today i raced two other GM cars(grand am, and a malibu) one after the other..and needless to say my cutlass would not give up but those cars are quick. but the confusion is, i have had the chance to race a 2004 taurus ses with the 24 valve Duratech engine with 200hp and it was nothing to take out. both of the GM cars had the 3400 with maybe 190-200hp. so why was it so hard for my cutlass to pull ahead of the GM's and not the taurus? the torque values are roughly the same(give or take 5lb)
between the three. and the trannys probably play a major role, but my car is 16 yrs old. :?

plus i think that the malibu was a little quicker than the grand am.

Well the Grand AM and Malibu both are very close to 3100lbs, the Tarus is 3400lbs, thats one thing thats disadvantage to the Tarus. (F=ma) Newtons law lol. Also it has 24 vavles which lowers its potential torque output, if it was 12 valves it would probably have 220lb-ft but lower HP. Torque is what gets u off the line, HP determines how well u keep pulling after that. The one with the headstart always has the advantage. The Ciera is around 2700-2800lbs which is pretty light, along with 200+ lb-ft it'll be quick to get off the line. And the tranny does a big roll, the first gear to be specific, a bigger gear will move u faster off the line, 2 big and u'll just get wheel spin.

true! i had a taurus with a 3.0L 12v..nice top end power but that was it. it got munched every time off the line. hp was 145, and trq was 170. which is roughly the figs for the 3.1 Z24(which are not slow by all means)but i have takin out alot of cars the same size as mine...even those little ecotechs are a somewhat challenge...but for some reason the Zed is hard to get.

Your kidding right?

Hi ahondadriversnightmare, All

I think I'll try it another way.


HP/torque numbers are used to compare engine to engine, and the factory ratings are realistic enough to do just that.

It is not possible to compare car to car permormance by using HP/torque numbers.

A quick look at any consumer test report will tell you the performance numbers of the cars you mentioned and accurately predict the results of your races.

Bottom line: The winning car is the quicker/faster one at that time, and under the existing conditions.

Regards, Norm.

hey bigblockolds thats a sweet pic of ur ride, post new pics of ur ride in ur album plz. id like to see them

notice how i said "roughly" and not 100% actual" HP/TRQ nor did i say they have 200HP.but yes they can be a quick 2200lb car

Hi BigBlockOlds, hello ALL


I believe he is serious about this and his entire post or I would not have been spending so much of my time answering his questions.

Regards, Norm