performance
Well, I'll tell you why we like power. Its not that we're going to make daily top speed runs in our cars, its having that power on demand that we like. I don't want to have to wait 15 seconds for a small engine to make enough power to pass grandma on the freeway, I want to get around quickly, and I DO NOT go the speed limit. I dont want to have to press 80% throttle to get my car accelerating fast enough for my liking, thats why I have V8s, I love torque. I think the 280 is WAAAAAY too small of an engine for such a massive car as the S class. That car has to have some seriously short gearing to get that thing to move, and you can be sure the top speed isn't going to be very fast, granted in the states you'd probably not hit it all the time. If a car can't make a 0-60 run in less than 8 seconds, its not fast, in any way.
Funny you should say that the Turbo beats the Z06... We'll compare new to new here, 996 twin turbo to the Z06. The 911 weighs 219lbs more, and they both run an equal quarter mile time of 12.9 seconds, that doesn't beat the crap out of either one. The entire efficiency thing is just because the Porsche has a turbo, giving the 3.2l 6cyl more than 100hp per liter. Now if you turbo'd the Z06, you'd have the same situation. Magically its efficient.
So, you don't need a big engine to move a big car, you need a powerful engine to move a big car, or a very slow top speed. You can't have a weak engine have any type of decent acceleration and also a good top speed. Not dissing the S280 at all, just think thats not the type of engine you want in a land yacht. As Tim 'The Toolman' Taylor says, "more power!"
