Dodge Spirit R/T vs. Lumina Z34 vs Taurus SHO

jetsetter · August 8th, 2008, 03:56 PM

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BlaRo · August 9th, 2008, 08:44 AM

Battle of the obscure beaters! images/smilies/biggrin.gif

jetsetter · August 9th, 2008, 08:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlaRo

Battle of the obscure beaters! images/smilies/biggrin.gif

Sexy beaters. images/smilies/wink.gif

Ezbok58a · August 9th, 2008, 10:03 PM

I'd love a Taurus SHO 5spd images/smilies/drool.gif

Prost264 · August 9th, 2008, 10:13 PM

^ Absolutely. The SHO will always have a special place in my heart.

Labcoatguy · August 9th, 2008, 10:32 PM

...and the year after this article came out, the newly updated Nissan Maxima beat the SHO in a head-to-head comparison. Oh well, you can't win them all or forever images/smilies/biggrin.gif

otispunkmeyer · August 9th, 2008, 10:38 PM

wow cool, despite looking like a soap box, that dodge is awesome...... small unit, lots of grunt, just like VAG's current engines.

thedguy · August 9th, 2008, 10:38 PM

There is a nasty little rumor abound that the Z34's 3.4L DOHC v6 was originally pumping out 300hp from the factory but GM higher ups wanted it to work with their automatic. Due to the auto-transaxles general weakness under power it was detuned. images/smilies/sad.gif

NecroJoe · August 9th, 2008, 11:41 PM

I love that the writer references The Fat Boys.

_HighVoltage_ · August 10th, 2008, 12:26 AM

Thank You very much for the article!
I want any of these 3 cars (I wish they would've tested the Pontiac Grand Prix STE with 3.1 Turbo 205bhp)

If I can slightly change a Jeremy Clarkson quote: "Automatic transmissions are for the feeble!"

_HighVoltage_ · August 21st, 2008, 01:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thedguy

There is a nasty little rumor abound that the Z34's 3.4L DOHC v6 was originally pumping out 300hp from the factory but GM higher ups wanted it to work with their automatic. Due to the auto-transaxles general weakness under power it was detuned. images/smilies/sad.gif

I actually know about this.
The first 3.4 Twin Dual Cam that GM produced made exactly 281hp and they were very pleased with it. They wanted to sell it as 275hp.
But the GM Hydramatic (transmission) division dropped the ball big time - they didn't have the time (or the wits) to make a FWD auto-transmission that could handle 275hp. So what they did is they beefed up their current TH440 transmission that was used in the regular 3.1 cars, but even after that it could only cope with 200hp. So GM had to limit the engine at the flywheel at 200hp.
Sad story...
Although, I'm not sure how successful a 275hp FWD car would've been.

Crazyjeeper · August 22nd, 2008, 06:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by _HighVoltage_

I actually know about this.
The first 3.4 Twin Dual Cam that GM produced made exactly 281hp and they were very pleased with it. They wanted to sell it as 275hp.
But the GM Hydramatic (transmission) division dropped the ball big time - they didn't have the time (or the wits) to make a FWD auto-transmission that could handle 275hp. So what they did is they beefed up their current TH440 transmission that was used in the regular 3.1 cars, but even after that it could only cope with 200hp. So GM had to limit the engine at the flywheel at 200hp.
Sad story...
Although, I'm not sure how successful a 275hp FWD car would've been.

A 275hp FWD car can be very successful, look at the Mazdaspeed3.

thedguy · August 24th, 2008, 07:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crazyjeeper

A 275hp FWD car can be very successful, look at the Mazdaspeed3.

This is GM we are talking about... Early 90's GM at that. Mazda is willing to invest money to make it work, and there still are complaints of torque-steer from actual owners.

Still would have been interesting to see how things might have turned out if GM had actually sold the engine with the power it should have had. Of course they did do exactly that with the Quad 4 HO and they get no respect for that engine, and the 3.4 twin cam v6 IIRC had head gasket problems (same as the Q4ho).

Spectre · August 24th, 2008, 08:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by _HighVoltage_

Although, I'm not sure how successful a 275hp FWD car would've been.

Not very:

http://images.securedwebform.com/reviews/images/96seville.jpg

jetsetter · August 24th, 2008, 05:26 PM

Seems like they sold quite a few of those.

jayhawk · August 27th, 2008, 02:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thedguy

This is GM we are talking about... Early 90's GM at that. Mazda is willing to invest money to make it work, and there still are complaints of torque-steer from actual owners.

