Weakest engine in heaviest car?
Discussion
G350 said:
Wow, that is desperately low!
However, a quick Google told me the S-10 Blazer was a downsized 80's SUV called "light weight" in Popular Science's 1983 3000 mile test. Their V6 model weighed in at around 3150 lbs which is 1429 kg, giving the diesel version around 41 bhp / tonne.
Can't imagine it sold many of those!
Some of the worst offenders were right around 1980.. if I recall the Chevrolet Impala/Caprice could be had with a V6 as the base engine.. something around 110-120hp in a 4,000lb car. A lot of the V8s back then were 5.0Ls that were lucky to put out 140-150hp. However, a quick Google told me the S-10 Blazer was a downsized 80's SUV called "light weight" in Popular Science's 1983 3000 mile test. Their V6 model weighed in at around 3150 lbs which is 1429 kg, giving the diesel version around 41 bhp / tonne.
Can't imagine it sold many of those!
And then there were the diesels... my mother had a 1980 or so Cadillac Sedan DeVille (and it was BROWN!) with a diesel engine. What a pile of crap that was and 105hp!
Basically this car here... color seems to be the same that I recall. Oh, this replaced a BMW 530i
Problem with the cars back then was the technology wasn't there to keep up with the emissions standards, a decade before 5.0L engines were putting out well over 300hp. The 80s were dark days in Detroit...
Captain Cadillac said:
S my mother had a 1980 or so Cadillac Sedan DeVille (and it was BROWN!) with a diesel engine. What a pile of crap that was and 105hp!
and the diesel engine was a $924 option! So the car was about 4200 lbs which is 1905 kg giving 55 hp per tonne.
I know what that's like
98elise said:
jeebus said:
Lucas North said:
The slowest vehicle I have ever driven was a 1.8D Escort Van. 55bhp I think.
On the flat on a motorway, foot welded to the floor = 70mph. An incline meant changing down and you'd perhaps maintain 60-65mph.
The van was lighter than the car I think, was that engine available in the car too? That would be horrific...
I also have suffered the slug like performance of these vans, they were even worse once they had a few mile's on them and some weight in the back. It was a common occurance to have to abort overtakes on the motorway and drop back in behind the person you were trying to get past, I remember that you would be going from 4th to 5th gear constantly just to maintain 70mph. They were very good on diesel though.On the flat on a motorway, foot welded to the floor = 70mph. An incline meant changing down and you'd perhaps maintain 60-65mph.
The van was lighter than the car I think, was that engine available in the car too? That would be horrific...
The director that introduced the policy had a nice company Granada Scorpio Cosworth in the car park.
I'd been with the company 10 years, but I left shortly afterwards naming the car as the main reason for leaving, I did a lot of miles and hated every minute of driving it.
My next job included a brand new 2ltr Petrol Mondeo
I think several of the reps who had to drive them threatened to leave unless the cars were changed !
I think they got poverty spec mk2 Cavalier 'Commanders' instead, which were still light years better
icepop said:
Golf SDI, 65 bhp, none turbo diesel, in about 1700kg.
How odd, someone on another forum I frequent recently posted that Golfs weigh 1700kg as well 
I know they are bloated, but how on earth can you possibly think it weighs 1700kg?Edited by Mr2Mike on Wednesday 23 February 12:38
Skodaku said:
Rawwr said:
Volvo 340s? The peasant model of that must've been pretty shocking?
Surprisingly, it wasn't. Not that fast on the straights but having the gearbox tacked onto the rear axle, (they were RWD), gave it pretty decent handing....................in a slightly top-heavy box sort of way. A lot better than you might imagine and quite a sought-after chassis by those who know them.Not hideously slow, but I remember very heavy steering!
Captain Cadillac said:
Problem with the cars back then was the technology wasn't there to keep up with the emissions standards, a decade before 5.0L engines were putting out well over 300hp. The 80s were dark days in Detroit...
Actually I don't think the 5.0 litre V8's really were that powerful.Anything pre 1973 was GROSS hp rated not SAE Net, and even then some were massively inflated. True though power did drop, from around 74 onwards most notably.
Mid 80's power picked up though and was more realistic than the 60's claimed figures.
Mr2Mike said:
How odd, someone on another forum I frequent recently posted that Golfs weigh 1700kg as well I know they are bloated, but how on earth can you possibly think it weighs 1700kg?
Before I stripped it out, I took my 1985 Range Rover 2-door V8 to the weigh station and it was 1800 kg. I know they are bloated, but how on earth can you possibly think it weighs 1700kg?The SDI with 63 bhp was fitted to the Mk3 Golf which weighed around 1158 kg. = 54 hp/ tonne.
