Greg wrote:
Ford knows what sells. Or at least, what *they* sell. You'd be surprised how many people buy V6 Mustangs.
The Mustang was always a "Secretary's Car". Ford has always sold more 6's (Straight or V) than V-8's and these days sadly most of them are slushboxes as well.
Took me quite a while to get used to the "arrest me" red color of my 08 GT drop top, but it was the only one I could find with a stick shift and cloth seats. I've suffered with leather before, never again.
Many cars today are designed for higher octane gas, but through the wizardry of modern engine management(Variable valve timing, wastegates, engine controlled ignition timing, knock sensors, etc), you can run a higher compression motor on low octane gas, albiet the engine won't be happy about it - versus 20 years ago, when doing so would make it sound like somebody beating on the block with a sledgehammer. Hell, my moms Saturn does this - it really wants 89, but will run on regular, albiet down on power.
Octane is nothing more than resistance to ignition. High octane gas has no more energy than low, but what it does allow, is running in high compression motors, which make it possible to extract more energy of the fuel.
Normally, you can't run more than 10:1 on 93, and that is seriously pushing it. There are a coupla tricks where you can run upwards of 10.5:1 on Super, like Ceramic coating the piston tops, exhaust ports, and combustion chambers, running the heater port lines into the back of the head, partially filling the block(makes the block more rigid, keeps oil cooler, increases carrying capacity of coolant). It also means more horsepower, as you're putting more BTUs to doing work, vs. heating up the block and heads.
14:1 on 87? How in the blue fuck are they doing that??!! I hear those kind of numbers, I think Cam2 and Sunoco "Blue"(260gt), not pump gas, let alone 87.
And I just like to add, I miss Sunoco stations carrying 97 octane gas. Hell, I wish somebody nearby carried E85..
HTRN, I would tell you that you are an evil fucker, but you probably get that a lot ~ Netpackrat
Describing what HTRN does as "antics" is like describing the wreck of the Titanic as "a minor boating incident" ~ First Shirt
IIRC octane here runs 85/87/89. I'd been running the Mazda on 85 (regular), it does fine. I did take advantage of the low prices to try 87, I couldn't tell any difference.
I'm curious about Ford's Ecoboost scheme--I saw they're claiming over 600 hp out of a 3.6L engine in their new GT. Holy cow:
Interesting car! Not sure I care for the front end, I think the retro styling ran its course with the last one. The back end looks very slick--the aero at and behind the cabin, the channels, looks like somebody turned a B-70 upside down. Know what I mean?
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Also, I gather Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson picked the new Corvette as his car of the year. I believe the show's new season will cover it. AND, I saw that the new Dodge Charger Hellcat will do an honest 204 mph. That's a four door sedan.
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