SVT Contour. I finally parted with mine as the Contour part began to deteriorate around that strong motor.
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May 10, 2009 8:24 p.m. fastmiata New Reader
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May 10, 2009 9:04 p.m. admc58 New Reader
The closest I can think of to Honda delivering a case of a good motor in a horribly wrong chassis would be the first generation Odyssey, with a VTEC Accord four banger in a rather weird van-wagon hybrid. They've been guilty of boring engine / good chassis combos, but every time they've come out with a decent performance engine they've made a point of putting it in a chassis to match.
FYI; The VTEC version only came in the last year of the 4-dr, 1998, and then only in the top of the line version. The chassis is better than you might think...but still heavy for any version of the motor. It would have been a much better van with the V6.
I have over 200,000 on mine (non-VTEC) and still get 19-22mpg around town and about 24-26 on the highway.
The best compliment I ever got about the van was after driving with the Porsche club up through central TN the driver of a 968 following me came up and told me the van was pretty quick and cornered well...I had to laugh. I was pedaling as fast as I could to stay out of his way and just about never lifted the whole way up.
I've always lusted after one with the VTEC (HOT) motor.
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May 10, 2009 11:05 p.m. mad_machine UltraDork
didn;t C&D once put an odyessy up against an XK-E through a handling course.. and the van trounced the Jag?
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May 10, 2009 11:09 p.m. P71 Dork
mad_machine wrote:
didn;t C&D once put an odyessy up against an XK-E through a handling course.. and the van trounced the Jag?
Um, no. That was GRM and the Oddy trounced a classic 911 and the Jag. For shame thinking it was somebody else!
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May 10, 2009 11:12 p.m. ReverendDexter HalfDork
Raze wrote:
I have to interject something:
V8 Northstar packaged in a FWD Cadillac with a 4 speed automatic. DOHC revving out to near 7,000 rpms, all aluminum, 300HP out of 4.6L. Could have been a stunner, instead, just a bygone memory...
DOHC revving out to near 7k rpm, all aluminum 300 hp from a 4.6L, huh? You mean EXACTLY like my Cobra motor, only with 5 less hp than the Ford?
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May 10, 2009 11:13 p.m. Luke Dork
P71 wrote:
mad_machine wrote:
didn;t C&D once put an odyessy up against an XK-E through a handling course.. and the van trounced the Jag?
Um, no. That was GRM and the Oddy trounced a classic 911 and the Jag. For shame thinking it was somebody else!
It was a 356, actually. http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/articles/soccer-moms-revenge/
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May 11, 2009 7:48 a.m. RossD Reader
Most of my complaints come from the engine not pointing towards the rear wheels (or inline with them). Stupid fwd, being all cheap and economical.
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May 11, 2009 9:15 a.m. BobOfTheFuture Reader
RossD wrote:
Most of my complaints come from the engine not pointing towards the rear wheels (or inline with them). Stupid fwd, being all cheap and economical.
I thought RWD was cheaper?
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May 11, 2009 10:31 a.m. RossD Reader
Its cheaper to manufacture and install a transaxle compared to a rwd transmission and axle. A transaxle is normally lighter than a comparable transmission and axle assembly.
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May 11, 2009 10:47 a.m. Raze Reader
ReverendDexter wrote:
Raze wrote:
I have to interject something:
V8 Northstar packaged in a FWD Cadillac with a 4 speed automatic. DOHC revving out to near 7,000 rpms, all aluminum, 300HP out of 4.6L. Could have been a stunner, instead, just a bygone memory...
DOHC revving out to near 7k rpm, all aluminum 300 hp from a 4.6L, huh? You mean EXACTLY like my Cobra motor, only with 5 less hp than the Ford?
Except your motor appeared 3 years AFTER the N* and was only available in the Cobra (at first), i.e. lower production overall...
back atcha...
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May 11, 2009 11:24 a.m. pinchvalve UltraDork
I wonder if you made a list of great chassis with suck engines, would it also be mostly domestics, or imports?
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May 11, 2009 12:21 p.m. P71 Dork
One only has to drive a V8 RX-7 to answer that question...
The imports can make a chassis but when you want a real engine it's good ole USA. Teamwork is a beautiful thing
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May 11, 2009 3:34 p.m. neon4891 SuperDork
P71 wrote:
One only has to drive a V8 RX-7 to answer that question...
The imports can make a chassis but when you want a real engine it's good ole USA. Teamwork is a beautiful thing
Drop an N* into the back of a Civic hatch?
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May 11, 2009 7:09 p.m. 96DXCivic Reader
Jay wrote:
Brust wrote:
Here's the question though, which great cars have received engines lesser than their chassis? I'd like to start:
-Lotus Elise/Exige: Toyota 2zzge. Not exactly the engine I would put in that chassis. A honda k20 much better (yes I know the politics).
-Ford Ranger: great truck. Why Ford doesn't install a 3-4L turbodiesel is absolutely beyond me.
