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Old 10-28-2012, 12:22 PM   #21
lemming
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Join Date: Oct 2003
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JST View Post
There's no direct comparison that I'm aware of. Closest might me something like a GT3, which is obviously a 6 rather than an 8. But no one gears their cars the way that GM gears the Vette, in part because the general bias in European cars seems to be final drives and top gears that put the engine closer to the meat of the powerband at cruising speeds.

The 7 speed in the new Carrera S has a cruising oriented top gear, but I don't have the time right now to look up the gearing and fuel economy numbers for that car (and even that one is down 2 cylinders and 70 hp on the new Corvette).
I would guess the new 911 S models could get 26mpg cruising at 75 --which shows how disproportionate the value of displacement would be in this discussion.

3.8L DOHC engine with amazing HP/L and any 6.2L or 7.0L v8.

Very different power deliveries, which speaks to the differences in how the engines breathe. But torque is always a function of physical engine size --so the DOHC engine's point in life is to bring the torque to higher in the rev band. But fuel efficiency (which itself is secondary in a sports car) suffers a lot.
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