PNW Chit Chat thread

[EN318isPDX]

"Torque wins races", but seriously why are you so defensive of the M42. I love my M42s too but its not the greatest engine.

[ncsubowen]

I love how everybody is speculating what the car can and can not do despite not having driven this setup themselves. New tires going on tonight though, Continental True Contact 195/60/15 - have read loads of great things about their wet weather performance so Im excited to have a car that can confidently be at freeway speeds in the rain.

My engine is definitely not down on power, the compression tested great across all 4 cylinders and every sensor on the engine, except the o2 sensor, is new. Its mainly the lack of torque under 3500rpm that is the reason why they don't spin.

and slower than an eta? Im sorry but theres no way.......... since when does spinning tires = going fast? what is this hondatech???

I think the point here is that the ETA powerband is down in the 4200 range (121hp stock) and the M42 (138hp stock) is at 6k. All else the same the ETA is gonna get there sooner while you're revving the nuts off to get to your power (and sitting behind 3.25 won't get you there any faster).

I would be very interested in an 'all else equal' ETA vs M42 run though. I think the ETA takes it early and then a well-shifted M42 catches up around 40-45 MPH.

[spiDmang]

M42 is a great motor. So is the 2.7eta. But none of those motors are in the same sentence as fast.

Regardless of how the car runs, a 3.25 behind the M42 just sounds like a terrible fucking idea. The car wouldnt be fun anymore. I get if you're trying to make it more gas efficient for highway cruising, but the M42 nets great mileage even with the 4.10 behind the g240. You're contradicting yourself ALOT, toes.

Do what you want. It's your time and money :up:

[DER E30]

"Torque wins races", but seriously why are you so defensive of the M42. I love my M42s too but its not the greatest engine.

Truth. I drove my buddies stock m20b25/auto e30 the other day and it hits in the midrange compared to my m42. I think that my m42 is probably making similar "peak hp" numbers but I think an m20s "power under the curve" advantage in hp and tq would make it pull away. Average power you can put down to the tires wins

[spiDmang]

from daily driving both an m42 car and a m20b25 car, id take the m20 car every day. smooth, usable power. but M42's are still so fun to thrash around in

[5Toes]

Sorry for all the contradicting, heres where Im at with the diff swap. Its great for highway cruising, I don't even have to downshift 5th to 4th to get up hills at 60mph - so its good there.

Acceleration I also feel is increased ONLY TO 70MPH. the gearing is great because:
A. no wheel spin off the line
B. one less shift

Now if youre a perfect driver with a m20 and can control the wheel spin and ace your shifts yeah you can kick my cars butt. duh. the car has an advantage in those respects. I only said the m42 would keep up, in a race to 65.

The car is still super fun, I don't know how you could say its not. before 2nd and 3rd IMO were not well matched and presented a challenge through some corners because the car was fully capable of entering a corner at say... 5000rpm in second, but as soon as you kiss the apex and tried to accelerate out it was pointless. 3rd was still too long though to enter the corner and be able to accelerate out well. 3.25 rear end = problem solved. 2nd gear is awesome. hate on it all you want, and I agree with phil I think a 3.46 would be ideal but until then I am enjoying my 30mpg.

[DER E30]

I don't really notice anything wrong with the gearing of the g240 but with the 4.1 1st is pointlessly short if you stand on it. For normal stuff like in traffic or tooling around like up the parking garage it's pretty decent though.

I like shifting though too so I like the short gears, not the fastest bc all the shifts but fun for sure! Nothing like a perfectly rev matched downshift!

[BraveUlysses]

what kind of corners are you entering a turn at 2nd@5k rpm on the street? :o

[5Toes]

Ill try to get a video tonight of what Im talking about, but DER imagine that your second takes you to the same speed third does. because I just calculated it out and they are within 2% of eachother
2.02*3.25=6.565
1.61*4.1=6.601

entering a corner at 40 (5000 rpm in second) on a backroad is not unheard of, none of you can relate???

[Gregolas]

none of those motors are in the same sentence as fast.

This made me lol

[djjerme]

http://www.strictlyeta.net/technical/specifications2.html

Obviously, these ain't real world numbers, but it gives you an idea of approx differences in 0-60 and 1/4 mile times.

Perceived speed it vastly different then real trap times. Different cars can feel fast on the street, but in a true drag race get eaten alive. I have owned/driven many different cars over the years: cars that felt fast - but were slow, cars that felt slow but were fast..etc.

I had old school 60's muscle cars that felt fast, but couldn't run a 14 sec 1/4. Then there's things like my Saab 9-7x - 6500 pounds and runs 15's in stock form.. Until you hit an actual, timed event (drag race, autocross, hillclimb, trackday, road race..etc.) none of it means sh*t.

[BraveUlysses]

Ill try to get a video tonight of what Im talking about, but DER imagine that your second takes you to the same speed third does. because I just calculated it out and they are within 2% of eachother
2.02*3.25=6.565
1.61*4.1=6.601

entering a corner at 40 (5000 rpm in second) on a backroad is not unheard of, none of you can relate???

I think the answer is simple: we'll do a head to head test next north end meet ;)

[spiDmang]

I think the answer is simple: we'll do a head to head test next north end meet ;)

fuck yessss we will :ST1G:

[4tDX]

This is how I feel about this entire conversation!

[DER E30]

Gearing... 4.10 vs 3.25 205/50/16 tire