hp/liter comparison(long)

["PAT MARTIN" <MARDKINS@msn.com>]

I recently did my 2nd hp/liter comparison spreadsheet.  I did the first one 
about 5 years ago and was not so surprised by the results.  The German and 
Japanese makes were towards the top of the list and the Americans were down at 
the bottom.  IMHO This is a very good indicator of technology leaders of the 
auto industry.  It also means that the cars that have the higher specific 
output are going to be lighter weight in the critical area of the car, the 
engine.  For many years American cars put bigger, heavier and less efficient 
engines in their cars until the buying public had enough and started to buy 
cars with smaller higher efficiency engines.  On my last sheet the American 
cars were dead last and didn't have any in the top 50.  Most of the cars were 
in the last 50 including your Northstar's and even the Quad 4 which was 
supposed to be the best engine Detroit put out in 25 years.  So this time I 
went in to it thinking that things have gotten better and maybe they might 
have improved somewhat.  I tabulated about 130 cars and let excel do its work. 

	For this list I compiled hp, weight, torque, engine size, and 0-60 time.  I 
then tabulated hp/ltr, torque/ltr., lb./hp, and torque+hp/ltr.  I then could 
sort them by category.  The list I did this time put turbo and supercharged 
cars in the same list where I did not do that before.  I did include some of 
the Audi models of old that I had inf. on and the inf. I had on the new A-3.
	After all this I must say I am very disappointed.  I expected the American 
cars to have caught up in some of these areas.  I want more than anything for 
our cars to at least match the efficiencies and  technology that the Germans 
and Japanese have had for several years now, but.  They not only lagged behind 
they were dead last in just about every category that I had.  Of the last 18, 
15 were American cars.  Even more astounding was that some of the cars were 
"performance" cars.  I would expect this of the eco-cars but not performance 
cars.  The Americans did not even brake into the top 35 unless you include the 
Vector but thats really Italian.  Of the last 50, 29 were Americans.  Even my 
4000, whose engine is hardly a techno marvel by todays standards,  beat out 
some very heady competition.  Some of the cars in front were hardly 
performance cars either like the Mazda melenia that placed 18th in the 
Hp+torque/ltr. Of the top 20 in this category 6 were German, 2 brits, 4 
Italians, 4 Japanese, and 3 Swedes.  You will be happy to know that Audi 
placed 4 of those 6 Germans mostly due to turbocharging.  
	I know that this is not a very scientific poll but it does show one areas the 
American cars can and have to improve on.  The days of pushrods and rockers 
are over but if you look at most American cars they still use these old 
designs which sap an engines efficiency.
	I dont mean to bash the American cars but the numbers speak volumes.  How 
many foreign cars still use pushrods?  I sell a product which is made in 
America and is good not because it is made here but because the product is 
good but we still buy these cars thinking that we are creating jobs but 
instead we are perpetuating the problem.  I would much prefer to buy American 
but given the quality and performance issues I will not buy one until these 
problems are solved.  Dont anybody chime in and say that the American cars are 
not tuned for performance but durability either, because I have had several 
v-6 fords and v-8 chevy's that require rebuilds or new engines after just 150k 
miles.
  	I will get of my horse now and let the debates rage but I just went to the 
car show today and saw what everyone had to offer and I must say that the 
American cars ARE getting better especially in the areas of finish quality.  
If anyone wants a copy and has the ability to get attachments with their mail 
e-mail me and I will send you one.  I copy it to text format but it got 
scrambled in the translation.
See Ya.
Pat Martin
864000csq 2 1/2 cat back, H&R-Boge,advanced and loving it.  Drilled and 
stopping it.  Koenig Cobra 16x7 with AVS Intermediates, K&N.
95 subaru legacy