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McLaren TAG vs. Porsche 928 vs. Ford Sierra video

Bret

Yoda
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Pretty good... I've seen the more modern recreation of that on Top Gear. I like the 928 cornering attitude a lot better than the Merkur.
 
Sorry you must be thinking of a stock 911. The Porsche pictured in this video is a 928 and as they said one of the fastest ā€œroad carsā€ you could buy back in the day.

As for the Sierra RS500? Sorry again but you just can’t compare a ā€œspecialā€ one off vehicle. As they said these are ā€œRoad Carsā€. The RS500 was a special homologation of ~500 units for the 1987 Touring Car Championship. Of witch only about ~10% where offered to the public. In other words the RS500 was a race build car. BTW I think the video was made back in the early 80’s so the RS500 wouldn’t even of existed yet.

But if you want to play that game and afford me the same opportunity to put in a ringer – remember that the Porsche used appears to be stock 928 or 928S. Hardy the best 928 offered by Porsche during the whole 1977-1995 production run. Believe it or not there are quite a few freighting factory 928’s out there that could go toe to toe with ā€œanyā€ super car of the same model year. I’d put a factory prepared 928 S4, a GT or a GTS up against anything out there.

Additionally most folks don’t know it – but there are a few (albeit ā€œveryā€ few) 928’s out there that are still regularly campaigned in competition. Likewise for a mere $4 to $5 grand one could stuff in a supercharger that would dang near take a factory stock 928 GTS in to astronomical numbers. Add some track tires & big brake kit and you’d be hard pressed to find a road car in the world that would beat it.
 
Re: McLaren TAG vs. Porsche 928 vs. Ford Sierra vi

I don't remember the 928 as being particularly quick. It had a pretty decent top speed, but all the 928 owners I've spoken with noted that it wasn't that fast at lower speeds.
 
Re: McLaren TAG vs. Porsche 928 vs. Ford Sierra vi

[ QUOTE ]
I don't remember the 928 as being particularly quick. It had a pretty decent top speed, but all the 928 owners I've spoken with noted that it wasn't that fast at lower speeds.

[/ QUOTE ]Well, quicker than most Steve, quicker than most. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I don't have the numbers or specifics in front of me at the moment but if you do a little checking you’ll discover that the 928 was touted once or twice (maybe more?) during it’s production 18 year run as being the ā€œfastestā€ production car. I have to assume that they were referring to top speed rather than 0-60 runs but still the numbers for the 928’s late in their life where staggering.

While my 78’ isn’t the quickest of them all by any means. Perhaps the folks you talked to had an early version like mine. I’ll admit that in 928 circles the early 928s like mine are the lease desirable with their 4.5L single overhead cam engine they pumped out a mere 220 hp (emissions) here in the US and a whopping 240 hp everywhere else in the world. Not great for a car as heavy as it is but the 4.5L engine was a compromise between performance and the oil crises at the time of the cars’ introduction. Still it managed to achieve the title of ā€œCar of the Yearā€ in 78’. Anyway another reason for some folks disappointment with the 928 usually comes from owners who opted for the Automatic transmission. The Auto’s usually accounted for much lower ETs by as much as a full second or more. Another interesting fact about 928’s is that it could almost always outperform their stable sibiling the 911 (w/o a hair drier of course). Something that most 911 folks don't like to talk about and forget to mention when bad mouthing the Shark. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

That said the most violent factory creation for public consumption had to be the 928 GTS with it’s monster 5.4L quad-overhead cam 32V engine. Now depending on the year the numbers vary slightly, but the badist beast of them all had to be the 1995 GTS that pumped out 350HP and 500 lbs of toque.

My goal is to own one of those beasts some day.
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/devilgrin.gif

Update correction: I made a mistake as to the GTS's Toque rating. It is "not" 500 lbs/ft. It is actually 500 Nm's of Toque. Thats about ~370 lbs/ft of toque.
 
Re: McLaren TAG vs. Porsche 928 vs. Ford Sierra vi

Many assume that since the 928 is a GT car that it is less capable than 'Sports' cars. While they are not designed for all out acceleration or for top speed, they still do both quite well. They are designed for covering large distances at great speed with a combination of comfort and control. Many also forget that 928's were in production for nearly 20 years and have been the only 'clean sheet' Porsche. Meaning it's design was never an evolution of another design. Not even the mighty 911 can claim that. It truly showed what Porsche Engineers were capable of in the mid seventies when Porsche could send a GT car to nip at the heels of and run with 'supercars'.

In 1992 there was a British built GT, a brutish sledgehammer of a car, that out accelerated nearly every supercar then in production (The Diablo was quicker and faster but weighed nearly 1000lbs. less and actually posted slower 1/4 mile times). Hitting 60mph in 4.5 seconds, the 1/4 mile in 12.9 seconds and kept pulling to a top speed of 186 mph. All while weighing 4387 lbs. in order to maintain the luxury expected from the manufacturer. As much as I like 928's. The mighty GTS would only be able to watch this other bigger, heavier, more powerful and more luxurious beast of an automobile wave bye bye in all the categories except cost. By 1998 this same car had recieved a more powerful engine and could break 200mph.

