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Small Car Big Engine


Peter C

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Back in 2006 - 2007 I spent a lot of time in the US and ended up with some mega frequent customer status with National Rental Cars. One of the things I ended with as a result was this.

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It's a Chevrolet Impala SS. For those that don't know the Impala, think of an even duller (but bigger) version of the Vectra C. GM made some seriously dire cars in the US at this time, but really pulled out all the stops to make this series of Impala as undesirable as possible. Dull styling, gutless engines, lifeless steering, shapeless seats and low rent interiors were all on the menu and in fact 75% of them were bought by the rental companies. The SS version, however, had a 5.3litre V8 engine and 300bhp. Unfortunately, as it was an Impala, the engine was mounted transversely and drove the front wheels. I don't remember ever driving anything with so much torque steer, even the Rover Tomcat was a bastion of precision handling by comparison. On wet surfaces the traction control light seemed to come on everytime the car went round a bend and accelerating away from traffic lights seemed to cause wheelspin just by looking at the accelerator. Fun in a childish kind of way and of course the engine sounded great.
 
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6 hours ago, ProgRocker said:

The AMC Gremlin was supposed to get a rotary engine but that deal fell through sadly.

That was actually the Pacer that was meant to receive a rotary engine, courtesy of General Motors.  AMC developed the Pacer around this new engine but, at the 11th hour, GM shelved its rotary engine programme, leaving AMC in the lurch.

With no time or money to consider other sources, AMC decided to shoehorn its own 4.2 litre inline six into the Pacer.

Conspiracy theorists have suggested GM deliberately led AMC up the garden path in order to drive them into bankruptcy.

 

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17 hours ago, Supernaut said:

Apparently also available with AWD. That would be a hoot in the SWB low roof!

I love how they've Americanised that though. The marker lights up on the roof, plus chromed wheels!

 

The marker lights and chrome wheels are optional, as is all wheel drive.  AWD has only just recently been introduced as part of the 2020 facelift.  2020 US models can also be had with the same 2.0 turbo diesel as European Transits.  Previous diesel powered US Transits used the 3.2 litre 5 cylinder, also identical to Europe.  It wouldn't surprise me if AWD soon became available on European Transits, too.

Up until now, if you wanted a Transit with power going to all four wheels, you had to get Quigley to build one for you.....

http://www.quigley4x4.com/Quigley-Products/Quigley-4x4-Ford-Transit-Vans/Product-Overview

 

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On 3/18/2020 at 12:24 PM, LightBulbFun said:

 

sorry just couldn't help myself :) 

(especially when I realised/you compare the similarity of the Ace/Cobra and 67/70 when comparing relative performance/upgrade figures LOL)

Aye, but the Cobra was a quick car. An Invacar is not quick in any guise, no matter how much you believe being able to scrape 80mph, makes it so!

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2 hours ago, Out Run said:

Aye, but the Cobra was a quick car. An Invacar is not quick in any guise, no matter how much you believe being able to scrape 80mph, makes it so!

I know I was just having a laugh

again its all relative!

the original post never said how big or small the engine or car had to be, just that the engine had to be large for the car/type of car it was in

so I thought I would have a bit of a laugh with it :)

since for an invalid carriage, when almost every other is 197cc villiers powered, a 500cc Flat twin would seem to be quite large and fast, for an invalid carriage!

and especially so when from the outside the Model 70 still looks a lot like its predecessor just with added arch extensions

much like how a Cobra looks like an Ace just with wheel arch extensions :) 

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12 hours ago, andy18s said:

I used to run a mk1 Clio with the 1.9d engine in it from Cardenden to Shrewsbury at least once a month

Plenty of pulling power and used very little fuel at all

Yeah I had one of those (and would again) and they had the beefier 16v front suspension fitted as standard due to the weight of the engine. I was incredibly impressed with how it could be chucked round bends with its squat feeling front end. Incredibly coarse and gruff sounding but in an endearing way. 

 

Didn't VAG put a really powerful TDI in the Ibiza? Something like 160hp?!

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Image may contain: car and outdoor

 

Going to put my own car in here. Volvo C30 D5, 180bhp, 350nm five pot turbodiesel generally found in V70s, in something a bit smaller than a Focus. Has stability control and a strut brace from the factory to handle the torque and even so, it struggles to stay in a straight line if you boot it in the wet. 

There was also a petrol T5 variant which is even sillier... 

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1 minute ago, Ghosty said:

Image may contain: car and outdoor

 

Going to put my own car in here. Volvo C30 D5, 180bhp, 350nm five pot turbodiesel generally found in V70s, in something a bit smaller than a Focus. Has stability control and a strut brace from the factory to handle the torque and even so, it struggles to stay in a straight line if you boot it in the wet. 

There was also a petrol T5 variant which is even sillier... 

You were saying...

 

IMG_9936.thumb.JPG.e185a8f1452027d0ed5403dcfe90c359.JPG

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2 hours ago, quicksilver said:

Nobody's mentioned the Citroen Visa 17D yet but I think it qualifies. A 1769cc diesel is a pretty big engine for a supermini, especially one that could also be had with a little 652 flat twin.

I was going to suggest the Visa GTi, but seeing as it's 5kg lighter and only a couple centimetres shorter and wider..

 

What engine was in the Chrono?

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I nominate Morgan for the gold medal. The original Plus 8 had a Rover V8 engine that progressively increased from 3.5 litres to 4.6 and the  later versions had no less than 4.8 litres of BMW's finest under that beautifully louvred bonnet And don't forget the three wheeler, 1800cc in a vehicle so small you could trip over it if you aren't careful. 

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