Thread is going on at Car & drivers web page: I think a few of you "smart" guys need to run over and post a bit. It became a S2000 Vs. corvette thing:

http://forums.caranddriver.com/ubb/Forum1/...TML/002036.html

 

next time, at least spell 'Slalom' right.

 

Hey-

Some pretty ridiculous arguments...

Buy a sports car for fuel mileage...

Buy a sports car because of "technology"...

Ultimately a design will be judged by the quality of engineering and how it is implemented. With what GM has at their disposal currently (whether through mismanagement of their resources or whatever) I consider the Corvette to be a great design. And, the same goes for Honda.

I don't expect GM to come out with an inline 6 that pushes 350HP- that's "not their bag baby." In that vein I don't expect Honda to bring out a big CC pushrod V8- same thing or even the aformentioned inline 6 with 350HP. But what the good companies have managed to do over the years is refine what they do best- and the rest don't. Case in point- I consider the new Acura RSX suspension a step sideways, not forwards, and I attribute that to the bean counters- not the engineers- even though the engineers must have sought to do the best of a bad situation (and that is a step back, relative to the strides they made before). As for the argument for/against cars like the Corvette and Viper- the bottom line is that they are very effective for their intended purpose, and are VERY fast on the track if, like any other high performance car, they are driven correctly.

And, to top it off, generally, who cares how fast a car is if it's in the shop all the time... Trust me- I speak from experience!!

I hate to say this, because I like to believe the US has great techology in mass production- but we really have poor implementation of it- which is why engineers from companies like GM and Ford probably have to work with looser tolerances just to ensure cars go together. Conversely, that is what the Japanese are VERY good at- they have refined their tooling and mold making capabilities to the point that they can be VERY accurate- and thus build cars with much tighter tolerances. What we sometimes write off as poor build quality is sometimes poor tolerancing of parts- which is a direct result of the above phenomena. That doesn't mean the Japanese are better engineers- I don't believe that for a second- and the reliability of the F20C could be used as an argument in that vein- the assumption of some tolerances, whatever they may be, that the engineers thought they could meet that have not been, which result in engine failure... I've seen some really, REALLY bad CAD drawings from some supposedly top notch Japanese firms in my business that make me laugh- and these are the same ones that charge four figure amounts for their 35mm cameras...

 

I think it's interesting that GM has recently contracted with Honda to purchase its V-6 engines. Just think, you'll soon see VTEC stickers on Malibus and Impalas!

 

The fact is, the guy who started the thread is an idiot.

Why even bother responding to him?

 

I second that. I read his first post, and didn't even bother to read everything esle...

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by lvs2k
[B]I think it's interesting that GM has recently contracted with Honda to purchase its V-6 engines.