what do you guys think about this. trailblazer vortec I6 275hp at 6000 rpm 275 lbft of torque at 3600 rpm they claim 90% of the torque is available at 1600 rpm

 

From what I have heard the Vortec is suppose to be a great engine. I was always a v-8 kinda guy but I couldnt give up the 1000 92 with 92000 miles. It pulls good and goes fast.

 

sounds like a high hp 300!

we'll have to wait and see some results...

I would be more excited, but i guess i'd rather have a new v8, or my old six.

 

Being a big inline engine fan, I think its great. Cant stand V-8s. No room in the engine compartment, cant even find the plugs to check the compression before i buy it. No problem with the Chevy six.

So i think all of the other brands are gonna have to offer a new inline 6 and inline family to keep up. J.D., KCK

 

sure would be nice if ford would remake the 300. does anyone know of any plans for that?

 

I have a good frind who is the service manager at the local chevy dealership. He said " DON"T GO NEAR THE TRAILBLAZER" - I didn't question him as to why... I'll ask him next time I see him.

 

i give chevy props for bringing back the inline 6, but the killed it with the OHC design and no low end. ford needs to bring back the pushrod 300 with a redesigned intake and cylinder head. keep it OHV with 12 valves and it'll spank all base model engines.

 

I think OHV engines are dead. DOHC, variable valve timing, electronic throttle control, 4 valves per cylinder. We all know that is where the market is going, and for good reason. Emissions alone mandates this. Also, most folks want horsepower and acceleration over torque for towing. Also- if you want more torque- just slap 4.10 gears in the rear end.

As for Trailblazer- I think it is just having those new model year problems. Explorer is also new and having issues too. I think TB will be fine when the April, 2004 issue of Consumer Reports comes out- but we will see. J.D., KCK

 

I talked to him again last night. He said they've only had a few TB's in for minor electronic problems. His "don't go near it" was the old addage - wait 'til they iron out the first year bugs - get the second year of any new model (never the first).

 

I would like to see Ford come out with a straight six with about the 400CI range. I love the 300 but there is no replacement for displacement. Maybe a 4.5 inch bore with a 4.125 inch stroke! That would be my wish. About 450 Foot pounds of twist!!!

 

yeah but imagine how badly that thing would wobble, especially when it idled!

a 400ci six would be awesome though!

 

Ford ditched the six becouse the hoods on the 97-03 f-150 sloped too much or something right? That said the 04 f-150 looks like it has more room for a bigger motor, maybe thier ahead of us on this one...

 

Umm, the vette and Vipers have no trouble making emmisions and laying down big block embarrassing torque (ok the Viper DOES have 405 cid) all with pushrods and OHV's.
This "trend" is just marketing crap. People want to hear about new cars having "new" technoligy and when they get one maker claiming their cars are better because no one else has yet advanced to using (fill in the blank ), in this case OHC, then people (and we all know what the 'masses' are...) "think" this new stuff is better. It's a planted thought in the subconsious.
Back in the early '80's my friends and I joked about the popularity of small front wheel drive cars, remember too how "superior" they were to rwd and V-8s???, and how Detroit was scrambling to move away from V8 rwd and scramble to pump out fwd 4 cylinders. We knew back then the 'deal' and jokingly (actually more seriously predicting the next "trend") we said that when Detroit is almost void of traditional American cars the imports would suddenly hit the market with big, rwd V8's. They did just that. Can you say Lexus and Infinity ect. ect. Now even VW has a big ol' full sized sedan, Toyota a full size pick up...and teh list goes on.
The car mags were predicting the demise of V8s before the end of the decade. Twenty plus years later the V8 is still kicking and with the LS6 and OHV's still making ANY '60's muscle car look like it's tied to a tree. A friend, now out of state has an '02 vette that will average over 30 mpg at 75+mph with the AC on.
It will certianly kick the snot out of the best us Blue Oval fans have in our camp. The best we got needs a supercharger on top of it's hi-tech DOHC wunder to even stay within the same ballpark.

 

fuliegalaxy, i agree with you on the supercharger on an up to date, but too small package.

Even though i'm only 17, I have a bigblock six, which is rediculously large for a six, and its still too small for me! I definitly can feel the v8, muscle car nestalgia going around.

 

>>>Even though I'm only 17, I have a bigblock six, which is rediculously large for a six, and its still too small for me! I definitly can feel the v8, muscle car nestalgia going around.<<<<<

Excellent! I love to hear about 'younguns' into V8's and muscle cars rather then ricers.. just don't highlight your age too much. Some of us have been driving well before you were born.
Some of use even have daily drivers that pre-date you by 2 decades. Mine is a '67 Ranch Wagon with the 240 3-on-the-tree. It complements my '67 Galaxie 500 (that one is a summer car only) nicely. Can you guess my favorite car?
As for the 300 being ridiculously large....nahhh. Just right for a starting point. It's been about 10 years since I got rid of my '79 F-150 Super Cab that had the 300 but that sucker had some grunt.
Though many years since the F-150 to the Ranch Wagon there is a noticeable difference between the two. Though the 240 gets the 4200 moving surprisingly well, it's no 300. As I drive the wagon it'll get updated/restified as needed. Already run full synthetics, electronic ignition and just today started swapping in a mint interior. Eventually when the brakes go a disk swap will be done, eventually an AOD, and the main goal...a built 300. Be different! As you know from being on this forum there is a long way to go with power increases with the 300. Just think how cool it is that GM and Dodge are still making world class a$$ kickers with old push rod technology, how much more surprised people will be when you have a fast truck or can tow a heavy rig effortlessly down the highway at 75 mph then find out it's an inline six. Talk about old tech "Oh man..didn't they have those back in the '30's???" I'd even bet most of your class mates never even knew they mad six in a rows let alone seen one, until you got your truck. Yes, built V8's are great but they go better in the cars. I've had a 600+ hp 460 in my Galaxie, a 5.0 HO EFI (hence my user name) with AOD and now back to a warmed over 302 with C6 (the AOD died after 198k) and have a 351 that will be built to a 393 or 408 stroker. I thought about then putting the 302 in the wagon but, like I said time to be different, thus the 300 build up. Getting smoked then finding out it was an inline six will get them scratching their heads. I might even keep the 3 on the tree just for extra effect, just wish there was a way to convert the shift pattern to a 4 or better yet 5 speed on the tree.