SmokingTiresV6,
Why do all the major car manufacturers continue to make more and more horsepower? People like to go fast!
Last summer I took my wifes 2003 SE I4 from Los Angeles to Sacramento averaging 120 mph the whole way. I did it in the middle of the night and the only draw back was I had to buy a full bra for the front of her car to hide all the chips.
I liked her Camry soo much I bought myself a 2004 SE V6. I didn't buy it to go slow. If I wanted to go slow I would have bought GEO or something.
As far as losing power? Factory specs have HP peak at 225HP @ 5,600 rpm. What happens when you change out the exhaust to a free flowing one. HP peaks at a higher RPM. Anything you do to the exhaust or intake to help her breath will make it peak at a higher RPM.
I grew up drag racing. I like power! And the SE I have is definitely limited by what ever is holding it out. There is more potential under the hood. And longevity? Who holds a car any more for more than 5 years?
I love speed but I do drive safely. Meaning I never speed in residential neiborhoods ( I have a 3 year old. Speed on my street and I will personally give you a face to face. 6'2" 275lbs. face to face.
)
My 5 speed auto sucks when left to shift on it's own. Because of the torque the motor puts out (240ft. lbs.) it up shifts faster than most unless you have more than a partial throttle. And because of all the torque a partial throttle is all you ever need. So you get granny shifts all the time and the tranny needs to down shift frequently to get back to where it should be.
So I manually shift the trans( I'm working on getting a dual gate shifter set up from a Solara.). And being an old school drag racer I listen to my car for shift points. My car definitely doesn't get there because of the rev limiter. Having it set to 6,500 would be ideal. As smooth as the engine runs at high RPM I dought it's ready to implode, unless they have inferior parts and are protecting them through a limiter.
Any way speed doesn't kill. People do!
