v6 vs import 2 liter

[lessurluck]

how come a v6 mustang has less horse than, for example, a 2.0L acura rsx that has 210 hp while the mustang only has around 190 hp. what makes a smaller engine faster and get better gas mileage...is it the wieght? or is the jap engines flat out better??? can you do anything to make the v6 faster with out lowering your gas mileage? just looking to spank the imports..thanks

[dampachi]

Bigger displacement doesn't always mean bigger horsepower numbers. Just look at the 79 trans ams with the 400sb. Sounds mean as all hell..but puts out a good 150hp. Weight has nothing to do with the horsepower number a car puts out. The V6 mustang wasn't buit to have power...that's why it doesn't have more than an RSX..which was built to be somewhat fast.

[silverstangs]

Originally Posted by lessurluck

how come a v6 mustang has less horse than, for example, a 2.0L acura rsx that has 210 hp while the mustang only has around 190 hp. what makes a smaller engine faster and get better gas mileage...is it the wieght? or is the jap engines flat out better??? can you do anything to make the v6 faster with out lowering your gas mileage? just looking to spank the imports..thanks

There are 6 ways to make alot of horse power........


1) Big displacement
2) Forced Induction
3) High rpms
4) High compression
5) Exoctic fuel mixtures
6) Multiple cyclinders (meaning the more cyclinders the more power)


Honda uses high rpms to make the hp. Yes the 2.0L might make the 210 hp, but that's only part of the picture. You have to look at the gearing in a car and you also have to look at the Horsepower Curve, and Torque Curve as well as the weight of a car. You need to match all four of those items. that 210 hp engine would struggle in a mustang with the mustang gearing... because the Torque curve wouldnt match.


That RSX is light weight compared to the 3200~3600lbs mustangs. My 01 V6 weighed in at 3440lbs on the scales.

[TheStang00]

something to consider... how much does that acura cost? your mustang is relatively cheap, 17k or so. the mustang engine since it is bigger will have more potential for power not to mention it has a huge aftermarket. that v6 is actually pretty strong and it doesnt take a lot to get a good power increase. the mustangs v6 was made like it is due to marketing. see if ford gave that v6 270 hp which im sure they could if they really wanted then the GT engine would have to put out atleast 330 id say and then the prices of the car go through the roof. ford wants to have the cheaper sports car thing goin, it makes a lot of money. the good thing about what theyre doing though is that the cars are good in quality and they can have the shit modded out of them, really a lot of potential. and yeah idk u might but i bet that acura costs a lot of $$

[dampachi]

The RSX Type-S is only about $20k.

[TheStang00]

oh well... its still more $$ then the stang lol. with that extra 2 or 3, maybe even just 1 grand you could get the stang well over 200 hp, and that was kinda what i was getting at. plus that 4 banger will never get the same kinda torque as that v6.

[dampachi]

It's possible for a 4 cylinder to make high torque numbers...the STi makes 300hp and 300tq.

[TheStang00]

yeah but that car is 36k, and it makes those numbers with a turbo charger. slap that turbo on a mustang and look at its torque numbers, i didnt mean to imply they couldnt get torque, but the stang is a bigger displacement engine and it has two more cylinders. its going to be more capable of getting high torque numbers than the flat four in a STI

[-Jayson-]

i have a I4 in my cavalier and i make around 200 lbs TQ. Once i get my smaller pulley im hoping to be making around 220lbs of TQ. And my torque line is extremly flat. My car when i got it used was 8,000 +2,000 dollar superhcharger package. I eat v6 mustangs for breakfast, and can hang with the v8s' Soon i will be beating the v8s, stock atleast.

[dampachi]

Hey, Jayson. Glad to see you venturing in here. You need to get that trap speed up and get rid of that governor (it was you with a 105mph governor right?) if you wanna play with V8s. Atleast on the street.

[TheStang00]

once again... price... i got my 00 for 5k a year ago. the only reason yours is faster is because of the money put into it, my car kills a stock cavalier. if i put the 5k less that i spent into my engine ill be runnin over 300 hp and torque easy. i wasnt saying a 4 cant have torque.... but my 3.8 can have a lot more. thats all i was sayin, its not hard to comprehend. basic facts

[dampachi]

I don't think $5,000 would put a V6 much over 300hp..If you get a cheap supercharger and run 9psi you might be around 280rwhp.

[Rod&Custom]

Hang around 3.8mustang.com a little more often. There is a fellow on there running 400rwhp(custom turbo setup by him) with stock internals, and under $5,000 invested. I think he might start selling the kits for about 6k, so that would only be 1k off of the Cavaliers mark, and would eat him, v6s, v8s, and the superchard Cobra V8 for breakfast. So Stang00 was right.

[dampachi]

Then factor in all the other reinforcement, and then you're at $10,000.

[TheStang00]

i dont know how much you know about turbos... but the kit includes everything you need, so the cost wont be around 10k, and trust me ive looked into it a lot, i could do a lot with $5000