a few years ago hot rod or car craft did an article about the import guys always going on and on about their 2hp per cubic inch and all that. So, they took a fairly mild 454 BBC, put a vortec supercharger on it and did the same thing, for far less money. Imagine pulling up in the local get together and saying yea, I got 2hp+ per cubic inch. Oh, and I have over 450 of those inches... From an engineering standpoint yes it is impressive for those little engines to make what they make, but let's face it, 300-400hp is still 300-400hp. even the much ignored sbb can come up with that without tons of money thrown at it. And if you really wanted to get feisty, you can always thrown in the small buick v6 with a turbo. GN's have been tearing up the tracks with that baby for over 20 years.
Here's the reality of the situation. The article was from 1998 which is many moons ago in the auto world. Now both engine can make 700 horses for thousands of dollars in investment. The difference is that the person on the street will see the import and say it's a ricer or question why they'd ruin a perfectly good car. At the same time they'll see the Buick and say that it's a gas guzzler and should get traded in for a Prius. Neither car has any resale value left, and both may be illegal depending on your location. But what one will impress the ladies? Neither since they already have a matching import and they think that an old Buick is ugly. Moral of the story......buy a jetta tdi and talk about how many mpgs you get and then bang hippy chicks
Horsepower is work accomplished over time. Torque is applied force. Torque is great, it moves battleships and railroad locomotives. Horsepower wins drag races.
The counter to that of course is that horsepower is just the result of a math equation based on torque By the way, what year is that pickup in your avatar? I have an 87 that I'm going to try to take on drag week this year.
Got torque??? The 24v Riviera. yeah its got a Cummins, 430hp and 841tq worth. http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?249157-The-RIV-represents-on-DIESEL-TV!!
As far as the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles is concerned, it is a 1982. That's because the VIN goes with the cab. The bare cab, the power brake booster and one parking lamp assembly are all of the parts that I can think of that are actually a 1982 Chevy. The rolling chassis is from a 1986 GMC C-1500 Diesel, and just about everything else is related to the Buick engine, aftermarket, or a couple of odd parts from a 1984 C-10. Take your pick of years! The cool thing about the chassis is that it has the dual fuel tanks. it holds 40 gallons of fuel total.
The dual fuel tanks located outside the frame rails, protected only by the bedsides? one of the largest GM eff-ups of all time? awesome...
1 HP equals the force required to lift 33,000 lbs 1 foot in one minute. Distance is a requirement to solve this equation. Torque is simply applied force. If I apply 50 lbs of force to a bolt, and the bolt doesn't move, no work (horsepower) has been produced. The 841 ft/lbs of torque caused the horsepower that won the race to be applied. I'm impressed as hell with your Diesel Buick, but I'm sticking to my guns on this one!
All I know is I've drove my 300 horsepower Buick powered Chevelle and I've drove many 500+ horsepower sbc and the difference in feel from a stop or slow roll is massive, I pick torque
Horsepower doesn't mean anything if the weight isn't right. Try this for a race. Put a 40,000 pound semi trailer on a 250 horse semi and race against a 500 horse turbo Honda pulling a matching trailer. The semi will get down the track slowly and surely while the Honda burns off its tires and explodes. Us fullsize guys know that torque is more important than horsepower when your car is classified as a land yacht :laugh:
I had a neighbor that built up a Civic and hit the dyno at 480 at the wheels. Problem was it only did it for about the last 1200rpm from rev limiter. I went for a ride and I thought it was neat and actually scary when boost came on, but not very usefull. I took him out in my Buick and showed him how cool it was to have power on tap whenever I hit the pedal. He was shocked by the sensation of a much bigger and heavier car that pulled like that. He brought it to a track and managed mid to low 13's before he broke the transaxle. While I respect what he has done and the amount of work he performed on that car to achieve those numbers, it just doesn't do it for me. Dollars to dollars I'd bet we are not too far off from each other on our investments to make power, but as far as bang for the buck I can't help but feel my low rpm torque and broader power range is more usefull and effective than the tiny little high rpm window he is restricted to. In his defense, it is kinda entertaining to do violent burnouts that come on abruptly at speeds near 100mph in his car. Seriously dangerous and scary, but entertaining none the less.
...but NBC had to resort to pyrotechnic devices to get the tanks to burn... FWIW: My tanks have been replaced with Plastic aftermarket units.
I was just teasing you. I've had a hand full of those old chevys. I will say its kinda scary when the bed is gone and there is a wood box of sorts and no protection at all around the tank..
