Are Import cars faster than Domestic?

[Dirty_Zulu]

Are Import cars faster than Domestic?

I am not a fan of 4 cylinder cars but I borrowed a Misubishi Evo for the weekend since my Jeep was in the shop. It was faster than most domestics I've ever driven which includes a few big block V8's. I tested this car against my friend's 2003 Impala and the new Pontiac G6 and both cars were really no competition.

The Mitsubishi was a 4 door car and not really a sports car. So I would assume that if I had a true Import sports car (2 doors, twin turbos, etc..) would pretty much own Domestics?

Btw, I am a Jeep owner so perhaps it's all relative cuz Jeeps are slugs anyway.

 

[Sir EvilFreeSmeg]

Put a riced out Civic up against a 454 with a supercharger and there's no contest. Domestic wins every time.

 

[Beowulf]

Depends on the cars but most imports especially europeans are faster then US cars. Also for the most part they are better built, especially the Japanese. US cars are only good for going in straight lines for a 1/4 mile. At least with Japanese or German cars you can turn.

 

[Star Dust]

Domestics are faster solely because they have bigger engines. Whoopdy doo, I'm impressed :unimpressed:. I'll take a Honda S2000, please. 240 horsepower from 2.0 liters (naturally aspirated, of course). If a Dodge Viper had that efficiency, it'd have 960 horsepower.

 

[DJBod]

I guess that all depends on your definition of "fast"...

In a straight line, I think domestics are usually faster than imports.

Start throwing a bunch of twists, and turns, I think imports have the edge, as they handle better.

 

[Amra]

My Jetta will do at least 100mph.

Uphill. :thumbsup:

 

[FlimFlan]

Depends on the cars but most imports especially europeans are faster then US cars. Also for the most part they are better built, especially the Japanese. US cars are only good for going in straight lines for a 1/4 mile. At least with Japanese or German cars you can turn.

No, most domestics are faster - Corvette, Mustang, CTS-V, the list goes on. Also, many of the domestics are trialed at the same places that the European cars are, so they handle just as well or better. As for quality, the US cars are made as well as foreign cars, but the perception is that they aren't. Volkswagen is one of the lowest quality manufacturers according to JD Power, but many people think that they must be good since they are German.

 

[MadMachine]

... riced out Civic...

:laugh: So wrong...

 

[Johnny]

Volkswagen is one of the lowest quality manufacturers according to JD Power, but many people think that they must be good since they are German.

What does J.D. Power and Associates do?

J.D. Power and Associates:

• Conducts research that is used by a variety of industries to improve product quality and customer satisfaction.
• Bases research solely on responses from millions of consumers and business customers worldwide.
• Displays product and service rankings that reflect the opinions of consumers.
• Does not publish or incorporate the opinions of J.D. Power and Associates in rankings.
• Funds all of its own syndicated research in order to deliver unbiased results.
• Does not test products.
• Presents studies that serve as industry benchmarks for measuring and tracking quality and customer satisfaction.

Source: http://www.jdpower.com/global/content/about.asp


So basicly its a big poll.

 

[PatMaGroin]

I am not a fan of 4 cylinder cars but I borrowed a Misubishi Evo for the weekend since my Jeep was in the shop. It was faster than most domestics I've ever driven which includes a few big block V8's. I tested this car against my friend's 2003 Impala and the new Pontiac G6 and both cars were really no competition.

You really expect rental fleet dross like an old Impala and a G6 to keep up with a $30k, wound up rally car?

Depends on the cars but most imports especially europeans are faster then US cars. Also for the most part they are better built, especially the Japanese. US cars are only good for going in straight lines for a 1/4 mile. At least with Japanese or German cars you can turn.

Not true. VW = slow cars, even their 'faster' ones like the GTI. If you're gonna be spending oodles of money on a Bimmer or a Merc, of course they're faster, they cost more. And the whole 'domestics are built ****ty' thing doesn't hold up anymore, thats stigma left from the 80s and early 90s. I've heard of some major problems coming out of Honda owners lately (new cars). And you can turn just fine in most domestic cars these days, such as the Mustang GT, and especially the Corvette or Caddy CTS-V, which were tuned at the Nurburgring Nordschlieffe, or however you spell it.

