Quote:
Originally Posted by tachi1247
Well for $25k (real purchase price not sticker) I could buy the 3.8L V6 model with 300 hp so it's carrying around 11.3 lb/hp compared to 13.5 lb/hp for a 200 hp 2700 lb FT-86. So the Hyundai has the better power to weight ratio.
It must be your friends' cars that I am always seeing for sale on craiglist with blown motors. You can't just crank up the boost on a stock car and expect to get an 150% more output. Even if the car did come with a turbo you wouldn't be able to turn up the boost high enough to get to 500 hp. I don't see $6k paying for the new air intake, intake & exhaust manifolds, intercooler, exhaust, transmission, drivetrain, brake, and fuels system upgrades you're going to need to make/handle that kind of power. And all that assumes that the engine internals can take that kind of stress. The SRT-4 may be able to do that, but there certainly aren't too many other engines out there that can. The supra was the last car I can remember which had a stock engine with that much potential. The 1st & 2nd gen eclipses could go to ~350-400 but even that was risky without some internal upgrades.
|
You're right that most stock cars can't handle much power, but my point wasnt that it's so easy anyone can do it. As I said before, there are vehicles with a large aftermarket following that 10K can get you most of the way to 500 HP. That's not to say there aren't other upgrades that you'll definitely want to do to put the power down properly.
A good example of a stock motor that can take a beating is the K20. There's a video of a civic kicking around making 510 Hp on stock internals.
It's true the SRT-4 is a bit of a special case. AGP sells a kit that includes a massive turbo and all of the associated bolt-ons including fuel for $2800. Throw in some piping, a Tuner, new clutch and some other miscelaneous parts and you're at 500+ HP for around 6g's. Building the motor on that thing is also suprisingly cheap as well.
You're not going to be able to do this with a Miata, or pretty much any non-turbo Japanese car... But if the foundation is right, the FT86 should be able to make tons of power for much less then 25 Grand. Hell, im pretty sure GM's Ecotec motors can handle 800 HP or something rediculous like that, and if GM can do it, sure as sh*t toyota can.