--------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: F1H00024 Date: 01/11/98 From: ALAN MORRISON Time: 07:08pm \/To: MARC GERGES (Read 0 times) Subj: Active Handling -=> Quoting Marc Gerges to Alan Morrison <=- MG> The Vauxhall Cavalier and the Opel Vectra are exactly the same car, MG> it's just the Opel sticker for continental europe and Vauxhall for MG> the UK. Thanks... This is the sort of thing I would like to know, as I was a bit lost with most models in the UK when I visited. Even the models we import here were a bit different. And the name Vauxhall is not known to most people; I only knew it from seeing it in auto parts books, until I saw some in the UK. AM> The Cadillac Catera is an Opel Omega derivative. MG> Right. Not sold in europe as Cadillac, though. No, I suppose it would be a waste to finish them here and ship them back to compete against your other brand. But I understand the other Cadillacs, with the DOHC V8's, are attempting some sales there. Many years ago Cadillac was a fine car that didn't share parts with other GM makes. Since the 1970's they have been forced to use some components from the others, and quality was sometimes lacking. GM is trying to differentiate the brands, improve quality, and reestablish some of the Cadillac's lost status. --- Blue Wave/386 v2.20 [NR] * Origin: River Canyon Rd. BBS Chattanooga, Tn (1:362/627) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: F1H00025 Date: 01/11/98 From: ALAN MORRISON Time: 07:22pm \/To: RUBEN LOPEZ (Read 0 times) Subj: TCC lockup -=> Quoting Ruben Lopez to Alan Morrison <=- RL> I have this 96 chevy truck with the vortec 350, It has a rated top RL> speed of 130mph. Would this be with or without locking my converter? RL> it's automatic and I have 3.42:1 gears. Although I don't have enough information on your truck to calculate any exact numbers... I believe the TCC (Torque Converter Clutch) doesn't engage at full throttle, unless it has been modified to do so. To calculate a speed, I need to know tire diameter, RPM, gearing (which you gave), and transmission overdrive ratio. A 4L80E automatic has about a .75 OD if that is the gear it gets its best speed... (Some are faster in 3rd gear). I guess this is your tranny, but I still don't know your tire diameter, or what RPM you are turning. --- Blue Wave/386 v2.20 [NR] * Origin: River Canyon Rd. BBS Chattanooga, Tn (1:362/627) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: F1H00026 Date: 01/11/98 From: ALAN MORRISON Time: 07:28pm \/To: MARC GERGES (Read 0 times) Subj: Escort -=> Quoting Marc Gerges to Alan Morrison <=- AM> Not by that name here in the US although I believe it is the same as AM> the new Mercury Cougar which has a 2 liter DOHC four or a 2.5 liter AM> DOHC V6. It has fresh lines with an ellipse grille opening and is a AM> hatchback. MG> No, that's not the Puma, it is what we will get in a couple of months MG> as the Mondeo Coup (the Mondeo is the Contour). The Puma is smaller MG> and uses an inline 4. It's not a terribly fast car, but looks great MG> and is said to be a pleasure to drive. OK, thanks for the info. I had heard the name Mondeo mentioned somewhere but didn't know what it was. This little Cougar is cute, but at 3,000 pounds, it isn't tiny. Is the Puma engine smaller than 2.0 liter? --- Blue Wave/386 v2.20 [NR] * Origin: River Canyon Rd. BBS Chattanooga, Tn (1:362/627) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: F1H00027 Date: 01/11/98 From: ALAN MORRISON Time: 07:35pm \/To: MARC GERGES (Read 0 times) Subj: Forced Induction -=> Quoting Marc Gerges to Alan Morrison <=- AM> DOHC 4 valve setups are great for high RPM applications, like racing, AM> but on the street a V8 doesn't need to turn more than 6,000 RPM. All AM> that cost and complexity is wasted when you can make similar power for AM> less money, and it is more efficient to run. MG> What makes you think a DOHC V8 engine is not as efficient as a low MG> tech V8? At lower RPM, like daily driving, you don't need twice as many valves and all their related parts moving, causing friction. In this case the ZR-1 engine and the new C5 engine are almost identical in size. The 4 valve ZR-1 doesn't quite get the mileage of the 2 valve engine, even though Lotus gave it some trick manifold butterflies to keep velocity high. Obviously, this may not always be true, but in the case of the small Honda getting the same highway mileage as the much larger Caprice (which had a V8 over twice