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Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce
Don't forget there's a price for that horsepower, the more horsepower the shorter the life span for the same engine.
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Which cars on the race track (real racing is about innovation) break down less often (and win more races)? Those with the high performance engines. Higher performance means the parts are not vibrating themselves into destruction. Higher performance means more energy applied to the wheel and less energy applied to the destruction of engine and drive train.
One advantage of 70 Hp per liter engines was longer life compared to 1975 lower performance 35 HP per liter V8s. Which cars lasted longer? The Chevy type car (of 1975 vintage) sold under a Mercedes nameplate with a higher performance engine (because it was machined better) or the 1975 Chevy?
"Bigger engines last longer" is a myth promoted by motor heads who cum over V-8s rather than first learn basic engine technology. The same people who called those Hondas and Toyotas junk. In reality, any engine designed and machined better is the one that lasts longer - no matter how many pistons are inside. That means higher Hp/liter.
BTW, which long haul (diesel) trucks have engines that last longer? Trucks with the higher performance engines are the more reliable. Larger engines that only get the same horsepower tend to fail more often.
In the meantime, Louis Hughes is the GM executive who made GM's European and even GM's Chinese operations profitable. When Wagoner, a finance guy who ran unprofitable operations instead got promoted, then Hughes left to become head of (I believe it was) Lockheed Martin. Promote the guy you see more often rather than the guy who makes things work. And so GM market share plummets along with their stagnant technology.
The one reason cited by Roger Smith (of the movie Roger and Me) for buying Hughes Spacecraft was so that GM cars could feature 'heads up displays'. Twenty plus years later - where is it? Well Roger Smith, like so many GM executives, did not know how to drive. Head up displays? I finally saw my first 'heads up display': on a Toyota Prius. A hybrid.
Where is Hughes Spacecraft? GM spun off Direct TV, On-Star, and Delco (all contain Hughes Spacecraft divisions) to cover GMs 1990s losses. I wonder if Toyota gets that 'heads up display' from a former Hughes Spacecraft operation.