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Crazy amounts of power per liter are possible if you don't have to worry about emissions or restrictive fuel economy mandates. Or having to blend fuel specifically for the engine. Norm

There's more. An inline four cannot be completely balanced for both primary and secondary forces and moments - and this is exactly why flat-plane crank V8 engine designs really should be limited to somewhere in the 4.0 - 4.5 liter range . . . like two times the 2.0 to 2.3 liters for an inline...

Exhaust sound character is very much a function of firing order, bank angle (if a V type engine which includes horizontally opposed engines where the bank angle is 180°), and how the pipes are merged. Making the exhaust either louder or deeper with a less restrictive exhaust system doesn't...

I think what you'd really have gotten would be a Fusion/Falcon that's a lot more CUV than sedan. Like we really need any more of those things . . . The average sedan buyer - at the Fusion/Maxims/Camry level anyway - is sure to be content with 300-ish HP, which is readily available from 3.5L or...

Except in width, the S550 isn't really all that much bigger than the original. Only 1" more wheelbase, 6" or so longer, and 3.5" or so taller. But I don't think you'd want to give up much of the 8" increase in width the S550 has over the originals, as to do so would come at some cost in...

Personally, I'd rather drive this . . . not a whole lot less analog than a Morgan. I've ridden in that one, but didn't get to drive it. Around 200 HP and 1200 lbs curb. Norm

Make that two of us, pretty much word for word. Analog, and the KISS principle, indeed! For us, stick-shifts, fun-to-drive, and the greater involvement necessary still hold priority over fuel economy even for the "family sedans". These days, both our ages start with a '7'. Norm

Compared to the Windsor days, sure, and not all of that's been a bad thing. The objections are to making cars even more complex and computerized than they already are. I'd already choose a car with softer dragstrip capability (even much softer) that satisfied my own performance preferences...

Shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone, but no interest here either. Too many negatives (weight, complexity, room, reduced driver involvement) that I can't justify putting up with to get an increase in the one aspect of vehicle performance that I'm not much interested in. Norm

I'll have to chase some reading on this. I can understand when I'd want any of the first three, but I don't think I want the handling of my car artificially influenced by yet another computer (and somebody else's notion of my car's inherent understeer/oversteer handling balance or how it...

Ford could have 4-valved and Ti-VCT'd the 4.6 and made almost 400 HP and 350-ish torque . . . all while meeting emissions and mpg standards with room to spare. That would have been plenty for everything except drag racing and bragging rights over the competition. Norm

I don't think we're getting all this new-found rigidity out of the goodness of Ford's beancounters' hearts. It's a side benefit to today's crash standards. It's true that few drivers ever push their cars very hard at all (other than in straight lines anyway). But as the exception that proves...

I agree that the iron-block 2-valve 4.6's are boat anchors (I wouldn't own one of those things either), and even the iron-block 4-valve motors weren't nearly as good as they could/should have been. But you should include the all-aluminum 3-valve 4.6 engines in your "OK" category even though...

Thanks for the links, jake. I think I have the one with the list of torsional stiffnesses, or at least an earlier version that has most of them. It does look familiar. Increasing torsional stiffness gradually becomes a game of diminishing returns, where torsional "flexing" in the chassis...

I wasn't looking for much, just somewhere in the 340 - 350 HP range (normally aspirated), which would probably be enough to not give anything up to my 4.6L V8 and its 40 or 50 ft*lbs more torque in the midrange. I think in the right hands and with a little basic preparation it'd make for a...

Sounds like indirectly at least, this fascination with turbocharging is partly responsible. Too much pressure from the turbo-four to remain NA, too difficult to package/meet whatever requirements to go EB itself. Kind of a shame, as a slightly uprated 3.7 S550 would probably make for a nice...

It's not supposed to be. What it is, is one of the few reasonably affordable, reasonably peppy sport sedans. It's still available with a manual transmission, and has a considerably 'sportier' intent than Toyotas other than the 86. I agree about the Mustang not being "Ford's Corvette", even...

Fear of retribution? Norm

But to most enthusiasts, Toyota is the poster-boy for "bland" and "unexciting". In spite of their recent advertising direction for Camry. I can't beat up on millenials too hard over their vehicular preferences. Most of the people in my age group weren't much more interested in performance...

Nobody is losing their mind over any of this. But this being one of Hackett's early decisions is not encouraging, either, and he apparently does have some reputation for being more than a bit ruthless. I don't think I can agree with that last phrase at all. You see, I've always put a priority...