Some cars appear more frequently on YouTube and social media as modified rockets than others. But with skill, can’t you put any engine or any other part into any car?
Actually, if trying to maximize performance, why not build from scratch? Why is “1,800hp GTR” more interesting or common than “1,800hp car built in garage”?
In: Engineering
The baseline vehicle is better suited to it.
Let’s start at the engine. If any given bit of work is going to net an improvement of X percent in horsepower, for instance, then it’s best applied to an engine with a higher starting horsepower in order to get the most out of it.
So let’s start there. The old Mk IV Supra had a 2JZ 3.0 liter inline six cylinder sequential twin turbocharged engine that pumped out 320 horsepower pretty easily right out of the box. The bottom end on that engine could handle 600-800 horsepower with no work at all. Anyway, if you were to pop on some aftermarket camshafts that gave you an additional 8% hp peak, you’re looking at +/- 25 horsepower from that.
Compare to the 2ZZ in the 7th gen Toyota Celica GT-S (and Matrix, and Pontiac Vibe, and some Lotus Elise). That was a 2.2 liter naturally aspirated inline four cylinder engine making about 180hp (US). Give that an extra 8%, and you have a 14-15 hp increase.
Of course you pay a lot more for a Supra or even just a 2JZ (or Nissan’s RB26, etc) than for a Pontiac Vibe with that no-one-in-my-family-can-drive-this 6-speed manual transmission. And there’s the heart of it.
MONEY
More expensive toys mean bigger dicks. It’s science. Look it up.
You’re asking why no one put a 427 with some massive 4-barrel carb on a Maverick, but instead poured big bucks into that Shelby Cobra. The answer is, “Because Mavericks suck! Your Mom isn’t gonna tongue my butthole in the back of that piece of shit!”
And here’s the great trick: Someone has shoehorned some ridiculous cam-in-block, pushrod filled, carburetor fed, 2-valves-per-cylinder hunk of ‘Murica into some complete lump of shit Pinto just because he could. Hell, I lost my first wife to a guy whose greatest accomplishment in life was squeezing a 350 cubic inch V-8 into a Chevy Vega. Why? Because he could.
There are 1970s Datsun sedans with Mazda rotary engines in ‘em. Some soulless pieces of shit put 350s into older Datsun and Nissan Zs.
Why does anyone do anything with a car or truck? To try to make his dick bigger with money.
Now, that dude with the van with the wizard airbrushed on the side of it? Ask why *HE* does what he does…
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