Mercruiser 5.0 TKS vs 4.3 MPI

[QBhoy]

In

These things are in our blood. They were on all the GM cars we drove back in the '60s, '70s and well into the '80s. While Holley always had the performance reputation for hot rodders etc, the majority of GM muscle cars from Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile and Buick all came with Quadrajets. And if your family was not into muscle cars, but your dad or uncle had a big Chevrolet, Pontiac, Buick or Olds the top option was a big block (427 and later a 454 for Chevy, 455 for the others) with of course a Quadrajet. In fact the spread bore design was so good (small primaries, with advanced booster design) that Carter imitated it with the Carter Thermoquad that was used on many Chrysler products. And ironically even Chrysler used the Quadrajet on some models in some years.

so envious! Just not a thing here in U.K. really. Not the same culture on such a scale as over there. Always smaller engines here, for obvious reasons.

 

[Lou C]

In

so envious! Just not a thing here in U.K. really. Not the same culture on such a scale as over there. Always smaller engines here, for obvious reasons.

Of course with the increases in fuel costs we did get a lot of European vehicles here throughout that time period, and one of my favorites was the Ford Capri (sold her as a Mercury). It was a really nice vehicle for the time with a Ford 1600 cc engine and the option of a 2000 cc. My cousin had a 2000 cc one with a 4 speed and it was a fun car to drive, very nicely finished inside, worlds better than the small cars Detroit pushed on us at the time (Pinto, Vega). The next version (MK II) was even better with the Ford Cologne V6. They just got too expensive I guess but we always wished they would make small cars like that here....

 

[Scott Danforth]

These things are in our blood. They were on all the GM cars we drove back in the '60s, '70s and well into the '80s. While Holley always had the performance reputation for hot rodders etc, the majority of GM muscle cars from Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile and Buick all came with Quadrajets. And if your family was not into muscle cars, but your dad or uncle had a big Chevrolet, Pontiac, Buick or Olds the top option was a big block (427 and later a 454 for Chevy, 455 for the others) with of course a Quadrajet. In fact the spread bore design was so good (small primaries, with advanced booster design) that Carter imitated it with the Carter Thermoquad that was used on many Chrysler products. And ironically even Chrysler used the Quadrajet on some models in some years.

c'mon, the Chrysler products often had AFB's......

some of us ran dual quads (small 600 CFM carters on a dual quad manifold on a 383)

and then some of us did stupid things with a pair of 500 CFM holley 2300's and two turbochargers on a 4.3, then when it blew, we moved the setup to a stock Big Block Olds

 

[QBhoy]

Of course with the increases in fuel costs we did get a lot of European vehicles here throughout that time period, and one of my favorites was the Ford Capri (sold her as a Mercury). It was a really nice vehicle for the time with a Ford 1600 cc engine and the option of a 2000 cc. My cousin had a 2000 cc one with a 4 speed and it was a fun car to drive, very nicely finished inside, worlds better than the small cars Detroit pushed on us at the time (Pinto, Vega). The next version (MK II) was even better with the Ford Cologne V6. They just got too expensive I guess but we always wished they would make small cars like that here....

Really. That’s amazing. I had no idea you got the Capri over there. The sought after model here was the 2.8l or 3.0l Essex V6 model. I had an old escort RS turbo for a while, back in the day. Retro cars and worth lots of money these days.

 

[Lou C]

Really. That’s amazing. I had no idea you got the Capri over there. The sought after model here was the 2.8l or 3.0l Essex V6 model. I had an old escort RS turbo for a while, back in the day. Retro cars and worth lots of money these days.

Yes we got the Mk1 and Mk2 Capris, and the story I read in one of the car magazines at the time was that Ford engineers were frustrated by the fact that we could have made our Mustang as good, but marketing made them put the money into size, rather than better design. The Capri itself was mostly designed in Dearborn, Michigan. I might not be remembering this right but I think the Cortina was sold by Ford of Canada, I saw a few of them in the States. And in the early 80s we got the European Fiesta another quite nice vehicle. At the same time we got a domestic version of the Ford Escort, better than past efforts but not as nice as what you got over there.
We also got German Opels for years, these were sold by Buick dealers in the USA. Again, very nice vehicles, much nicer than domestic small cars. The issue with both the Capri and the Opels was that they became too expensive, I think because of differences in exchange rates that were happening then, this also influenced VW to set up an assembly plant here for the Golf (Rabbit in the US)....

 

[Scott Danforth]

Yes we got the Mk1 and Mk2 Capris, and the story I read in one of the car magazines at the time was that Ford engineers were frustrated by the fact that we could have made our Mustang as good, but marketing made them put the money into size, rather than better design. The Capri itself was mostly designed in Dearborn, Michigan. I might not be remembering this right but I think the Cortina was sold by Ford of Canada, I saw a few of them in the States. And in the early 80s we got the European Fiesta another quite nice vehicle. At the same time we got a domestic version of the Ford Escort, better than past efforts but not as nice as what you got over there.
We also got German Opels for years, these were sold by Buick dealers in the USA. Again, very nice vehicles, much nicer than domestic small cars. The issue with both the Capri and the Opels was that they became too expensive, I think because of differences in exchange rates that were happening then, this also influenced VW to set up an assembly plant here for the Golf (Rabbit in the US)....

