American standards of build quality are still lacking and it shows.
I'll use the J body as an example. I have two friends with J bodys, one is
the last model Cavalier with the new 2.2 Ecotec only out for about 6 months
before the redesign, the other is with the last model of the Sunfire GT with
the 2.4. Each of them are tuners of different levels but work together to
improve their rides in their own ways.
The Cavalier is surprisingly quick with the new German Opel motor and
drive train. Although it is less power then the 2.4 GT, I believe the DT
friction must be significantly reduced as the car has almost identical times
and top speeds. On the downside the interior is creaky and rattles very
loudly. The build quality of the interior resembles the current condition
of my 87 Audi. The look is clean and moderately efficient, but the mounts
are sub par in my opinion.
The Sunfire is a couple of years older then the Cavalier with the
American built 2.4 GT motor they've been using for many years. The owner
works at a speed shop and drags it regularly. He's mounted a turbo and
removed it because of degradation of cylinder walls and rings. During the
motor rebuild, which is continuous, he measured the tolerances and inspected
parts for micro fractures and what he found was surprising. Burn marks
denoted where the head and block were not lined up exact from the factory,
the interior of the headers were not smooth but had the texture of a cement
sidewalk as did the heads themselves. A unique property of American built
cars is that normal upgrades such as Port and Polish can result in nearly
double the potential improvement then with the same process on a Japanese or
German built vehicle. J body cars are one of the highest standard Naturally
Aspirated power output of the class, and happen to be one of the least
expensive on the market today, but some of us want more.
Rave Racer
'89 Jetta 1.8L 16V GTX gone but not forgotten
http://www.vwot.org/members/Pete.html
'87 Audi 4000 Quattro Sedan another victim of time
http://www.audifans.com/registry/view.php?action=viewCar&carid=110
'72 Triumph GT6
http://www.triumphowners.com/uploaded/34/50-50-111014_20raveracer-gt6-1.jpg
'83 Toyota Tercel (yoda) ...is no more
> Date: Sun, 4 May 2003 23:54:48 -0700
> From: "Randall Young" <Ryoung@navcomtech.com>
> Subject: RE: TR3 on Car & Driver TV
>
> > There was an interesting
> > (possibly humorous
> > or ironic) quote from Car & Drivers 1950's review of the car. It was
> > something like: "The car is so solid it gives you the feeling you could
> > drive it for 100 years and no parts would ever fall off. This is quite a
> > contrast to some of our domestic American cars."
>
> Hugh, I rather suspect they were serious! American quality control was
> atrocious at the time, and the cars had lots of plastic that didn't hold
up
> very well. By comparison, the TR2 was "oak and steel", it was a very
solid
> car for the time.
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