Quote:
Originally Posted by bfrank1972
Well I suppose we could debate about this 'till the cows come home, but I'm not sure what we'd be debating. It's not like Honda has the only team of super smart engineers and Subaru has a bunch of dunces in lab coats. Most of it comes down to cost & constraints - i.e. packaging with a flat four may have some design constraints that impact power output vs something like a K20A, but the flat engine was chosen for other reasons. I'm sure if given the go ahead, Subaru engineers could produce something easily as good as the K20A or F20/22C, it's just not deemed as their target goal.
|
I highly doubt that for a naturally aspirated 2 to 2.5 liter flat four, which would be comparable to a Honda K20/K24. The Honda K series is basically a masterpiece and there's a reason very few companies have something comparable.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nikitopo
Because my BRZ has from factory a 3.727 fd diff and not the 4.1 or the newer 4.3. So, I was questioning for a long time if it is worth to change it. I even asked one of the designers of our cars and the reply was the following:
"On your shorter final drive question, it will only drop the whole range of gears, so your top gear will be shorter, so the fuel consumption will decrease. It will only feel livelier but not in all gears since we are just dropping the shift points lower...but not increasing the power to the output. So it's a choice. I would leave it alone if I was you since it really doesn't make the car any faster in all places. Just in some places, and in other places, slower."
Then I started studying it with excel formulas and indeed he was right. If you tell me that they wanted to handicap the Cayman and they didn't provide the bigger engine or the more advanced suspension (if space was sufficient), then yes I agree. But not on the gears or final drive ratios ...
|
I'd very much like to see the excel sheet on that one. I have a feeling that has a whole lot to do with how the changes affect the time spent in the engine's "sweet spots" under the curve than anything else. In theory, a shorter final drive will get you up to speed faster at the expense of top speed. In reality, especially on our cars, if it changes the amount of time you spend in the "torque dip" rev ranges, it could significantly affect acceleration one way or another.