Hi! New to site and just wondering......

[ecivic]

First, let me say that this site is a gold mine of information. I love it. I've owned my green 92 LSL since March and aside from all the notorious SVX quirks, it's a great car. I've put about 10k miles in the six months I've owned it. Here's some food for thought. I was wondering.....why only 240 hp. What are the restrictions in the engine/drivetrain? I mean the Honda S2000 has 120hp per liter, naturally aspirated. So why can't we have that? At least a 330hp N/A SVX?

[Manarius]

Originally Posted by ecivic

First, let me say that this site is a gold mine of information. I love it. I've owned my green 92 LSL since March and aside from all the notorious SVX quirks, it's a great car. I've put about 10k miles in the six months I've owned it. Here's some food for thought. I was wondering.....why only 240 hp. What are the restrictions in the engine/drivetrain? I mean the Honda S2000 has 120hp per liter, naturally aspirated. So why can't we have that? At least a 330hp N/A SVX?

Subaru is conservative with their tuning....

More HP wasn't really necessary to compete with other cars at the time.

[crazyhorse]

More HP + marginal transmission=LOTS of warrantee claims.

[Crazy_pilot]

230HP

Horsepower is calculated using a formula based on the engine's torque at a given RPM. If you look at an F1 car, they put out numbers like 780 HP out of an N/A 2.4L V8. That's 325 HP/L. The thing is, that happens at ~20,000 RPM. You'll find that a lot of the engines that produce big HP/L numbers also rev very high. They're designed to be rev-happy engines, whereas the EG33 is a torque-y beast, happier (in stock form) at lower RPMs.

One of the members here, longassname (LAN), has developped a new valvetrain that helps the engine run better in the high RPM regime. He was also looking to get a set of performance N/A pistons developped, but there hasn't been much interest so far. Visit www.ecutune.com for more info on that.

But trust me, it gets much worse than the SVX. My 99 Taurus makes a whopping 145 HP from a 3L V-6.

Oh, and welcome to the network!

[Crazy_pilot]

Folow-up to my previous post, because I'm bored and felt like doing math:

HP = (T x N)/5252, where T is torque in lb-ft, and N is RPM's.

Using this formula, and the F1 numbers of 780 HP and 20,000 RPM, I get 204 lb-ft. This illustrates how a madly high RPM engine can produce huge HP numbers, but the torque is essentially what you would expect from a 2.4L.

The opposite end of the spectrum:



This is the Lycoming 540. 540 for 540 cubic inches, or 8.8L, in a horizontally opposed layout. This is an airplane engine, my friend has one in his float plane.

This engine makes up to 350 HP. I see jaws hitting the floor. Only 350? Yup. Here's the thing, it does that at 2500 RPM. Plug 350 HP and 2500 RPM into my formula at the top of the post, and it gives you 735 lb-ft of prop swinging torque.

So, the point of all my meandering...

The EG33 is built to make torque. The cylinder dimensions are over square, meaning the bore (width of the piston), is greater than the stroke (distance the piston moves up and down). Over square typically gives you better torque. So if you can get an over square engine to runs well at higher RPM's, you're laughing. Problem is that wider pistons means heavier pistons, which is bad for high RPMs.

Hopefully this sheds some light on your question!

[ensteele]

The SVX was designed as a Grand Touring Car. It was not meant to race with other cars, so HP was not really an issue.

[nonSTOP_service]

Originally Posted by ensteele

The SVX was designed as a Grand Touring Car. It was not meant to race with other cars, so HP was not really an issue.

True dat. The SVX glides down the highway like nothing else. As far as I'm concerned, this thing defines the term "Grand Tourer" It may be a bit lacking in the twistes, but what other can can you do a 100 in and steer with 1 finger?

Originally Posted by Crazy_Pilot

But trust me, it gets much worse than the SVX. My 99 Taurus makes a whopping 145 HP from a 3L V-6.

Oh I know what ya mean. A buddy of mine had a mid-eighties Pontiac Firebird with a 5.0 litre V8 that made 205 horsepower.