Domestics are faster solely because they have bigger engines. Whoopdy doo, I'm impressed :unimpressed:. I'll take a Honda S2000, please. 240 horsepower from 2.0 liters (naturally aspirated, of course). If a Dodge Viper had that efficiency, it'd have 960 horsepower.

Actually its a 2.2 liter engine. It also starts at $35k, which is way too much to pay for an alleged 'sports car' with only 237 hp. Oh, and since you're speaking of specific horsepower (hp/L), the Pontiac Solstice GXP gets 260 out of its 2.0 liter (with the help of a turbocharger), which means it has 130 specific horsepower, which is 30 more than the S2000, all while costing about $10k less.



EDIT: Oh, and Johnny: If anyone would know how reliable a car is, it's the owner. Of course its a big poll, there's a **** ton of cars on the market, and it wouldn't be feasible to test them all.

 

[Johnny]

there's a **** ton of cars on the market, and it wouldn't be feasible to test them all.

Or any of them apparantly.

 

[Dirty_Zulu]

Put a riced out Civic up against a 454 with a supercharger and there's no contest. Domestic wins every time.

But in the streets, I bet souped up V8's will fall to souped up twin turbo Supras, Skylines, and supercharged V-10 M5's.

 

[skihard]

There was a time when the imports were far superior to the domestics (late 70’s to mid 80’s anyone) but that has turned around to the point where it’s about 50/50 and all comes down to which model you get, some models still do better than others and that has more to do with the plant they come out of than the nameplate on the car. As far as faster, you really have many categories that make up fast. You have top speed, quickest (0-60), course speed for example; these are different depending on the car/truck. Overall however you can get equally “fast” from both imports and domestics. You really can’t even compare course speeds either because a road course with tighter turns will favor one type of car, but a more wide open course will favor a completely different car.

 

[Stoutwood]

But in the streets, I bet souped up V8's will fall to souped up twin turbo Supras, Skylines, and supercharged V-10 M5's.

I'll bet on the streets, whoever spends the most money on their car wins.

 

[PatMaGroin]

But in the streets, I bet souped up V8's will fall to souped up twin turbo Supras, Skylines, and supercharged V-10 M5's.

M5 = $80k?

Good condition TT Supra = $20-30k, and they're expensive as hell to modify.

Skyline = not on sale in the U.S.

So what? I would hope to God that these cars would walk all over anything else for that kind of money.

Or any of them apparantly.

Why test some if you can't test them all? Again I say, if anyone is going to find problems with a car, its the owner.

 

[Bulgarian]

Put a riced out Civic up against a 454 with a supercharger and there's no contest. Domestic wins every time.

Of course the 454 would win agianst a civic.

Lets have a race between honda nsx and a camaro?

import>domestic

 

[PatMaGroin]

Of course the 454 would win agianst a civic.

Lets have a race between honda nsx and a camaro?

import>domestic

$90k > $30k

How about a Corvette and an NSX?

$45k > $90k?

And by the way, over here, they're Acuras. And they're also discontinued as no one buys em.

 

[skihard]

How about v8 vs v8, v6 vs v6, I4 vs I4. Anything with extras will out do something without.

 

[FlimFlan]

$90k > $30k

How about a Corvette and an NSX?

$45k > $90k?

And by the way, over here, they're Acuras. And they're also discontinued as no one buys em.

Make it a Z06 for about $54k and really blow the doors off the NSX.

Johnny, what the hell else do you expect from a poll? It is car owners telling about their experiences with the car, so JD Power tallies the data. You have plenty of other publications doing testing on single vehicles while JD Power tabulates data from thousand of owners. Where is the more accurate info?

 

[Raistlin Majere]

If course a modded car can beat a unmodded car in a drag race. You can put 3 jet engines on a semi and it will top off at 300+ MPH. It turns into who has put the most money into their car. But if you put that same match on a racetrack, I gaurantee you that gt/corvette will kick the **** out of that ricer becaue that domsestic was engineered for racing. Your dealing with a car that was modded out of its origional context with a car that had millions of dollars and thousands of hours drawn/tested by some of the worlds best auto engineeers put into its design for the perception of racing behind it.

And to put in another point, no Corvette/Ford GT/Porsche/Ferrari has ever delivered pizzas.