Hmmm... I thought they saw to it that it was legal in the US by the narrowest possibly hair's breadth, but now you're making me doubt. Lemme see what I can find. Or does anyone else know for sure?


edit: ok found some info. Seems there's a US-legal version of it called the Atom 2, and it's also available as a kit which can be registered for those willing and able to brave a bureaucratic ordeal.

source: http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/...m/viewall.html


some info about kits: is it legal?

Does it have to be a car? Just about every modern sport bike qualifies. For example, My stock 06 GSXR 750 puts 125 to the wheel.

Been there its quite cool

what about any upcoming cars that are pushing over 100hp per liter?

Haha maybe I should have guessed that. Oh well, maybe someone else will be inspired to visit :)

Not too many AFAIK, they're all going to turbochargers now. LOL the new Viper either misses the mark by far, or comes fairly close depending on how you look at it. Word is it's an 8.4l V10 making 640hp/600lb-ft, but:

source:http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/...all.html?ti=v2

My honda fit has a higher hp/L ratio than the new viper. That thing isn't even close.

My engine makes 12000hp, but 11200 of it is spent overcoming friction.

That's like saying I can probably lift 500 lbs but sadly I got to overcome earth's gravity (the reality of physics). Marketing BS :sigh:

:word: And if those numbers are accurate, that's pretty hefty drivetrain loss at 20%. Typical is more like 15%.

Haha Good one. Any 600cc+ sportbike will have more than 100hp/l. My 08 CBR600RR also make 100hp.

As OP I'll make another decree that it doesn't have to be a car as long as your post contains some interesting info about engines that contributes in some way to the general topic. I didn't know that about sport bikes, so that qualifies as interesting :)

hp/L is pretty much a function of how high it revs, at least for road cars. Well, the bigger the engine the harder it is because for a car to pass EPA certification there is a maximum quantity of toxic emissions allowed, rather than maximum ppm. For bikes they can make more torque because they don't need to worry about emissions and noise (I think? The sport bikes going past my apartment are f***ing loud even compared to the diesel buses and trucks and modified sports cars). That's why that Hartley V8 hits 133Nm/L whereas Ferrari can only hit 120Nm/L. The highest "factory" specific torque I've seen is the TRD 3S-GE with 13.5 pistons, short trumpet ITB, cams, etc. etc. at 125Nm/L.

A CBR600RR on the other hand makes about 100Nm/L, which doesn't sound that great until you realize it's only 600cc, so the engine has to deal with proportionally much more friction and heat rejection than any larger car engine.

Bike engines have miniscule strokes (600cc bikes are typically 42mm or something like that) and hit 12000-15000rpm. 600cc bikes are IMO the coolest thing a normal consumer can buy, 15000rpm, power peak at 13500rpm, 180hp/L +. Not far from an F1 engine at all. Previous season F1 engines had minimum stroke of 39.5mm says Wikipedia, and 2014 they will be rev limited to 15000rpm :)

http://www.fastestlaps.com/photos/ni...d144e38381.jpg

How about 200Hp from a 1.6 NA! The Nissan Pulsar VZ-R N1.

Moto GP machines make between 240-260 hp out of a liter... I know I know not a production car.. But still an awesome hp/liter output, like F1..

The first car that pops in my head besides an exotic is always the S2000... I always remember the ads about it.. What 120hp per liter back when it came out

that was an awesome engine

Like this one? I had no TV access during that time so didn't see them, but this one is clever for sure :)

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiFoeosCEQI"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiFoeosCEQI[/ame]

yeah I still remember that.. 120HP per liter. Could read about the amazing figure in every review.. It is still very impressive today for a road car!

The last/current Porsche GT3 RS 4.0 beat it tough.. 500HK. 125HP/L
I do not know of any production road going vehicle with more HP/L...

I think the S2000 made more power in Japan. Ah, Wikipedia says 250PS. Pretty close to 125HP/L. If you count the TRD 3S-GE though...133hp/L :D

Yeah I saw that about the Japan version when I was looking for the commercial.

Also the 4.5l V8 in the Ferrari 458 making 570hp. Comes to 126.67hp/l (after pulling out my calculator lol).

