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Old 07-23-2013, 08:20 PM   #40
fielderLS3


 
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Drives: 2016 Mazda6, 2011 Mustang 5.0
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Portage, Wisconsin
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DGthe3 View Post
By pretty much any objective measure, these modern V6s are not torque weak. Yes, they make less torque than power but that doesn't mean they're weak on torque ... it just means that they are power-strong. About the only way to get them to make more torque than power is to cut the revs back and drop the power down by about 50 horses, giving you a 250 hp car making 270 ft-lbs. I don't know about you, but I'd rather have the extra 50 hp.
You make plenty of very good points. But the point still remains that in the last several decades, engines have indeed gained a lot of power, they have not gained that much torque. The net result is any horsepower number that is advertised has to be taken with a grain of salt, because something similar with what happens to currency through inflation is happening to horsepower ratings.

Basically, today's 300 hp engines aren't as strong as a 300 hp engine from 10 years ago was. I'm not saying today's DOHC engines are necessarily weak in absolute terms, but 300hp and 325tq is simply not the same as 300hp and 275tq. Run a 5th gen V6 against a "less powerful" 05-10 4.6L Mustang and see what happens. Or, alternatively, ask yourself what you would rather have, the 5th gen's V6, or the 4th gen's LS1?
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