Quote:
Originally Posted by DGthe3
They're half that size, but they do make in the area of 700-750 hp. But that blatently ignores the fact that nobody would be able to drive a real car with such an engine because they have practically no torque (a V6 Camaro likely makes more) and require insane rev's to make any power (up to 19k). This is fine if your car weighs less than 1400 lbs but a Z28 could weigh 3 times as much. Not to mention the fact that these engines need to be rebuilt after running for 2 hours. By comparison, the LSA has been run for something like 270 consecutive hours at wide open throttle, with no problems.
Even using derivative technology, what would be the point? Bragging rights about hp/L? Drop a small displacement, high revving engine and a larger slow turning engine of equal power into the same car and 2 things will happen. First, the smaller engined car will accelerate slower (less torque), and consume more gas in doing so. I could write a page or two on the subject, but the short story version is that there isnt much to gain from a performance stand point by using engines with a high specific output.
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that's not entirely true. there are other variables that can/would even out the discrepency of the lack of torque (gear ratios). And as for fuel mileage, again, there are too many variables.
In general, an engine under higher load will run more efficiently. I do agree that there is a balance to be struck.