[russotto]

Originally posted by tw

A motor and human both run on alcohol. Using your logic, we should compare the performance of these two "apples and oranges".

Actually, I run on ATP. Alcohol must go through many transformations before it becomes useful as a fuel.

[quote]
However if we used valid statistics, then clearly horsepower per liter is a standard measure of performance for internal combustion engines of the same technology.
[quote]

Argument by assertion is pointless.

if they were high tech. Your comparison of 'apples to oranges' only suggests that you are a target market for this low performance, high volume, overhyped, low reliability vehicle. People who know cars understand that the 5.0 Mustang (and most GM cars) are low performance vehicles - products to be avoided due to their obsolete technologies, low reliabilities, and excessively high prices.

Argument by insult doesn't work too well either. Actually, I drive a car with a 1.8L 135hp engine.

The problem with using hp/l as a measure of performance is it indicates that increasing the displacement of an engine somehow reduces its performance. It gives the impression, for example, that a 1.0l engine which develops 75hp is higher performance than a 2.0l engine which develops 130hp -- even if the engines are the same weight and approximately the same size.