Can someone explain to me why ... to get 200hp in a gm ls motor or any gm motor you need a 3.8L v6 engine...
And then you go to a honda 2007 and a stock motor comes 200hp at 2.0L 4 cyl also the mitshubishi ecplipse 2007 has a stock 269hp 3.8..

Explain to me please why gm motors run so low on horsepower.. its really pathetic in my opinion seeing that gm is kinda the " american vehicle"

I would just assume that they would come out with better stuff...

Oh and finally you need to go all the way up to 5.3L v8 to get 303 horseppower

 

what i noticed is gm spent a lot of time redesigning the v8 but not putting a lot of effort on the v6. what i noticed with my neghbors monte witch is a ls 3500 v6 he did a port and pollish on the heads intake and exaughst. also put a little bigger cam and things like that. he did a dyno run for gigles he ended up with 265 or so. to the wheels he got 235 a bigger improvment to what is stock hp to the wheels. i am estimating it is been a while since i was told what his improvment stood he is waiting for his new comp from pcmperformance for what he did to it so far. he did alto to have it be a responsive vehicle. some pepole were complaning that amarican cars cant get fuel econimy out of there cars. ford started the hp with fuel econimy crase look at the ford fusion 268 out of a v6 and 30 mph. what i noticed chevy had a good idea with the 3400 dual cam motors they should have kept up with it. because there is technoligy out there for it look at ford's mod motor the 4.6 v8 had the same head gasket problems till they came out with better gaskets for them and didnt have the problem again thats why we still se those engins. just wished chevy stuck with it like ford did with the 4.6 v8. it is wiered to be honest gm products and dodge products still use push rod tech in there vehicles. dont get me wrong it is a tride and true method. but if they really want people to go man this is fast and great mph they should take a note from ford with the dual cam motors like the v6 those things are potent. with the 3.5 in my monte was dual cam motor and be able to get more out of it. dont worrie it is my impression with gm love the cars but dont under stand most of there new engins.

 

I think that you're actually looking too far into the past. For awhile GM used almost ONLY pushrod engines while everyone else used SOHC engines (which still suck imo) and DOHC engines. GM still wants to keep their V8's as pushrods (the evidense is that GM is producing a new 5.5L V8 with at least 440hp), but now just about all of GM's I4's and V6's are DOHC engines. Just look at the 3.6L V6 that GM has had in Cadillac since the 2008 model year and is now in the Camaro. Over 300hp in that V6.

If you're thinking that hp is the main thing with engines, then you would also be incorrect there. 3800's according to today's standard have a low hp number, but the torque is still good to this day because most of it's torque was available in the low end all the way up to the higher end of it's rpm range. Also, the 3800 is VERY reliable and returns excellent gas mileage so those are things to consider as well. The Series II 3800 V6 that started in 1995 (a LONG time ago in the auto world) made more hp then many V8's did just 10 years before that.

You need to compare apples to apples here. Don't compare a pushrod 3.8L V6 from 15 years ago, to a new 3.8L DOHC V6 that was just introduced by Hyundai. Thery're worlds apart. Honda and Toyota have been in the small engine game for YEARS, whereas GM has only been in it for the past 30-40 years as a serious investment.

The 3800 V6 was in it's day the best V6 available, now it is no longer produced and is an excellent engine in the used car world.

 

hay zipper you explaned it better than i did thanks

 

The 3800 is the best engine I've ever had and IMO the best gm has ever made. This is my 3rd car with it. I still don't see why they discontinued it. We have a few customers with 300,000+ miles on 3.8 Liters and they still run just as smooth and quiet as brand new. My S/C 3.8L, even with all the mods, still gets 28-30 mpg highway.

 

I completely agree with Zipper! Great point.

I would like to add to that. Bear in mind, for YEARS, the big three auto makers considered the V8 the top of the class (as Zipper stated) and no one in their right mind modded a I4 or v6 (the I4 and v6 was strictly a grociery getter, family car, daily driver, "fuel efficient" compared to the v8). If you wanted "power", you pulled that non-v8 and popped in some massive shiney 8 cylinder beast.

I believe it was as the U.S. exited the fuel crisis did the I4 in a domestic car started emerging (heck, the early 80's Camaros/Firebirds/Mustangs ran 4-bangers!!). American's began thinking "outside the box" as imports also began showing tough competition. That was only a beginning that leads to today. The big three are still trying to improve the V6 (and the I4) products.

GM making a 300+ V6 for the new Camaro blows my mind!!! A friend of mine has a '97 Cobra Mustang crankin' peak of 305HP. This is a little over 10 years and now GM has a v6 that HP-to-HP is toe-to-toe with Ford's most wicked car of the late 90's. But again, that's a LOT of time that has passed, it's not a fair comparision.

My '04 Monte Carlo 3800 v6 stock pushes 200HP. My top of the line '84 Camaro Z28, 305 High Output with a 5 speed pushed 190HP (this was the top of the line Camaro in '84). I find that absolutely AMAZING! And to know the 3800 has more to offer with some reasonably inexpensive mods, that is even MORE amazing.

Again, the American auto makers only recently (say the last 20 some years and building) saw a market for "performance" non-v8 engines. And I think by having the Internet to spread mods of what people can and have done is only helping fuel forward movement on more powerful non-v8's.....

 

Just a little thing to keep in mind. Back in the early/mid 90s, GM had a 4 cyl that produced almost 200hp (195 at its peak). Its not that GM cant produce the high hp/low displacement engines, it just wasnt the type of engine GM needed in its vehicles. It needed high torque motors that got good gas mileage to power its larger vehilces. Now that GM is marketing smaller vehicles, it is producing smaller more powerful engines.

 

While I agree with you especially since GM is not producing a big car such as the Chevy Caprice, I would like to note that if you compare like Chevy cars from today to the cars from 15 years ago, most of the Chevy cars have gained weight. There are one exception, the Corvette. Here's a list of comparable Chevy cars from the past:

1995 Cavalier's weight: 2600-2900lbs
2011 Cruze's weight: 3100-3300lbs

1995 Corsica's weight: 2700-2900lbs
2011 Malibu's weight: 3400-3700lbs

1995 Lumina's weight: 3300-3400lbs
2011 Impala's weight: 3500-3700lbs

1995 Camaro's weight: 3200-3600lbs
2011 Camaro's weight: 3700-3900lbs

1995 Corvette's weight: 3200-3400lbs
2011 Corvette's weight: 3100-3300lbs

Now if only GM could cut the weight, keep safety up, while having good fuel economy, they would be exceptional. However, just like in the past GM like any other auto manufacturer is going to compete, and that's where they will settle. If they can keep their good and powerful engines that they have today and put them in cars that weighed what they did 15 years ago, then they would be exceptional.

 

Yes vehicles are getting heavier, but at the same time, GM is producing a higher ratio of small to large vehicles than they were 15 years ago. Instead of a compact, midsize, large they have subcompact, compact, midsize, large, small crossover, large crossover ect. And instead of making a TON of large and midsize cars, they are making more smaller cars. It makes sense to invest technology into small engines and use them in the larger cars than it does to make large engines and put them in the smaller cars. Yes vehicles in each class are getting heavier, but you have to remember how manufacturers are leaning towards smaller cars nowadays. They are also using 5 and 6 speed transmissions instead of 3 and 4 speed trans so those bigger cars that needed torquey v6s and V8s, can get buy with a high HP low torque 4 cylinders anymore.

 

This my first 3.8. A friend of mine who's a mechanic and owns his own garage also told me the 3.8 was the best engine GM ever made. And he drives Fords. LOL