Monday, April 01, 2024

Automotif CDLXXXIII...


"Kinda makes you wonder how they got all that power out of only 488 cubic inches." -Brock Yates

I vividly recollect that bit of snark from Yates in one of the bits of video that came with the seminal 1994 computer racing game, The Need for Speed.

"All that power", in the case of the '98-'99 Dodge Viper GTS coupe in the photo would be 450bhp SAE net. As a total number that was still big digits in the late Nineties, although it was normally produced via smaller, more tightly-wound motors that were often fed via forced induction.

This led to some people pointing out that their favorite car produced almost as much power via an engine less than half the size, while seemingly not understanding that a big dumb motor in a tiny little two seat car was the whole point of this spiritual successor to the Shelby Cobra.

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