Truth. The W bodies (Lumina for example) were very revolutionary for GM when they came out in 1988, but GM was still hung up on FWD performance from the 1970's....

And where are you finding these articles?!? I used to scour all the auto mags back in the 1990's, it is weird to see articles that I read from fifteen years ago.

jetsetter · August 27th, 2008, 02:48 AM

Quote:

And where are you finding these articles?!? I used to scour all the auto mags back in the 1990's, it is weird to see articles that I read from fifteen years ago.

A few guys on http://forums.vwvortex.com/zeroforum?id=1 post them.

August 8th, 2008, 03:56 PM	#1
jetsetter Joined: Dec 11th, 2005 Last Online: 05:55 AM Location: Most Serene Republic of California Posts: 4,733 Car: 1992 Toyota Pickup Rep Power: 39	Dodge Spirit R/T vs. Lumina Z34 vs Taurus SHO __________________ "Let's not forget that we are fighting for peace and for the welfare of mankind.” -Potsdam Conference - Harry S. Truman "This month's public bread is provided by the Capitoline Brotherhood of Millers. The Brotherhood uses only the finest flour: true Roman bread for true Romans." -Rome - Newsreader

August 9th, 2008, 10:03 PM	#4
Ezbok58a Joined: Nov 26th, 2006 Last Online: 01:36 AM Location: Iselin, NJ Posts: 326 Car: Crown Victoria LX Sport Rep Power: 12	I'd love a Taurus SHO 5spd __________________

August 9th, 2008, 10:38 PM	#8
thedguy ^ will bore you to death Joined: Jun 18th, 2004 Last Online: 08:13 AM Location: Fullerton, CA Posts: 5,773 Car: 1990 Mazda MX-5 Rep Power: 71	There is a nasty little rumor abound that the Z34's 3.4L DOHC v6 was originally pumping out 300hp from the factory but GM higher ups wanted it to work with their automatic. Due to the auto-transaxles general weakness under power it was detuned. __________________

August 24th, 2008, 05:26 PM	#15
jetsetter Joined: Dec 11th, 2005 Last Online: 05:55 AM Location: Most Serene Republic of California Posts: 4,733 Car: 1992 Toyota Pickup Rep Power: 39	Seems like they sold quite a few of those. __________________ "Let's not forget that we are fighting for peace and for the welfare of mankind.” -Potsdam Conference - Harry S. Truman "This month's public bread is provided by the Capitoline Brotherhood of Millers. The Brotherhood uses only the finest flour: true Roman bread for true Romans." -Rome - Newsreader

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August 9th, 2008, 10:13 PM	#5
Prost264 Joined: Jun 30th, 2006 Last Online: 04:36 PM Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Age: 21 Posts: 2,211 Car: 1995 Subaru Legacy Rep Power: 29	^ Absolutely. The SHO will always have a special place in my heart.

August 9th, 2008, 10:32 PM	#6
Labcoatguy Joined: Mar 27th, 2005 Last Online: 06:09 PM Location: Boston, MA Age: 25 Posts: 2,510 Car: None, but soon enough Rep Power: 75	...and the year after this article came out, the newly updated Nissan Maxima beat the SHO in a head-to-head comparison. Oh well, you can't win them all or forever

August 9th, 2008, 10:38 PM	#7
otispunkmeyer Joined: May 15th, 2006 Last Online: 01:21 PM Age: 22 Posts: 2,716 Car: Carrera Subway... its a bicycle Rep Power: 23	wow cool, despite looking like a soap box, that dodge is awesome...... small unit, lots of grunt, just like VAG's current engines.

August 9th, 2008, 11:41 PM	#9
NecroJoe Joined: Apr 12th, 2005 Last Online: 10:54 AM Location: San Francisco area, CA, USA Age: 29 Posts: 1,838 Car: 2001 Mercury Cougar V6 Rep Power: 55	I love that the writer references The Fat Boys.

August 10th, 2008, 12:26 AM	#10
_HighVoltage_ Joined: Aug 5th, 2006 Last Online: 06:04 PM Location: Bulgaria / Athens, WV Age: 21 Posts: 1,057 Car: 1998 VW Polo 1.0 Rep Power: 19	Thank You very much for the article! I want any of these 3 cars (I wish they would've tested the Pontiac Grand Prix STE with 3.1 Turbo 205bhp) If I can slightly change a Jeremy Clarkson quote: "Automatic transmissions are for the feeble!"

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