But by that you admit drinking and driving. Alcohol does EXACTLY the same to reaction times, braking force and car control

A bit like old age.

Yes. Nothing went wrong, but I bloody learned from it, didn't I? It may have the same effect, but alcohol is far more potent at slowing down your reactions and clouding your judgement.

I'm not defending driving under the influence by any means.

-edit-

In the name of not taking the thread OT, agree to disagree?

I love my car.



It's a 1989 Camaro RS, 5 litres of V8 goodness.
It does need some attention, but it's the right side of being a complete dog. Mechanically sound as a pound. Used about 25 litres of petrol getting from Liverpool to Torbay cruising at 60-70mph the whole way.
And OMG... I absolutely LOVE the noise it makes when I turn her over. (Apart from what I suspect is a squeaky starter, but then she's been stood for a few weeks).
Some cosmetic jobs to attend to, the most pressing is a spot of rust in the T tops, which if it isn't sorted soon will become a Very Bad Thing.
But she's the right side of being rescuable. And she fits in the garage.

Somebody over in Belm has been trying to sell a "KITT" Firebird for the last year. I keep thinking about it, but I couldn't use it to drive to work (only Euro 3 & 4 allowed in town and the car park is tiny - I can't park my Mondeo comfortably there as it is).

It always amazes me how the Yanks managed to make huge thirsty engines that produced less power than European 6-cylinder engines. If I had the space and the money to feed it, I'd quite like this.

1961 Corvette in red
1965 Corvette
1967 Shelby Mustang GT500
2010 Chevy Camaro in yellow

for starters

*throws up*

Mark

It's not a huge mystery at all.
Prior to the smog emissions ruling, they were churning out car in the 60s with 300+ horse power. What were the family cars produced in Europe or Japan doing at the time?
Then lots of youth killed themselves, some of the manufacturers took on a gentlemen's agreement about the horsepower race and GM even dropped out of racing (officially).
On top of that, there's the oil crisis of the 70s, so smog rulings, plus less oil means less horsepowers as the engines are dialled back heavily.

Things are more or less back track now though, the yanks are very capable of building engines, the V6 in the 2010 Camaro is putting out 300 hp and 273 torques.
Remember, the engines are also built with longevity in mind, so they're simple and under stressed.

+1 well said

Also you have to remember a lot of V8s are used in big lumbering comfy cruisers rather than sporty cars. The engines are lazy but torquey (is that a word ) and suit the manner of driving/car.

I looked up info on big and small block V8s and the power they can output is staggering. Just because they didnt choose to doesnt mean they cant.

DUDE! Pics!

Very excited for you. May have to cruise up there to take a look, next time I'm across the border.

But does it have a talking bolshy computer that states the obvious?

1968 Ford Mustang GT 390 CID Fastback
Then head on over to San Francisco with it

It's more that they stuck with 8 cylinders and didn't go to smaller 6- or 4-cylinder engines, but I guess that would have cost too much in development. Does seem a bit potty to be dumping fuel into eight cylinders when only half of them were really needed. Still want one though - this looks nice.

Shiny. Moar pics required!

- I think I just did something embarrassing and messy.