I personally think the Honda engineers get their jollies beating cars with more pistons.

.02

 

I also think the Honda engineers like beating people with more pistons.

The only resonable arguments I hears are that the crank on a 6 might bend, but you could easily accommodate that with a strut in the middle of the block. It might add another inch, but that is about it!

As for adding more weight... the frame is already stiffer than a Porsche, bigger brakes would not add that much... all you need is to beef up the tranny, driveshaft and differential.. that can't add 50% more weight, so you will have a much BETTER HP/weight ratio than before.

As for price, I would think it would add no more than 50% to the cost... that would bring the car up to about $48K... ummmm... you can't really touch a Boxster for that... not to mention a 911...

As for getting a Camaro or 'Vette? Ummm... NO. That would be just like driving a Camaro or Vette! This would still be a light, convertible roadster...

 

Good points, if anyone wants to get imported Japanese V8's contact me, i got a hook up (shhh)

 

>>The only resonable arguments I hears are that the crank on a 6 might bend, but you could easily accommodate that with a strut in the middle of the block. It might add another inch, but that is about it!<<

Nice try but no. The cranks whip and flex. The worst thing is the torsional flex. Parts of the crank twist more or less than other parts. In the normal engine rotation direction and also "backwards". A strut won't do anything about that. More or less you need incredibly strong cranks of good alloy, lots of attention to metal fatigue factors such as radiussed fillets, well tuned dampers on the front of the motor and flywheel tuning and special bearings. Fours don't have this problem to any large extent. Many don't use any torsional damper at all. Remember that street cars these days last just about forever. Years ago it was a big deal to hit 100,000 miles. Not anymore. In the case of the new M3 motor it is more or less closer to the old 7600 RPM Euro M3 6 cyl motor than the old M3 6 cylinder engine. The extra 400 RPM is hard to get with indefinite lifespan from a straight 6.

>>as for adding more weight... the frame is already stiffer than a Porsche, bigger brakes would not add that much... all you need is to beef up the tranny, driveshaft and differential.. that can't add 50% more weight, so you will have a much BETTER HP/weight ratio than before.<<

Colin Chapman (Lotus, who Honda copied the backbone frame idea from) used the old 4 or 5 to 1 rule of thumb for engine weight. Every extra pound of motor always seemed to wind up in cars that were 4-5 pounds heavier for each of those extra engine pounds. All of this stuff is interrelated. If you have a larger engine you'll need a clutch with more torque capacity, heavier flywheel, stronger motor mounts, stronger front springs, beefier subframe and so on. It adds up. After awhile the car won't feel or be as nimble. Hondas four isn't very light either. My 1.6 litre Lotus/Renault motor weighs less than 200 pounds. 265 pounds with the transaxle bolted on. The alloy block is around 28 pounds - you can lift it with one finger. I think Honda was trying to keep some of these ideas in mind while meeting modern laws and expectations. The s2000 could probably be over 100 pounds lighter if it was designed from scratch as a hard top.

Stan

 

Honda has some experience with at least 1 high revving inline 6!! The old CBR1000 (at least I think that was what it was called), was amazing with all of those header pipes on a motorcycle.

 

Do you really think that most people in America would pay 50K for a Honda? I highly doubt it.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Jay Li:
[B] Do you really think that most people in America would pay 50K for a Honda?

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Sparky:
[B] For a 360HP roadster??

 

CBX, I owned one and it was nice!

 

Intresting topic, it's true they've already got the engine. Maybe the addition of a factory supercharger under factory warranty, would be nice, which would keep the price reasonable. Just look a Comptechs performance. I'd say that's pretty close to what everybodys asking anyhow!