HEMI's HOT

"Luke Smith" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Thought this was an interesting article. I'm thinking about checking
> out one of those new magnums.
>

The engine looks great but the cars they are putting it in are not my type.
I liked the concept Charger they came out with a few years ago (especially
with a V8) but apparently they are ditching it in favor of different body
style with 4 doors.

http://www.dodge.com/dodge_life/past...s/charger.html

http://www.detnews.com/2004/autoscon...2/F03-7241.htm

"Dave Stone" <n=> wrote in message
...
>
> "Luke Smith" > wrote in message
> oups.com...
> > Thought this was an interesting article. I'm thinking about checking
> > out one of those new magnums.
> >
>
> The engine looks great but the cars they are putting it in are not my
type.
> I liked the concept Charger they came out with a few years ago (especially
> with a V8) but apparently they are ditching it in favor of different body
> style with 4 doors.
>
> http://www.dodge.com/dodge_life/past...s/charger.html
>
> http://www.detnews.com/2004/autoscon...2/F03-7241.htm
>

oops, looks like the concept had 4 doors as well.

"Dave Stone" <n=> wrote in message
...
>
> "Luke Smith" > wrote in message
> oups.com...
> > Thought this was an interesting article. I'm thinking about checking
> > out one of those new magnums.
> >
>
> The engine looks great but the cars they are putting it in are not my
type.
> I liked the concept Charger they came out with a few years ago (especially
> with a V8) but apparently they are ditching it in favor of different body
> style with 4 doors.
>
> http://www.dodge.com/dodge_life/past...s/charger.html
>
> http://www.detnews.com/2004/autoscon...2/F03-7241.htm
>

oops, looks like the concept had 4 doors as well.

>
> I rarely have the pedal to the floor in my car, even when towing a
> trailer.
> For the vast majority of onramps I can get up to the speed of traffic on
> the
> length of ramp given without having to go all out.
>
> That said it's nice to have the reserve power when I need it.
>
>

Well said. But in the areas I drive, the entrance ramps are really short,
and traffic in the "slow" lane is often 20 over the limit. Even WITH 200HP,
you have to accelerate pretty damned hard to go from ~0-70 or so on the
entrance ramps so that you can safely merge. Note that UNSAFELY merging
doesn't require as heavy a foot on the accelerator. -Dave

>
> I rarely have the pedal to the floor in my car, even when towing a
> trailer.
> For the vast majority of onramps I can get up to the speed of traffic on
> the
> length of ramp given without having to go all out.
>
> That said it's nice to have the reserve power when I need it.
>
>

Well said. But in the areas I drive, the entrance ramps are really short,
and traffic in the "slow" lane is often 20 over the limit. Even WITH 200HP,
you have to accelerate pretty damned hard to go from ~0-70 or so on the
entrance ramps so that you can safely merge. Note that UNSAFELY merging
doesn't require as heavy a foot on the accelerator. -Dave

"Scott en Aztlán" > wrote in message
...
> On Sat, 11 Dec 2004 03:21:24 GMT, "Bill 2" > wrote:
>
> >That said it's nice to have the reserve power when I need it.
>
> What's funny is people who think that having good acceleration
> capability is "excessive" would not complain about having 4-wheel
> drilled rotor Brembo brakes with ABS - nothing wrong in their minds
> with being able to STOP quickly. It never occurs to them that braking
> is nothing more than ACCELERATION - the only difference is the vector
> points in the opposite direction. Some situations call for an
> acceleration vector that points forward; the ability to apply positive
> acceleration is every bit as important for safety as the ability to
> apply negative acceleration.

The solution is to drive around in reverse. If you want a strong forward
direction acceleration vector, slam on the brakes.

"Scott en Aztlán" > wrote in message
...
> On Sat, 11 Dec 2004 03:21:24 GMT, "Bill 2" > wrote:
>
> >That said it's nice to have the reserve power when I need it.
>
> What's funny is people who think that having good acceleration
> capability is "excessive" would not complain about having 4-wheel
> drilled rotor Brembo brakes with ABS - nothing wrong in their minds
> with being able to STOP quickly. It never occurs to them that braking
> is nothing more than ACCELERATION - the only difference is the vector
> points in the opposite direction. Some situations call for an
> acceleration vector that points forward; the ability to apply positive
> acceleration is every bit as important for safety as the ability to
> apply negative acceleration.

The solution is to drive around in reverse. If you want a strong forward
direction acceleration vector, slam on the brakes.

"Dave C." > wrote in message
...
|> Yes...words that come to mind. Excessive. Overkill. Unnecessary.
| > Ridiculous. But, apparently people want the power (or think they do),
| > even
| > though it can rarely be used, since the "take rate" is so high. I can't
| > remember the last time I've had my 200HP Sebring at half throttle, let
| > alone
| > full out, for pete sake!
| >
|
| Serious question . . . did you not learn that the highway entrance ramps are
| for accelerating to highway speeds BEFORE entering the highway? If you've
| got 200HP and you are only using half the throttle, you are definitely doing
| something wrong. I see many drivers who seem to be afraid of the
| accelerator pedal. It CAN go all the way to the firewall. There is a
| reason for that. If you only needed to push it halfway down, there would be
| a mechanical stop at that point. -Dave
|
|

Nope. I'm at 65MPH and merging LONG before getting to the end of most ramps
with very light throttle needed. Now back in the 1980's when a similar car
might have had 90HP (tops...even V8's were lucky to deliver 125HP back then),
you might have needed to lay into it. But these "average" cars today with
200HP is well more than adequate for 99% of driving requirements.

"Dave C." > wrote in message
...
|> Yes...words that come to mind. Excessive. Overkill. Unnecessary.
| > Ridiculous. But, apparently people want the power (or think they do),
| > even
| > though it can rarely be used, since the "take rate" is so high. I can't
| > remember the last time I've had my 200HP Sebring at half throttle, let
| > alone
| > full out, for pete sake!
| >
|
| Serious question . . . did you not learn that the highway entrance ramps are
| for accelerating to highway speeds BEFORE entering the highway? If you've
| got 200HP and you are only using half the throttle, you are definitely doing
| something wrong. I see many drivers who seem to be afraid of the
| accelerator pedal. It CAN go all the way to the firewall. There is a
| reason for that. If you only needed to push it halfway down, there would be
| a mechanical stop at that point. -Dave
|
|

Nope. I'm at 65MPH and merging LONG before getting to the end of most ramps
with very light throttle needed. Now back in the 1980's when a similar car
might have had 90HP (tops...even V8's were lucky to deliver 125HP back then),
you might have needed to lay into it. But these "average" cars today with
200HP is well more than adequate for 99% of driving requirements.

"Dave C." > wrote in message
...
| >
| > I rarely have the pedal to the floor in my car, even when towing a
| > trailer.
| > For the vast majority of onramps I can get up to the speed of traffic on
| > the
| > length of ramp given without having to go all out.
| >
| > That said it's nice to have the reserve power when I need it.
| >
| >
|
| Well said. But in the areas I drive, the entrance ramps are really short,
| and traffic in the "slow" lane is often 20 over the limit. Even WITH 200HP,
| you have to accelerate pretty damned hard to go from ~0-70 or so on the
| entrance ramps so that you can safely merge. Note that UNSAFELY merging
| doesn't require as heavy a foot on the accelerator. -Dave
|
|

Why would you be starting at 0 when on the on-ramp? Surely you enter the
acceleration lane already rolling along at at least 40+!