the size), it was. A high winding 2 liter getting similar mileage to a 5 liter V8, even though the Caprice must punch a much larger hole in the air, indicates some kind of efficiency... doesn't it? MG> Hey, I didn't say it is as fast as an F-body. I just said it is fast MG> enough to overtake everything slower than me on country roads. MG> My usual speed on straight country roads is about 70 to 80 mph. Bends MG> are slower, normally about 10 mph slower than the car's and tire's MG> limit. I was impressed by the Audi A4 turbo with a 1.8 liter, when I was in the UK for a bit. Everywhere we went my chauffeur drove briskly, and was quite efficient in turns. Those roundabouts, at speed, the first day I was there, were quite the sight from my vantage point in the left-front where just the day before I had a steering wheel and brakes! I could tell it was a different ball game with cars entirely. After a couple weeks getting used to driving on the left side of the road and sitting on opposite sides, it felt strange to drive my car home from the airport. I avoided the temptation to drive 70-80 on roads similar to the UK, but which had signs posted about 45 MPH. I guess a big difference is the amount of traffic around town here. Even if you hit 80 somebody would pull out in front of you before you got far. --- Blue Wave/386 v2.20 [NR] * Origin: River Canyon Rd. BBS Chattanooga, Tn (1:362/627) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: F1H00028 Date: 01/11/98 From: ALAN MORRISON Time: 07:57pm \/To: RUBEN LOPEZ (Read 0 times) Subj: Oil pump? -=> Quoting Ruben Lopez to Alan Morrison <=- AM> Oil used to carry the full SAE specs that included the Diesel ratings. AM> Some still do, so look for CC or CD (to CG). CC was a light duty Diesel AM> rating which meant it would take some high loading. CD was the next AM> higher rating, and often you would see CD on 30 weight and good 10w30 AM> oils but few 10w40's had the CD rating. AM> If you look at some of the 15w40 Diesel oils like Shell Rotella it will AM> go on up to CF and CG which means it handles extreme pressures. It will AM> also have the recommendations from Allison, Caterpillar, Mack, etc. RL> Would you recomend running Diesel oil in gasoline motors? Chevy 350s RL> for example? Don't look at it as Diesel oils, I was just using their ratings as an example of what was on all oils until a year or so ago. Most cheap oils did not get the CD rating. This is a test of the load bearing capacity of the lubricant. The new API star-burst labeling removed the diesel ratings from the non-synthetic automotive oils. If you notice, it will be on the synthetic brands though, not just the Diesel oils. As far as using Shell Rotella, or other oil designed for diesel engines; As long as it meets specifications and recommendations of your vehicles manufacturer, why not? The most likely problem would be the viscosity of the oil, but we were talking about Sean's truck which needed a 20w50 or similar oil anyway... I have run a 15w40 oil with the CG rating in a Chevy before and it was OK. You would have to run it continuously and then do a teardown to know if it was a good choice. I haven't done this before but would surely prefer it over Quaker-State oil which has mucked-up several engines I have seen. --- Blue Wave/386 v2.20 [NR] * Origin: River Canyon Rd. BBS Chattanooga, Tn (1:362/627) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: F1H00029 Date: 01/11/98 From: ALAN MORRISON Time: 08:10pm \/To: MARC GERGES (Read 0 times) Subj: Vector Auto -=> Quoting Marc Gerges to Alan Morrison <=- MG> You still have the RX-7? Never been a real success here, imports have MG> been discontinued a year ago. I always liked that car though... They have been discontinued here also, along with Nissan 300 ZX's. MG>> NASCAR are those huge street car lookalikes, right? MG> I read an article about them in last week's ams (a german car MG> magazine). Quite interesting, but not up to date from the technical MG> point of view. They still have to run tiny restrictor plates to keep the speeds down though. The stock body shapes tend to become airborne above 210 MPH, especially if you overcook a turn and spin. I once saw Richard Petty turn sideways on a high banked oval (years ago before restrictor plates) and when it got sideways it became a wing, lifting the car 15-20 feet into the air. MG>> Did anybody on these machines experiment with 4 or more driven MG>> wheels instead of two? AM> Yes, in