RE: Dallara launches 855kg road car
Discussion
SmartVenom said:
Ford should have come up with a better name for the ecoboost or passed them through cosworth, a funkier name would probably remove half the complaints.
Can't speak for anyone else, I couldn't give a toss what it's called, I just loathe 4-cylinder engines and prefer 6+ naturally aspirated cylinders.thiscocks said:
Looks great. Hold reservation on the engine... Something N/A would be preferable.
cib24 said:
RumbleOfThunder said:
Because the Ecoboost will be cheaper and put out better numbers. TBH a Honda Vtec is hardly exotic, however loud the supercharger is.
I was more referring to the Ariel Atom 500 V8 which is basically two Suzuki Hayabusa engines glued together. Mental. However, the Honda F20C or K20A motors sound a million times better and the K20A in particular can take serious boost just like the Ecoboost if not better.
Why are almost all of these cars built around Turbo-4's now? Yes they're cheap for the power they deliver, but they're compromised on-circuit vs n/a (or even s/charged), and they don't sound anywhere near as good as even 4's on ITB's, let alone an I-5 / V or flat-6, etc... AND cooling is a bigger issue on-track so the need for robust intercoolers etc. adds weight/complexity.
So here is a 'premium' car using a 'cheap' engine. IMHO they could have done a lot better, even without going to the Suzuki V8 (which would be fantastic in something like this...):-
- You can get an easy 300bhp from a highly-strung K20A (~185kg inc. transmission) without it being a truculent b'gger at low revs or risking it blowing up on you (and they DO sound good - just go out in an Atom, for example) - surely that would be a good starting point?
- Then you've got the outgoing Porsche 3.4 flat-6 (~185kg w/o transmission), which is >300bhp in any state of tune, and arguably capable of 400bhp with a little fettling. Such fettling would turn it into a mini-GT3 engine (excluded that option on the basis of cost)
- Then there's the GM crate-engines - an LS-anything (~190kg w/o transmission) is neither the largest nor the heaviest motor around (they've fitted them in MX5's, FFS), which will deliver +/- 500bhp all day long.
(For comparison, the 2.3 Ecoboost is 265kg including the crate/packgaging but excluding the transmission...and excluding the additional intercooler / pipework / coolant. So there's a clear weight-saving going to any of the above engines, esp. the Honda)
As a proud Lotus 3-Eleven owner I certainly appreciate the concept and the Dallara does look stunning indeed, but like many on this forum (although not all) I'm just not convinced by a dull sounding four cylinder turbo engine, even if it is lightweight, highly tuneable and no doubt reliable and easily serviced.
However, I might now have to invest in a Komo-Tec 475bhp upgrade kit for the 3-Eleven (410bhp as standard), just to compete on power-to-weight!
However, I might now have to invest in a Komo-Tec 475bhp upgrade kit for the 3-Eleven (410bhp as standard), just to compete on power-to-weight!
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