German , American engines

[Hussein Baghdadi]

German engines are famous for their performance and elegance , Americans engines are known for their power (and fuel consumption).
Well, performance == power
So, what is the difference ?

[fred rosenberger]

i question the assumption that

performance == power

[Jeroen T Wenting]

American engines produce high torque, German engines high horsepowers.
So an American engine can haul a larger load than a German engine of the same nominal power, but the German engine will have better accelleration for any given load up to its design specs.

[Stan James]

American engines produce high torque, German engines high horsepowers.

Per liter of displacement, I'd buy that. American manufacturers have long used cubic inches to make up for many inefficiencies. I'd have to say the net effect was entertaining and made great noises. Europeans and more recently the Japanese and others have gotten much more power per liter for years with small, high RPM engines. It's not like the US didn't know about the technologies to do this. They show up in select racing engines from the 1930s forward. There were deliberate choices to keep the main consumer fleet cheap to manufacture, reliable to run, easy to repair. Wasting fuel never seemed to bother us much and this gas price bump has ended too soon to make much difference, I'm afraid.

[Cameron Wallace McKenzie]

Marketing vs. Perception vs. Reality

My PT Cruiser and Z3 both have 2.5 litre engines. Both are relatively gutless.



-Cameron

[Dave Lenton]

Originally posted by Kameron McKenzie:
Marketing vs. Perception vs. Reality

It does seem that there is a Big-Is-Better idea in the American market for cars (and many other things), which make larger cars seem more attractive. In Germany they seem to have an Efficiency-Is-Better idea.

It may even be down to differences in road structures. The US has a lot of long straight roads, making larger cars quite reasonable. European drivers tend to be driving on smaller more bendy roads, where a smaller more efficient car may be better.


Not that I've made some huuuge generalisations here of course

[Axel Janssen]

Originally posted by Dave Lenton:

Not that I've made some huuuge generalisations here of course

Yeah, I do that, too.

I think that german engineering students do have a certain passion for ecological sustainable stuff.
So
- half the country is full of those ugly wind mills where there is not much wind,
- municipal money is more easily "invested" towards building special bridges for toads to let our amphibic friends pass roads safely instead of education for our kids.
Maybe it is just a reflection of the "correct" attitude.

Axel
[ October 02, 2006: Message edited by: Axel Janssen ]

[Peter Rooke]

Cars seem to have been a product of their enviroment... Power to weight ratio is what counts. From what I have read, smaller cars in the US are becoming popular. Still like the sound that a small block chevie V8 engine makes through cherry bomb exhausts.

Just hope that there will always be a few small car manufactures (like TVR, in the UK).

[marc weber]

For what it's worth, I'm very happy with German engines. As for the other kind... :roll: