Cruising toward Oblivion

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by Xist

aren't manufacturers making smaller engines that are as powerful as their older ones?

Isn't that some kind of progress?

My girlfriend's 1998 Pontiac Grand Prix had a 3.8L V6 with 195 horsepower and it got 18 MPG. Not only is the fuel economy unimpressive, but the acceleration was not exciting either.

My 2006 Acura TSX has a 2.4L I4 with 205 horsepower and gets 31 MPG. The weight of both cars is comparable at 3,3xx pounds, but the Acura accelerates better, corners way better, and has gobs of luxury and safety features.

I married my GF and my first order of business was making her sell the Pontiac. She's still working on my faults...

[Mustang Dave]

Originally Posted by spacemanspif

.... Pop the hood on a car built in the last 10 years and if it's anything above an entry-level vehicle, underhood is a plastic cover trying to convince the owner not to remove it and see the complicated mess of wires and hoses running every which way and seemingly designed to keep normal people from doing their own work.....

In most cases..
That's not the case with 2005-2010 V6 Mustangs. Under the hood is an ENGINE with no covers. And the engine is not "sideways". You can see the ground in front of; and on both sides of the engine. If you drop a tool while working on it, it may roll underneath to exact center, but it WILL hit the ground. And there's plenty of room to get to the spark plugs when I need to change them... in about 31,000 miles.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by Mustang Dave

And there's plenty of room to get to the spark plugs when I need to change them... in about 31,000 miles.

There's probably not as much room to get at the spark plugs in the Insight, but then I only need to change them every 100K miles :-)

As for the engine being "sideways", remind me again which way the wheels turn :-)