Anybody care to guess what this car was? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/computer.gif
 
Re: McLaren TAG vs. Porsche 928 vs. Ford Sierra vi

I like it Steve, /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

So much so in fact that I purchased one similar (no Shark) with the Porsche shield about 3 months ago.

But back to Shawn’s question:

I did a little searching on line and believe he’s talking about the Bentley ā€œContinentalā€ R. If I’m wrong Shawn – please do tell us?

But if we’re talking about the Bentley Continental R with a price tag in excess of $270,000 (USD) in 1992 – it better darn well be freaking fast! Cause at that price I could’ve purchase a new 1995 GTS (~$95K in 95’) had the engine punched out & blue printed and thrown on a supercharger. All of that & I’d still have money left over to put a ~10-15% down payment on a house on Coronado.

So unless we’re talking about something else entirely - looking at the numbers I’d have to disagree about the Continental. A factory (no modifications) 928 GTS has a top speed in excess of 170mph and a 0-60 time of 5.1 seconds. The best data I can find on the Bentley Cont R, in that same time period belongs to the ā€œSā€ (1994) that says it’s top speed to be about the same as the Porsches’. But according to the data on the R (1992) it’s top speed was 145mph and a 0-60 time of 6.6 seconds. Those numbers aren’t that much better than that of my tired old bone stock 78’ 928. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
 
Re: McLaren TAG vs. Porsche 928 vs. Ford Sierra vi

The car I was referring to was not the Bentley but the 1992 Aston Martin Vantage. DOHC, 32V, twin supercharged V8, 549HP, 549lbft. and every bit as expensive and exclusive as the Bentley. It also began the last evolution of the Tadek Marek designed V8. This car eventually produced 600hp and 600lbft before being replaced by the rather more pedestrian DB7.

One of the 928's best selling points was its performance to cost ratio. However when your talking truly exotic cars, the cost isn't an issue to those buyers.

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gif
 
Re: McLaren TAG vs. Porsche 928 vs. Ford Sierra vi

The Aston Martin Vantage is unquestionably one of the finest vehicles ever and as anyone who knows me can attest to, the marquee has always been one of my favorites. So it would run against all that I believe in to diminish or talk bad about these exquisite vehicles. Yes the numbers are impressive but as you pointed out the Vantage wasn’t cheap and still isn’t to this day.

It is for that reason I will simply quote an article that appeared in Autocar magazine in June 1988 comparing the Aston Martin Vantage to a 928S4 that I feel fits this discussion.

ā€œIn the end, Aston versus Porsche comes down to craftsmanship versus design. The Porsche is slower outright, but quicker A-to-B than the Aston. With its V8-bellow and trad appearance, the Aston is much raunchier than the comparative austerity of the 928S4. The Vantage is Arnold Schwarzenegger flexing his muscles in a silk suit; a hand-stitched two-piece cut by tailors who ask witch way ā€˜sir’ dresses. It is definitely not a ready-to-wear shoulder-padded number aimed at light beer drinkers. That is the difference.ā€œ
 
Re: McLaren TAG vs. Porsche 928 vs. Ford Sierra vi

The 1988 AM Vantage was slower yet than the 1992 model which gained the twin superchargers. Absolutely no argument on the cost issue, the admiration of the marque or with the Arnold Schwarzenegger in a hand stitched silk suit comment. Hence my reference to a brutish sledgehammer of a car. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Whenever I pick up a new issue of 'Classic and Sports Car' I always thumb through the ads drooling on practically every Aston Martin. Someday... Anyway!

Bret, I absolutely understand your admiration for your shark. They are seriously underated cars by the majority of the public. Including the motoring public. Enjoy it! Just be careful of of some of those psychos on the Rennlist with the twin supercharged beasts. I don't think they are quite right in the head. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/jester.gif
 
Re: McLaren TAG vs. Porsche 928 vs. Ford Sierra vi

[ QUOTE ]
The 1988 AM Vantage was slower yet than the 1992 model which gained the twin superchargers. Absolutely no argument on the cost issue, the admiration of the marque or with the Arnold Schwarzenegger in a hand stitched silk suit comment. Hence my reference to a brutish sledgehammer of a car. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Whenever I pick up a new issue of 'Classic and Sports Car' I always thumb through the ads drooling on practically every Aston Martin. Someday... Anyway!

[/ QUOTE ] You & me both my friend, you & me both. I too am hoping to own a piece of Aston history myself some day. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

[ QUOTE ]
Bret, I absolutely understand your admiration for your shark. They are seriously underated cars by the majority of the public. Including the motoring public. Enjoy it! Just be careful of of some of those psychos on the Rennlist with the twin supercharged beasts. I don't think they are quite right in the head. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/jester.gif

[/ QUOTE ]Thanks for that. Yes it’s true the Shark is often overlooked and even snubbed even in Porsche circles.

As for Rennlist.com – yes, it can be pretty brutal over there sometimes (especially on OT /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif ) definitely not as cultured as the BCF. But I’d like to think I carry myself pretty good over there and have managed to make a few new friends.
 
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