Oh, I misread, thought it was 560. Apparently it's 570PS, 562hp.

oops my bad, you're right. Dagnabbid units are gettin' me all confoosed :blush: That comes to only 562/4.5=112.4l/hp

Here it is right out of the horse's mouth, so to speak:

link to source


And here's a nifty unit converter:
http://www.statman.info/conversions/power.html

My dream track toy is technically a production car with a 2.3 liter I4 making 280 HP...The BAC Mono. http://us.bac-mono.com/index.php

http://us.bac-mono.com/images/galler...io_956x540.jpg

http://us.bac-mono.com/images/galler...io_956x540.jpg

http://us.bac-mono.com/images/galler.../gallery_3.jpg

I drove that thing in a simulator, it's certainly really fast!

Sucks that its not street legal in the States...I would have one in a heartbeat...just the stares and broken necks would be worth the price of admission...especially in the metallic orange color.

I know right? If some of these silly British cars were street legal over here, I'd buy one up in an instant. Radical SR1 would be my personal pick, because of the bike motor.

Although I have to say, I'd probably end up cutting the body up pretty bad and trying to fabricate a canopy and all, so it can at least sit outside and be driven in the rain. It would be even noisier and more uncomfortable than my Spyder, or an Elise, but it would get even more stares too :D

Well I guess the SR1 isn't street legal there either, so SR3.

Anything is street legal with a set of dealer plates... :D

My preference would be to have the $$$ to be a member at one of those country club style tracks where you can have your own garage bay (or bays!!), then spend weekends different cars from my fleet :burnrubber:


;) :D

I see what you did there

Oh hey.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yN2hag8J1rY&feature=related"]CBR250RR On Limiter 20,000RPM - YouTube[/ame]

Apparently these things dyno in at 47hp, 249cc. 190hp/L on carbs and distributor.

You can't import the bonkers British cars but that doesn't mean you can't have one. You can build one from a junked car. Either from scratch or a kit and then register it as a self built vehicle. I don't know how it works in Cali but you can try checking the Locost forum. Doesn't look too complicated actually, just have to follow procedure.

Sounds like a good project. :thumbsup:

Yea but I heard that insurance and the self built vehicle licenses are really hard to get. Additionally, I don't really mind paying a little more for a factory finished car, because these bonkers cars need some modification to make them street friendly anyways (see Top Gear episode). I'd love a Radical SR3 SL but with the RS engine in it instead. Who cares about torque when your car weighs about the same as 2 superbikes? :P

It would be fun to throw out the Ecoboost engine for something smaller and modified for high revs. A 1NR or 2NZ with swapped bottom end and giant cams would be perfect, the 2NZ I think comes in at only 80kg, the 1NR has stop-start and cooled EGR for 89kg wet. That dumb iron block Ford is 149kg. A Hayabusa engine is good but it would be nice to have cam phasing at least on the intake...or just strap on a supercharger I suppose.

I suppose the Westfield XTR is more what I'm looking for now that I recall it exists.

I don't know about the general case, but FWIW around here (San Francisco Bay Area) there are a *lot* of Cobra replica kit cars. Most of them are Factory Five kits, and I believe you can have them build it for you if you prefer to not scavenge the parts and build yourself. Given how many there are, it can't be all too impossible to get them registered.

Really? I guess I don't go on the road enough to see them. Also SFBA.

For all this talk of open cockpit British race cars, I would instantly give up if Toyota or someone just made another lightweight MR2 :P

I see them at Alice's (at hwy 35/84 if you're not familiar with it) and about a year ago I happened upon a car show in Saratoga where there were dozens of them. I guess that's when I realized how many there are.

+1 on the MR2; Ichi started a discussion on that in that thread about confirmed (rumoured?) upcoming cars announcements.

Go figure, eh?

Could well be that it's their last one, but it looks like they're not phasing it out yet. I read recently that it's also in the new 2013 RS5, which will also be sold in the US.

3.7 ford making 305hp= 82.43hp/L... on 87 octane

There's a 550 Spyder replica registered as some kind of 1960's VW here. That's where the floorboards are from I'm told.

Which vehicle(s) is it in?

K20, b18, 2zzge, 3sge beams

F20C(S2000 engine), SR16VE N1 (200hp 1.6!), SR20VE (from AUTECH Silvia),

thats in the new v6 mustangs. chevy has them beat though, they have 323 hp outta a 3.6 LFX in the new v6 camaro making 89.7 hp/L. On regular gas makes it noteworthy imo.