Re: 944t

[Eliot Lim <eliot@u.washington.edu>]

On Mon, 20 Mar 1995, Barton P. Chambers wrote:
> *but*, viz G60, long-term *sporting* use of *any* 4-cyl without balance shafts 
> *will* eventually buzz you into an early grave... or the madhouse (unless, of 

this is somewhat subjective of course, but in the engineering text books
you will find that flat-fours do not generate the dreaded unbalanced 
secondary couple.  a subaru legacy or alfasud (which i had many moons ago)
is never buzzy in the engineering sense of the word.

the other rule of thumb is that 2.0 liters is the cut off point for
acceptable levels of buzz. (which is why the unbalanced 2.4 pickup truck
engine that nissan uses in the 240sx is so unacceptable for something they
are trying to market as a "sports" car.  how dumb the masses are) anything
smaller than that one can absorb with soft engine mounts.  the smaller
honda 4's are smoother than many 5 and 6 cylinder engines, not because of
good concept but because of good engineering. 

of course i'd rather have a vr6 in any small car that i may own, but
4 bangers have their place in this world.


eliot