View Single Post
Old 03-17-2013, 03:57 PM   #29
LOWDOWN
Downright Upright
 
Drives: Daily
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Cruisin'...
Posts: 4,145
Different times...in '08 we weren't staring 35.5 mpg mandate in the face, and now we are.

400 hp L99/3900 Curb Weight = 9.75 lb/hp
426 hp LS3/3900 Curb Weight = 9.15 lb/hp
375 hp 5.3/3600 Curb Weight = 9.60 lb/hp
385 hp 5.3/3600 Curb Weight = 9.35 lb/hp...and a "sport-tuned" DI 5.3 can readily (and warrantably) make this number.
385 hp 5.3/3500 Curb Weight = 9.09 lb/hp

As to cost, a current 4.8 V8 truck motor costs how much less to build than a current 5.3 truck motor? But how much MORE is the 5.3? And a current 6.2 truck engine probably costs only a few bucks more to manufacture, but "retails" for considerably more, "because we can"...

As women all over the world will confirm, "size isn't everything"...but it seems that the bigger the engine, the more 'spensive it is. It is known that the 3.6 DOES cost more to make than a (current) 4.8/5.3 BEFORE a turbo or two, yet prices for less...hmmm. And those are the only two ways to get mid/upper 3's, hp-wise, for what needs to be a current-world-sensitive mid-horse Gen-6...

IMVHO

Last edited by LOWDOWN; 03-17-2013 at 04:11 PM.
LOWDOWN is offline   Reply With Quote