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From: ron@wjvax.UUCP (Ron Christian)
Newsgroups: net.auto
Subject: Having your cake and....
Message-ID: <367@wjvax.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 27-Feb-85 22:08:08 EST
Article-I.D.: wjvax.367
Posted: Wed Feb 27 22:08:08 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 27-Feb-85 23:35:45 EST
Organization: Watkins Johnson, San Jose, Calif.
Lines: 34

There's something that's starting to bother me about the
super high output fours, such as the turbo daytona, etc.
Are these machines reliable?  Gives me pause to think 'cause,
well, my Ford 302 V8 has just turned over 174 thousand miles
without an engine rebuild.  Sure, the engine is noisy when you
back off on the throttle at speed, but the point is it still
RUNS, on original bearings, connecting rods, et. al., and
still has plenty of guts.  (I'm putting head gaskets in it
at the moment.)

I'll be in the market for a new car some day, and I'm looking
at sporty things.  The high output four bangers have exceeding
nift from a performance standpoint:  low weight (and less bias
towards the front), 150 - 170 horses, and around 30 MPG.  Contrast
that to a 302 or 305 V8 with 16 - 18 MPG, and depending on the
tuning, 150 to 205 HP, and a lot of weight over the front tires.
In overall performance, the four banger wins.  (My opinion, guys!)

But....

I buy cars to keep, not to get rid of in 3- years.  Seems to me
that a medium tuned normally asperated V8 will have a chance of
hitting the big 100K, where the *comparable output* super high
performance turbo'd four banger will die a horrible death in a
short time.  Now, I've heard that the Chrysler 2.2 liter turbo'd
four, for instance, is built up some in the lower end.  But is it
designed to really last, or only to not blow up during the average
3 years that people keep their cars?  Does anyone know?  Seems to
me that the safest bet is still the big engines.  (Or what passes
for big these days.)
-- 

	Ron Christian  (Watkins-Johnson Co.  San Jose, Calif.)
	{pesnta,twg,ios,qubix,turtlevax,tymix}!wjvax!ron