So far I haven't seen worse aside from diesel engines.

[Nomake Wan]

Originally Posted by nonSTOP_service

...but what other can can you do a 100 in and steer with 1 finger?

Hahahaha, so I'm not alone in noticing this!

Definitely check out LAN's stuff. If you wanna "unlock" the EG33 with stock parts, get a hold of his Stage I chip. As I recall, this is the best performance you're going to see without changing anything mechanically.

[msvx95]

I think I use two fingers....I've got a shimmy and hummmm at higher speeds...

Don't forget, the knee can be used to if you have the steering wheel low enough...but kids don't try this at home..LOL.....I dropped fries on my seat as I was trying to inhale them to quickly.

[Evil One]

One note on oversquare engines...
Oversquare generally means shorter stroke.
Shorter stroke is better for high rpm as it gives lower piston speed.
Larger boe and shorter stroke is better for breathing as it provides room for larger valves.
Most "torque" engine are actually either square or undersquare.
undersquare engines have a longer stroke, thus giving each power pulse better leverage on the crank for lower end grunt.
Smaller bores tend to have smaller valves and consequently smaller runners... which amplify the lower end power.

The EG33 IS a fairly torquey engine, but it also spins up pretty well in the higher RPMs... It may not make power up there but the engine is strong enough to tolerate the rpm.


Jim

[crazyhorse]

From the R&T guide:
Peak HP 230@5400rpm
Peak Torque 224lb-ft@4400rpm
Redline: 7000rpm

Sounds to me like all the emphasis was on making low end torque.

Now if you want a horrible example, My Pinto's 2.3l makes a whopping 88hp@4500rpm. 140cu-in of fury! Of course MOST of that is available from 2500rpm.

[Crazy_pilot]

Is it? Ah, my bad then.

Originally Posted by FOMOGO

One note on oversquare engines...
Oversquare generally means shorter stroke.
Shorter stroke is better for high rpm as it gives lower piston speed.
Larger boe and shorter stroke is better for breathing as it provides room for larger valves.
Most "torque" engine are actually either square or undersquare.
undersquare engines have a longer stroke, thus giving each power pulse better leverage on the crank for lower end grunt.
Smaller bores tend to have smaller valves and consequently smaller runners... which amplify the lower end power.

The EG33 IS a fairly torquey engine, but it also spins up pretty well in the higher RPMs... It may not make power up there but the engine is strong enough to tolerate the rpm.


Jim

[It's Just Eric]

my old boss had an s2000....Very nice car indeed. There was ALOT of engineering to get them hp numbers..It's a small feat of wonder.Sadly though, that motor just doesnt have enough tourque...It works fine in a little lighweight race car, but you'd sure have a hard time moving a 3600 pound svx.
Hence the emphasis on tourque. If you think about it, the svx engine is pretty well balenced. It's low profile for a lower center of gravity, and the horizontal opposedness cancels alot of engine vibrations, ect. at higher rpms. hp and tq figures make a nice smooth tourque curve, and it makes its best power at normal rpm...No waiting till 6k rpm to get any kind of juice

[AlcyoneDaze]

Most people are surprised to hear my 6 is making that much horsepower and torque. keep in mind most other 6's of the day were only making 160-200hp in naturally aspirated form.

Fifteen years later Subaru's new 3.6L H6 is only making a few more horses than our 3.3L... pretty impressive

[lhopp77]

Use the car as intended by design and it is the most roadable car I have ever driven. If you want to jump from light to light--buy something else.

This does not mean that I frown on performance improvements by LAN and others, but it will never be a lightweight semi-race car. I love it in pretty much stock form even though very interested to see if there are modest NA gains with ongoing builds. I would be ecstatic with maybe 250-270HP.

I guess my biggest complaint is the weak tranny even though I am very satisfied with stock ratios. If one of mine goes out, I will probably try either a Level 10 or LAN enhanced stock rebuild.

Lee