the 60's they experimented with this but weight transfer AM> unloads the front wheels and they just put smoke in your vision. MG> Mmmmh... AWD in street cars is balanced the way all four wheels spin MG> at the same time. This was tried different ways, but some had multiple engines turning their own axle, or even their own wheel! It was later found that a single engine, running nitromethane, could develop more power than was being controlled at the time. Multiple disc clutches with a varying lockup is solving those problems. MG> completely different approaches, maybe jet engines... if the goal is MG> nothing but best acceleration, two big wheels can't be everything... AM> Jets have nothing in common with passenger cars except maybe wheels. MG> Goes for dragsters too :) True, just wheel driven... There are classes for jets also. They haven't been any quicker than the Fuel Cars, but ROCKET cars have been. AM> There has been a split in IndyCar Racing as of 1997. One still AM> runs small turbocharged V8's that wind past 12,000 RPM and cost a AM> fortune to keep abreast of the competition. The other runs normally AM> aspirated V8's with a 4 liter limit and a 10,500 RPM ceiling, which AM> keeps the cost down. MG> A ha. In the same races? No, different sanctioning bodies. The folks at Indianapolis used to let the other (CART) race at its track. They caused a rift and developed the Indy Racing League (IRL) so the CART folks took most of the known drivers and race at a different track on the same day the Indy 500 is run. This was somewhat unbelievable as the Indy 500 was considered the ultimate race of its type in the US. MG> BTW: normally aspirated formula 1 engines hit the 17000 mark last MG> season... Swat those bees, eh? I have heard the 12,000+ RPM of the IndyCars... It's up there. :-) I believe I read that many in F1 are using pneumatic valves nowadays? Is that also used in any of their production vehicles?? --- Blue Wave/386 v2.20 [NR] * Origin: River Canyon Rd. BBS Chattanooga, Tn (1:362/627) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: F1H00030 Date: 01/11/98 From: ALAN MORRISON Time: 08:56pm \/To: JAY EMRIE (Read 0 times) Subj: Question -=> Quoting JAY EMRIE to DANIEL MCCORMICK <=- JE> You know, that is odd. I have been draining my oil for well over 55 JE> years and have yet to strip an oil pan drain plug!!!! Me either... Makes me wonder if they use an air wrench! :-) --- Blue Wave/386 v2.20 [NR] * Origin: River Canyon Rd. BBS Chattanooga, Tn (1:362/627) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: F1I00000 Date: 01/13/98 From: CHARLES BOWMAN Time: 08:57am \/To: ROBERT JENKINS (Read 0 times) Subj: Vehicle Confiscation Robert Jenkins wrote in a message to Roy J. Tellason: RJ> The easier the cops can bust people without insurance the RJ> lower yours and everybody elses rates will be. Yeah, I've noticed that insurance has gotten a lot cheaper since it has become virtually universal. Gimme a break, you can't support property confiscation based on the fantasy that it will cause our rates to drop. Theft is theft no matter who does it, even if it's for "our own good". cbowman@sinfo.net --- * Origin: Techshop's Southern Most Point - Panama (1:3651/9.10) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: F1I00001 Date: 01/13/98 From: BILL MITCHELL Time: 06:47pm \/To: CHRIS ZYCHSKI (Read 0 times) Subj: ENGINE DISPLACEMENTS CZ> 1959 Rambler I6 VIB ???cid Dk Blue 2dr Station Wagon 195.6 ci "L" head engine, bore and stroke was 3.125x4.250 and was either 8.0 to 1 (150HP) or 8.7 to 1 (180/185HP). L heads were also called side valves or flat heads, the mechanical valves were in the block. CZ > 1969 Plymouth S6 OHV ???cid Blue 2dr Belvedere? (or tellite?) Slant sixes were 225 ci., I believe that was maybe 8.4 to 1 compression. --- * Origin: The Right Place, Fort Lee, NJ USA(201)947-8231 (1:2604/539.11) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: F1I00002 Date: 01/12/98 From: DON DELLMANN Time: 08:37pm \/To: CHRIS ZYCHSKI (Read 0 times) Subj: ENGINE DISPLACEMENTS While tripping merrily through the mail, Chris Zychski was overheard CZ> Does anyone recall, or have reference material to help CZ> me identify the engine size of the following cars? CZ> 1969 Plymouth S6 OHV ???cid Blue 2dr Belvedere? (or CZ> Satellite?) Most likely a 225. Don ... Anything good in life is either illegal, immoral or fattening. --- * Origin: *YOPS ]I[* 3.1 GIG * RA/FD/FE RADist * Milwaukee, WI (1:154/750)