-8's should stick to them. And for that matter, RX-7's...wait, they don't produce them anymore. Oh well! :)
 
Toyota Yaris Turbo deserves a better engine, as does the Fit and Swift. give them 1.8l engines and watch how they rearrange the hot hatch segment.
 
Volkswagen Touareg doesn't need a 6.0 L option for its petrols and maybe not even the 5.0L option for the diesels.
 
YSSMAN
Simply put, the Syclone/Typhoon are some of the most-epic vehicles ever produced anywhere in the world... Bad chassis design or not, they were amazing cars at that point in automotive history.
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The only problem with the Sy/Ty was that they were so expensive at the time and they still are today. They are awesome vehicles, I had a chance to ride along in a Ty not that long ago and it was probably the fastest truck I've ever been in. I always say they are like the Skyline's of the truck world.

Reventón;3260198
That hasn't change with today's trucks though. People think or thought, Hummers would make great off-roading vehicles, but as I've read, they take some work for them to handle some really dirty terrain, not those hills and bumps their dealers show off.
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Where did you read this at? I'm curious. I mean the Hummer was designed for military use so I'm guessing it's pretty damn capable or else the US government wouldn't have ordered so many. The H2's and H3's aren't great but they are not designed to be as tough as the original Hummer.
 
Joey D
Where did you read this at? I'm curious. I mean the Hummer was designed for military use so I'm guessing it's pretty damn capable or else the US government wouldn't have ordered so many. The H2's and H3's aren't great but they are not designed to be as tough as the original Hummer.
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I'm referring to the H2 & H3, not those badass Humvee's & H1's run by the military.
 
Reventón;3260350
I'm referring to the H2 & H3, not those badass Humvee's & H1's run by the military.
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Hummer do happen to be a crazy manufacture. They fitted the H2 with a 6.2 litre V8?! That is WAY too big, to say the least. They should fit it with at least a 4.7. That would make it better (not that any car Hummer's ever made is brilliant). As for the H3, the engine does the job just fine...for now. Lets hope for no increases... :nervous:
 
Erm, what?

When it's moving 6000lbs of aerodynamic brick around, a 6.2l suddenly seems if anything a bit small.
 
well, the easiest thing to say here is that Autoblog doesn't like American in-Shop-Tuners. apparently, that only applies to the Japanese. nearly every one of the cars in the list is a Factory hot-rod. and they're giving me the impression they don't LIKE the idea.
 
Definitely the RX-8, which desperately needs about 50 more hp and 100 more ft-lbs. of torque. Do it with an FI setup or the MZR from the Mazdaspeed3 or just license-build a 2.4 liter version of Honda's K motor or SOMETHING.


M
 
///M-Spec
Definitely the RX-8, which desperately needs about 50 more hp and 100 more ft-lbs. of torque. Do it with an FI setup or the MZR from the Mazdaspeed3 or just license-build a 2.4 liter version of Honda's K motor or SOMETHING.


M
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Have mazda built anything rwd in the last 30 years that wasnt a pickup truck or have a rotary engine in it? Also anything that wasnt a miata.
 
^ Not that I'm aware of. If they had any cash available for a new luxury marque, they could probably go RWD and kick a lot of butt.


M
 

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