The SDI with 67 bhp was fitted to the Mk4 Golf which weighed around 1276 kg. = 52 hp/ tonne.
300bhp/ton said:
Actually I don't think the 5.0 litre V8's really were that powerful.
Anything pre 1973 was GROSS hp rated not SAE Net, and even then some were massively inflated. True though power did drop, from around 74 onwards most notably.
Mid 80's power picked up though and was more realistic than the 60's claimed figures.
You're still looking at up to 50% reductions in power though, these cars were absolutely choked by emissions controls. My old 69 Cougar that had a rather special 302 in it put out 240 RWHP, the engine was rated at 290hp if memory serves. The engine was original and had never been apart.Anything pre 1973 was GROSS hp rated not SAE Net, and even then some were massively inflated. True though power did drop, from around 74 onwards most notably.
Mid 80's power picked up though and was more realistic than the 60's claimed figures.
G350 said:
Before I stripped it out, I took my 1985 Range Rover 2-door V8 to the weigh station and it was 1800 kg.
The SDI with 63 bhp was fitted to the Mk3 Golf which weighed around 1158 kg. = 54 hp/ tonne.
The SDI with 67 bhp was fitted to the Mk4 Golf which weighed around 1276 kg. = 52 hp/ tonne.
Which is the about the same bhp/tonne as my Dyane was The SDI with 63 bhp was fitted to the Mk3 Golf which weighed around 1158 kg. = 54 hp/ tonne.
The SDI with 67 bhp was fitted to the Mk4 Golf which weighed around 1276 kg. = 52 hp/ tonne.
A friend has a SDI and it is very slooooow.
I have been driving one of these for some time in the Danish armed forces - the are epically slow at 37.5 bhp/ton. Mind you, when up to speed, not much can stop one.
...Except the rightly named "GD Trap" waterhole in our base's terrain, as I found out
http://www.armyvehicles.dk/merc240gd.htm
...Except the rightly named "GD Trap" waterhole in our base's terrain, as I found out
http://www.armyvehicles.dk/merc240gd.htm
icepop said:
Kerb weight of Golf Mk VI, 1350kg, car is 5 seater, so add further 4x 75kg passengers, total weight is 1650kg, simples. Or are you the sort of B no Mt's who drive around with their cars empty : )
If you are going to use the fully laden weight of vehicles then I'm sure we could get some ridiculous power/weight ratios, but it's hardly representative. For instance I'm sure something like a P100 diesel pickup wouldn't fare too well once you fill the back up with gravel.Mr2Mike said:
If you are going to use the fully laden weight of vehicles then I'm sure we could get some ridiculous power/weight ratios, but it's hardly representative. For instance I'm sure something like a P100 diesel pickup wouldn't fare too well once you fill the back up with gravel.
Indeed. Using MGW, many cars will weigh in as 3500kg. If you allow maximum braked towing weight, I suspect some 4x4s could be got close to single figure bhp/tonnes. Hub said:
Skodaku said:
Rawwr said:
Volvo 340s? The peasant model of that must've been pretty shocking?
Surprisingly, it wasn't. Not that fast on the straights but having the gearbox tacked onto the rear axle, (they were RWD), gave it pretty decent handing....................in a slightly top-heavy box sort of way. A lot better than you might imagine and quite a sought-after chassis by those who know them.Not hideously slow, but I remember very heavy steering!
1.7s were 80 bhp, the 2 litre 360s were 105 or 115 depending on injection, but weighed a little more. The 340 engine is the same as a renault 5 GTTurbo but without the turbo.
Power steering was available (and often standard) on the 360s, the 340s did without, but there really wasn't all that much weight over the front wheels, and with 155 profile tyres for the base model, the steering was pretty light
so overall, not fast (0-60 in 14 seconds) but considering the base golf mk2 came with a 52 bhp engine it was certainly not the worst in its class
There was actually a diesel 340 available, but not in the UK. that did only have 55bhp, and probably was a little on the slow side - considering a golf mk5 came with a 70bhp 1.4 petrol engine, I'd suggest the games not moved on much
kambites said:
Mr2Mike said:
If you are going to use the fully laden weight of vehicles then I'm sure we could get some ridiculous power/weight ratios, but it's hardly representative. For instance I'm sure something like a P100 diesel pickup wouldn't fare too well once you fill the back up with gravel.
Indeed. Using MGW, many cars will weigh in as 3500kg. If you allow maximum braked towing weight, I suspect some 4x4s could be got close to single figure bhp/tonnes. 
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