Stupid things non petrolheads say....
Discussion
JREwing said:
I think that he's referring to an engine with a turbo which is for marine use. Presumably there's some racing class which demands high power but small 4-cylinder engines. I don't know personally, but that's my understanding.
I gathered that. I think the implication was that marine turbos (I assume he means turbochargers for marine reciprocating piston ICEs rather than marine gas turbines as they have approximately 0 cylinders) are particularly big/powerful/grr and as such you would have to fit one of these to a 4 cylinder ICE in order to get a heady 200hp from it. Although this would probably actually be a dismal failure.xRIEx said:
To clarify though, I completely agree with you that there a vast number of factors that would need to be taken into account, but I do believe with equivalencies in each system wherever possible, there wouldn't be a huge amount of difference at the end.
Totally agree with that... xRIEx said:
With cylinder deactivation it would be worse than a 4 cylinder, what with the extra friction and mass still to move; however it won't deactivate cylinders if you're asking for it to deliver 200hp.
I couldn't find much info on the deactivation for the Corvette, but I did find some for a VW engine, in which the cylinders shutdown between (circa) 1250 and 4000rpm.So once you're up to ”cruising” speed and you've all but closed the throttle, is the engine still producing power? Assuming you're at somewhere around 2000 or 3000rpm.
Would it be firing on all cylinders even on 10% (for example) throttle?
This is all getting a bit nerdy and OT...

scarble said:
Autocar are f
k hacks. In the pocket of the car makers. I know the old assertion that if the journalists don't say nice things they wont get cars to review but f
k that, get some integrity!
k hacks. In the pocket of the car makers. I know the old assertion that if the journalists don't say nice things they wont get cars to review but f
k that, get some integrity!
QF Land Rover and their "we've saved over 400kg vs the outgoing Range Rover" - when independent mags did a like-for-like weigh-in the saving was more in the order of 100kg. Apparently they've just done the same with the Rangey Sport too...

QF also Jaguar trying desperately to ignore the Boxster-S sized (& priced) elephant-in-the-room by quoting total bhp and ignoring bhp/tonne (& # of seats, practicality, economy...).
QF Renaultsport claiming the flappy-paddle gearbox and the turbo in the new Clio would "increase driver involvement".
Not saying they're not all good cars...but if we wanted to read marketing releases we'd go to the mfrs website
If anybody is looking for a laugh or just wanting to do something to distract yourself from something much more important I have recently found a new source of entertainment
Find one of those forums that mothers use to give advice about kids and stuff, but find one which has a car section on it. I can guarantee you will laugh at something or be offended by how stupid it is. Some of my personal favorites include one woman asking that somebody had parked ( legally I might add, perhaps a bit inconsiderate but the bays were pretty small)abit to close for her liking and was asking if she did hit his car would the owner be at fault for it. Not only was she told that the owner of the other car would be at fault , not one person stated that she could clearly get out if she just opened her eyes and reversed a bit first.
Another was a woman looking for a new car which was a bit sporty in order to keep her husband happy. On the list of suggested cars were an assortment of aging hatchbacks with some sporty sounding badges or edition types in the name and a renault espace. I actually feel sorry for the husband who lost the follow up argument to that thread and now has the espace instead of what he suggested ( a perfectly reasonable audi estate which seemed to be perfect for what was needed)
Find one of those forums that mothers use to give advice about kids and stuff, but find one which has a car section on it. I can guarantee you will laugh at something or be offended by how stupid it is. Some of my personal favorites include one woman asking that somebody had parked ( legally I might add, perhaps a bit inconsiderate but the bays were pretty small)abit to close for her liking and was asking if she did hit his car would the owner be at fault for it. Not only was she told that the owner of the other car would be at fault , not one person stated that she could clearly get out if she just opened her eyes and reversed a bit first.
Another was a woman looking for a new car which was a bit sporty in order to keep her husband happy. On the list of suggested cars were an assortment of aging hatchbacks with some sporty sounding badges or edition types in the name and a renault espace. I actually feel sorry for the husband who lost the follow up argument to that thread and now has the espace instead of what he suggested ( a perfectly reasonable audi estate which seemed to be perfect for what was needed)
Fulton93 said:
If anybody is looking for a laugh or just wanting to do something to distract yourself from something much more important I have recently found a new source of entertainment
Find one of those forums that mothers use to give advice about kids and stuff, but find one which has a car section on it. I can guarantee you will laugh at something or be offended by how stupid it is. Some of my personal favorites include one woman asking that somebody had parked ( legally I might add, perhaps a bit inconsiderate but the bays were pretty small)abit to close for her liking and was asking if she did hit his car would the owner be at fault for it. Not only was she told that the owner of the other car would be at fault , not one person stated that she could clearly get out if she just opened her eyes and reversed a bit first.
Another was a woman looking for a new car which was a bit sporty in order to keep her husband happy. On the list of suggested cars were an assortment of aging hatchbacks with some sporty sounding badges or edition types in the name and a renault espace. I actually feel sorry for the husband who lost the follow up argument to that thread and now has the espace instead of what he suggested ( a perfectly reasonable audi estate which seemed to be perfect for what was needed)
Took your advice and already ive found someone who has described the Vauxhall Corsa as a 'great car' and another woman on the topic of scraping someones car and driving off saying 'touching another car is just one of those things, isn't it?Find one of those forums that mothers use to give advice about kids and stuff, but find one which has a car section on it. I can guarantee you will laugh at something or be offended by how stupid it is. Some of my personal favorites include one woman asking that somebody had parked ( legally I might add, perhaps a bit inconsiderate but the bays were pretty small)abit to close for her liking and was asking if she did hit his car would the owner be at fault for it. Not only was she told that the owner of the other car would be at fault , not one person stated that she could clearly get out if she just opened her eyes and reversed a bit first.
Another was a woman looking for a new car which was a bit sporty in order to keep her husband happy. On the list of suggested cars were an assortment of aging hatchbacks with some sporty sounding badges or edition types in the name and a renault espace. I actually feel sorry for the husband who lost the follow up argument to that thread and now has the espace instead of what he suggested ( a perfectly reasonable audi estate which seemed to be perfect for what was needed)
jacklewisno1 said:
Took your advice and already ive found someone who has described the Vauxhall Corsa as a 'great car' and another woman on the topic of scraping someones car and driving off saying 'touching another car is just one of those things, isn't it?
Exactly what I mean! some of the stuff that can be read on those sites are just mental!scarble said:
I gathered that. I think the implication was that marine turbos (I assume he means turbochargers for marine reciprocating piston ICEs rather than marine gas turbines as they have approximately 0 cylinders) are particularly big/powerful/grr and as such you would have to fit one of these to a 4 cylinder ICE in order to get a heady 200hp from it. Although this would probably actually be a dismal failure.
He mentioned it in reply to a Corvette. 400-500bhp from a 2 litre.
xRIEx said:
Nerdy is good 
saying arguing about geeky things 
scarble said:
Argh.
This thread is so meta.
Non-petrolheads saying stupid things.
jackiechan-headfull.jpg
This is petrolheads This thread is so meta.
Non-petrolheads saying stupid things.
jackiechan-headfull.jpg