my daily driver in college was an opel GT.....with a transplanted 330hp naturally aspirated Buick V6

the VW rabbit went on to be the 1978-1990 dodge Omni over here with a JV between VW and Chrysler. the Dodge was powered bu a VW shortblock with a Chrysler head and a carburetor (the vw's of the time were mechanical fuel injection, the dodge was carb). pop the hood on the dodge, look at the side of the block facing forward and you will find the VAG (VW-Audi Group) symbol. park the omni next to a MK1 rabbit (Golf) and you see the sheet metal that Lee Iacocca was getting from VW

dont forget the Chevy Chevette was a revised Opel Kadett

 

[Lou C]

Actually Scott I think the Omni/Horizon was more related to Chrysler of Europe’s Simca Horizon with different suspension and VW based engine. Look it up on www.allpar.com.
I recall the Opel GT being sold as a mini Corvette and yes the Chevette was based on an Opel design that was also built in Europe & South America.
The Omni/Horizons were basically good cars but there were a lot of quality problems and the manual shift linkage on some years was horrible. A friend had an ‘81 Omni 024 and the linkage broke or fell apart 3 times!

 

[JASinIL2006]

We had a Dodge Onmi 024 the first year they were made, 1979. These were the 'sporty' version of the Omni family. It was a nice looking little car, but it had a weak little engine (1.7L 70hp, I think) that left you wanting a bit more. It was a cute little car, though, and still fun to drive, even if it was underpowered.

 

[QBhoy]

Yes we got the Mk1 and Mk2 Capris, and the story I read in one of the car magazines at the time was that Ford engineers were frustrated by the fact that we could have made our Mustang as good, but marketing made them put the money into size, rather than better design. The Capri itself was mostly designed in Dearborn, Michigan. I might not be remembering this right but I think the Cortina was sold by Ford of Canada, I saw a few of them in the States. And in the early 80s we got the European Fiesta another quite nice vehicle. At the same time we got a domestic version of the Ford Escort, better than past efforts but not as nice as what you got over there.
We also got German Opels for years, these were sold by Buick dealers in the USA. Again, very nice vehicles, much nicer than domestic small cars. The issue with both the Capri and the Opels was that they became too expensive, I think because of differences in exchange rates that were happening then, this also influenced VW to set up an assembly plant here for the Golf (Rabbit in the US)....

Brilliant. The Capri was definitely made to give us guys an alternative to the mustang. Sold loads here. As well as cortina. They even made a lotus cortina too. Lotus got involved with a few Opel/Vauxhall models too. I had a ridiculous quick Opel cavalier at one point. Had a fiesta xr2 as well. All worth plenty money these days.

 

[Lou C]

Brilliant. The Capri was definitely made to give us guys an alternative to the mustang. Sold loads here. As well as cortina. They even made a lotus cortina too. Lotus got involved with a few Opel/Vauxhall models too. I had a ridiculous quick Opel cavalier at one point. Had a fiesta xr2 as well. All worth plenty money these days.

I miss relatively those simple fun rear wheel drive cars. I find the universal adoption of front drive numbingly boring. A couple generations of people don't know anything other than terminal understeer. Those rear drive cars rewarded skilled drivers. Any vehicle I buy for myself must be either rear drive or 4x4 but rear drive based. I know they are hard to find but its one thing I won't compromise on after too many boring FWDs.

 

[cptbill]

I might be wrong here but in 2009 most of the GM style V8's were TBI right? MY 2000 330 Larson is twin 5.7 L and it's TBI it's also VP don't know if that makes a difference

 

[Lou C]

yep they started converting over from carbs in the mid 90s, by '98 it was pretty widespread, first it was throttle body injection then they moved to full port injection just like vehicles did approx 10 years before that.

 

[Scott Danforth]

carbs were available on many boats up until 2008-10. then it was only the racing boat motors and the 3.0. this was due to the EPA requirements and cat exhausts.

in 2012, VP did away with all the carbs (and the 3.0)

Merc followed suit with EFI on the 3.0 for a few years and now the 3.0 is gone as well from their line up. most of the engines that Merc offers are now in-house designed except some of the 502's and they are transitioning the racing stuff to their in-house built LX based 4-valve motor

 

[PITBoat]

I miss relatively those simple fun rear wheel drive cars. I find the universal adoption of front drive numbingly boring. A couple generations of people don't know anything other than terminal understeer. Those rear drive cars rewarded skilled drivers. Any vehicle I buy for myself must be either rear drive or 4x4 but rear drive based. I know they are hard to find but its one thing I won't compromise on after too many boring FWDs.

There was a kid in high school who had a 1985-ish Capri with a 5.0/5-speed. He was fairly skilled with that, and probably a little crazy. He'd do like 25 on Main Street in 1st gear, punch it and light the tires up. Besides some other stuff I wouldn'tve tried, like a 180 turn on a residential street where one of the back tires came off of the ground. Cool car.

He had a '79 Berlinetta before that, that was really stylish, but probably anemic in comparison. Ah, the rich kids, tearing up nice stuff... Lol.

 

[QBhoy]

I might be wrong here but in 2009 most of the GM style V8's were TBI right? MY 2000 330 Larson is twin 5.7 L and it's TBI it's also VP don't know if that makes a difference

No. They would be mpi and gxi by then for sure.