Help me out here.
One word: DeLorean.
Actually two words, DeLorean, Fiero.
And I would argue the original Elise with the 108 HP Rover lump was a much worse mismatch than anything they built with the Toyota engine.
JI have to disagree that the Rover engine was a mismatch for the Elise. A car that light does not need a massive amount of power (it nevers hurts but it isn't a must) and when you consider how light that engine is it seems a perfect match. I would like to add the Alfasud to this list. It has a wonderful engine but the body disappeared before you could use the engine.
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May 11, 2009 9:25 p.m. dean1484 Dork
I have always thought that the 2.25l miller cycle motor that is int the Millenia should have been adoption of the Miata or drop it in an FD. Hell put it in a probe. It is a motor that seems to have so much potential and is just used to push the Mazda land barge around. Oh what could have been.
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May 11, 2009 11:31 p.m. ReverendDexter HalfDork
Raze wrote:
Except your motor appeared 3 years AFTER the N* and was only available in the Cobra (at first), i.e. lower production overall...
back atcha...
Actually, it first came out in the '93 Lincoln Mark VIII, (not the '96 Cobra), and near as I know the Northstar first appeared in the '93 Allante, and those still sound awful similar to me, lol
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May 12, 2009 12:50 a.m. Trans_Maro Reader
There must be other Quad-4 engines out there besides the ones I've had the misfortune of working on.
Good power maybe, great engine? Sorry, headgaskets need to stay put for more than 3 months.
I own a Fiero, it doesn't need the Quad-4, it flat-out DESERVES the 3800SC
Shawn
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May 12, 2009 6:44 a.m. Raze Reader
ReverendDexter wrote:
Raze wrote:
Except your motor appeared 3 years AFTER the N* and was only available in the Cobra (at first), i.e. lower production overall...
back atcha...
Actually, it first came out in the '93 Lincoln Mark VIII, (not the '96 Cobra), and near as I know the Northstar first appeared in the '93 Allante, and those still sound awful similar to me, lol
yes but per the title of the thread, the Ford variant at least saw RWD and eventually a manual trans...
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May 12, 2009 6:45 a.m. Raze Reader
ReverendDexter wrote:
Raze wrote:
Except your motor appeared 3 years AFTER the N* and was only available in the Cobra (at first), i.e. lower production overall...
back atcha...
Actually, it first came out in the '93 Lincoln Mark VIII, (not the '96 Cobra), and near as I know the Northstar first appeared in the '93 Allante, and those still sound awful similar to me, lol
Yes, but as per the title of the thread, the Ford variant at least made it into a RWD application and then had a manual trans put behind it...
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May 14, 2009 10:18 a.m. jp New Reader
I would add any classic Saab 900 with the automatic transmission. The Saab 2 liter is reliable, torqey, good sounding, and highly turbo boostable, but you'd never know it with the unreliable, prone to being out of whack, slow shifting, high revving 3 speed automatic. I've had good 3 speed automatics, and what Saab used isn't one of them. The Saab 5 speed is much nicer.
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May 14, 2009 3:09 p.m. Strizzo Dork
jp wrote:
I would add any classic Saab 900 with the automatic transmission. The Saab 2 liter is reliable, torqey, good sounding, and highly turbo boostable, but you'd never know it with the unreliable, prone to being out of whack, slow shifting, high revving 3 speed automatic. I've had good 3 speed automatics, and what Saab used isn't one of them. The Saab 5 speed is much nicer.
well, that could bring yet another list. top 10 great engine/chassis combos ruined by a slushbox
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May 14, 2009 3:52 p.m. ReverendDexter HalfDork
Raze wrote:
Yes, but as per the title of the thread, the Ford variant at least made it into a RWD application and then had a manual trans put behind it...
Erm, it was always RWD. Lincoln Marks (of at least that timeframe) were based on t-bird chassis.
But you make for a valid point.
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May 14, 2009 4:13 p.m. P71 Dork
Strizzo wrote:
well, that could bring yet another list. top 10 great engine/chassis combos ruined by a slushbox
Doesn't even have to be a slushbox! See the 1st/2nd Gen Taurus SHO manual. It would grenade if you looked at it funny and had the worst shifter known to man! But hot damn was the Yamaha-modded V6 a good motor.
See also the 02-03 WRX. Awesome car. Brilliant engine. Gearbox made of glass and crystal.
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May 14, 2009 5:17 p.m. mad_machine UltraDork
P71 wrote:
mad_machine wrote:
didn;t C&D once put an odyessy up against an XK-E through a handling course.. and the van trounced the Jag?
Um, no. That was GRM and the Oddy trounced a classic 911 and the Jag. For shame thinking it was somebody else!
It was one of the "other" mags.. as I read the story when the Odyessy first came out and LONG before I knew about GRM
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May 14, 2009 7:11 p.m. psteav Reader
Umm...they linked to the GRM story there, chief...
