Questions about the Solara

[mmcdonald]

You would have to keep the I4 revving higher to stay up with a V6, and over the life of the car, the I4 would work harder and therefore wear out faster. It is not so much how high the revs are, but what the maximum capacity for the motor is.

For example, a good motor cycle (and therefore not a harley) will rev limit around 14K, so blowin around at 7K all day is not near capacity. A locomotive diesel, on the other hand, might lope along at a few thousand rpm, and be near capacity. So not revs, but what the motor is rated for.

I have also seen folks recommend the I4 with super charger. There isn't a super charger for the 2.4 liter, and if there was, that would be an extra $5K and it STILL wouldn't have as much HP and torque as the V6, AND, you'd still have to rev it to get going.

[dominoSLEV6]

You know all these essays are great, but I can hel pyou out here...

Toyota > Honda

(I like some Acuras, but it's easier this way )

-chris

[Turbosolara]

my civic with integra motor rev at 4000 rpm at 80 mph.... i feel like it is missing a gear or something.

you never see a s2000 break down on the street because most of them rarely driven. aS2000 with 90k miles would consider as high mileage and most people would not buy it. (this just my observation, it can be wrong, but i saw many "high" mileage s2000 had hard time to sell.

those hardcore race car with high rev always have to reubild motor after race.

overall TSX is a funner car because it has better aftermarket support and great protential to be fast.

[DatSRBoi]

Agree...Not to mention most of the S2K drivers are older people who care less about high reving it... And a young driver who has the money to blow on one would propbably have invested allot into one.

[stockae92]

in socal, i saw a surprisely high number of [middle aged] women driving S2000 (not that there's anything wrong with it :p ). but of course, plenty of younger [male] driver as well.

S2000 revs @ 3130 rpm @ 60 mph and you can stay outta VTEC @ ~100mph @ 6th gear (~5300rpm)

(ref: http://mys2k.tripod.com/webtools/wheelspeed.htm )

IMO, when a motor is designed to rev high, they put "high reving" into the design element. e.g. the F20C and F22C engine in S2K has a special lining on the cylinder wall (i forgot what its called) to handle the stress of high rev.

i think will proper care & maintenance and simular driving environment/style (the stress being put to the motor during its life span), the high reving motor (that designed to work at higher rpm) should last just about as long as bigger displacement low reving motor.

actually, i think comparing the design of honda (high rev VTEC) and nissan (low rev big displacement VQ in 350Z) is more like comparing orange to orange. cause i don't think toyota was not putting a lot of performance in mind when design the 3.3L VVTi engine (i would imagine more quiet & comfort than going 0-60. hence low-er hp, higher tq and lower redline. and they would go with the 3.5L V6 as their performance oriented engine. i.e IS350)