I only popped out to Lidl for a bag of sugar....
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I only popped out to Lidl for a bag of sugar....
The irony is that when that car was in production the loudest sound it probably made was KITT's whooshing noise when the red lights moved back and forth across its bumper.
That series had engines from a 2.5 litre 4 cylinder that managed to develop 145 bhp through various V6s that struggled to put out more than the 4 pot all the way up to 5.7 litre V8s and 210 horses. Don't forget that at the time, US cars had their power rated SAE, or nett, in other words at the flywheel and didn't include things like alternators or power steering pumps.
In the context of how the mighty are fallen, the last of the high power Firebirds was the SD455 (7.4 litre) and put out 290 bhp, as opposed to a few years earlier, say 1970 to 1974 when 370 hp was generated. By the late '70s the Vauxhall Royale was putting out 177 and the later Senator around 210 from a 3 litre straight 6 and BMW 3 litres were even higher.
With one or two exceptions, the US automotive industry steadfastly refused to develop their engines and simply made them bigger but stuck with the cast iron block and head with 2 overhead valves per cylinder and one camshaft sitting in the Vee. Electronics have played a big part over the last few years, but their basic architecture is firmly embedded in the 1950s.
That series had engines from a 2.5 litre 4 cylinder that managed to develop 145 bhp through various V6s that struggled to put out more than the 4 pot all the way up to 5.7 litre V8s and 210 horses. Don't forget that at the time, US cars had their power rated SAE, or nett, in other words at the flywheel and didn't include things like alternators or power steering pumps.
In the context of how the mighty are fallen, the last of the high power Firebirds was the SD455 (7.4 litre) and put out 290 bhp, as opposed to a few years earlier, say 1970 to 1974 when 370 hp was generated. By the late '70s the Vauxhall Royale was putting out 177 and the later Senator around 210 from a 3 litre straight 6 and BMW 3 litres were even higher.
With one or two exceptions, the US automotive industry steadfastly refused to develop their engines and simply made them bigger but stuck with the cast iron block and head with 2 overhead valves per cylinder and one camshaft sitting in the Vee. Electronics have played a big part over the last few years, but their basic architecture is firmly embedded in the 1950s.
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Come on beard.... It's only the last few years they've got with 'Modern Tech' on car engines. And that's because they're approaching $4 a gallon!
If I lived in the states I'd still be buying European. Probably a BMW. At least with it being in America when it breaks the customer service will be top quality.
If I lived in the states I'd still be buying European. Probably a BMW. At least with it being in America when it breaks the customer service will be top quality.
I think a lot of the problems they faced in Americaland - especially in the 70's and 80's - was the ridiculous power sapping emission laws that they slapped on all there cars. Once the engines were starved of fuel and air the cheapest and only real way they could get their titanic sized cars to move at an acceptable speed was to just fit a bigger lump 
These emission laws were a pain in the arse for anyone else in the world who wanted to sell their car in America. A great example was the triumph 2.5 six cylinder engine which was fitted to the TR5a and TR6. Over here in Britain triumph developed this engine to eventually push out 150bhp when fitted with the somewhat unreliable but advanced (for the time) lucas mechanical fuel injection however they just couldn't get it to meet the US emission laws so they had to do with the twin carb version which only pushed out 105bhp
I believe this is the reason also why the TR7 was fitted with the 8v 2.0 engine and not the awesome 16v 2.0 engine it should of had
Luckily the Japanese and European cars were a lot smaller so shifting the weight wasn't to much of a problem
These emission laws were a pain in the arse for anyone else in the world who wanted to sell their car in America. A great example was the triumph 2.5 six cylinder engine which was fitted to the TR5a and TR6. Over here in Britain triumph developed this engine to eventually push out 150bhp when fitted with the somewhat unreliable but advanced (for the time) lucas mechanical fuel injection however they just couldn't get it to meet the US emission laws so they had to do with the twin carb version which only pushed out 105bhp
I believe this is the reason also why the TR7 was fitted with the 8v 2.0 engine and not the awesome 16v 2.0 engine it should of had
Luckily the Japanese and European cars were a lot smaller so shifting the weight wasn't to much of a problem
Strange thing is while the styling is pure 70s the car was obviously built in 1987 as its been assigned an F plate. Few cars can make a cinq look futuristic...
