[Shotimes] Interesting...porting the intake

[Donald Mallinson]

Ron,

I figured you would chime back!  :)

I think I got your comments figured right.  Again, not that 
I totally disagree with you, just that I think your 
perspective is still a little bit off.  Even today a 220 hp 
car is still more high performance than bread and butter 
family sedan.  The typical "bread and butter" car is still 
well under 200 hp, and few have the handling to match a 15 
year old SHO even today.  A typical current higher 
performance car is still not over 220 hp with very few 
exceptions.  The bland, but high HP Nissan universal motor 
being the major exception.  Everything else is in a higher 
price range than the SHO ever was, even with inflation, for 
the most part.

I think BMW may be the most overrated car in history.  It is 
nice, and maybe even the top of the heap, but it ain't THAT 
much better than the SHO for the money.  I HAVE given the 
BMW cars a chance, and may even desire to own one some day, 
but direct comparison of my 7 year old 96 to a new 530i was 
enough to let me cool my needs for a new car for a while. 
Yep, the 530 was nicer, but not THAT much nicer.  Should 
have been way superior for $45,000.  And still just 225 hp? 
  WAY down compared to the Japanese competition.  Why 
doesn't everyone blast the Beemer for that lack of power? 
Smooth will only get them so many bonus points in my book. 
Why can't BMW get more HP out of that ancient motor?

Now to fully incur your wrath, I will tell you that I am 
seriously considering the Caddy CTS as my next new car.  I 
still would rather buy American and my test of a 220 hp auto 
CTS when they first came out was impressive.  Quality, yep, 
power, yep, style?  That is very personal, but today, that 
CTS style is VERY much copied by the supposed "better" 
brands, and the CTS is starting to look like it will age 
well.  Yes I would like to have the V version with 400 hp, 
but not sure about availablilty.  The new motor in the base 
Auto car, solves most of the lack of HP situation and that 
motor will get the manual next year...something to think about.

Don Mallinson

Ron Porter wrote:
> I figured you would chime in!!!
> 
> You read more into what I have stated for years. And Mark has shown my
> 14-year-old comments to be true. The 3.0 SHO motor in a 3,000 # car is an
> exceptional runner. It's a matter of perspective. My perspective is from
> owning cars that were much quicker than the SHO, others have different
> experiences (my "FSS" comes to mind!)
> 
> Other point is that the SHO was the "performance car" back in those days.
> Today, these cars are the bread-and-butter family sedans with 225-275 HP, as
> opposed to having maybe 150-175 back in that day.
> 
>>From the perspective of American cars, and even cars like the 535i BMW in
> the late '80s, the SHO "is" low on torque. Again, a matter of perspective.
> 
> There is also much more to a car than just the engine, and this is where the
> BMWs and others have excelled.
> 
> Ron Porter