J4CKO said:
Do we have to dress as women for a year first ?
Close this thread! 
Edited by hidetheelephants on Tuesday 21st May 00:42
Someone at work: "Is that a Porsche Carrera?"
Me: "Yes."
Later in the day, talking to a colleague who has an S4:
Me: "blahblah yeah my 911 doesn't get much better mpg than that"
Non-petrolhead colleague: "wait I thought you had a Carrera?"
Me: "I do?"
NPC: "You just said you had a 911."
Me: "It's a different name for the Carrera."
NPC: "Oh. I always thought the 911 was a Boxster. That's probably why my ex-girlfriend's dad hates me."
Tenuous but hey.
Me: "Yes."
Later in the day, talking to a colleague who has an S4:
Me: "blahblah yeah my 911 doesn't get much better mpg than that"
Non-petrolhead colleague: "wait I thought you had a Carrera?"
Me: "I do?"
NPC: "You just said you had a 911."
Me: "It's a different name for the Carrera."
NPC: "Oh. I always thought the 911 was a Boxster. That's probably why my ex-girlfriend's dad hates me."
Tenuous but hey.
When I got my e36 328i I got various comments such as-
Why didn't you buy something interesting like a golf convertible?
Thats going to be expensive to run
I bet the parts are going to be expensive for that
and, the standard.
Why did you buy such an old car?
I once got asked,
Can you actually notice the difference between the cars you have owned, dont they all feel the same?
Why didn't you buy something interesting like a golf convertible?
Thats going to be expensive to run
I bet the parts are going to be expensive for that
and, the standard.
Why did you buy such an old car?
I once got asked,
Can you actually notice the difference between the cars you have owned, dont they all feel the same?
scarble said:
I gathered that. I think the implication was that marine turbos (I assume he means turbochargers for marine reciprocating piston ICEs rather than marine gas turbines as they have approximately 0 cylinders) are particularly big/powerful/grr and as such you would have to fit one of these to a 4 cylinder ICE in order to get a heady 200hp from it. Although this would probably actually be a dismal failure.
1. The marine turbo thing was hyperbole. I'm aware that you wouldn't stick an actual marine turbo in a car, I just meant something big.2. Check what I was replying to - I was talking about getting 4-500 bhp out of a 2l 4-pot which is going to take some doing. 200 bhp from a 2l engine is not really worth commenting on, hence I didn't.
Flibble said:
1. The marine turbo thing was hyperbole. I'm aware that you wouldn't stick an actual marine turbo in a car, I just meant something big.
2. Check what I was replying to - I was talking about getting 4-500 bhp out of a 2l 4-pot which is going to take some doing. 200 bhp from a 2l engine is not really worth commenting on, hence I didn't.
Darn, my bad, must have crossed it over with some other posts about V8s making 200hp. But yes, yes they do. Albeit race/"tuned" engines. (Also a marine turbo (aside from implying a turbine engine 2. Check what I was replying to - I was talking about getting 4-500 bhp out of a 2l 4-pot which is going to take some doing. 200 bhp from a 2l engine is not really worth commenting on, hence I didn't.
) might not be all that great. Like the scrap heap challenge where they fitted a truck turbo to a jag engine (I think it was for "dragsters"?). Basically it was quicker without the turbo.sebhaque said:
NPC

ohtari said:
I thought I'd share a gem I found on Jalopnik.
"Give or take for some variance in pumping losses, if you are getting 200HP out of a 2.0L I4, it’s using as much fuel as a 200HP 5.0L V8"
This was in response to an article about the downsizing of ford engines to the 4 pot turbo (ecoboost) engines.
Oh, America...

Probably won't be far off to be honest. From actual experience:"Give or take for some variance in pumping losses, if you are getting 200HP out of a 2.0L I4, it’s using as much fuel as a 200HP 5.0L V8"
This was in response to an article about the downsizing of ford engines to the 4 pot turbo (ecoboost) engines.
Oh, America...

2006 Focus ST 2500cc Turbo 225hp ~1320kg manual, around 22mpg day to day driving normally.
2006 Mustang GT 4600cc N/A 315hp ~1590kg slush box automatic, around 20mpg day to day driving normally.
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