I was going to respond with something like this, but you said it better than I would have. The short ramp argument especially resonates with me, as when visiting my dad I frequently have to merge into traffic going 65 MPH using an extremely substandard ramp where there’s essentially no merging lane. I often make full use of my 306 HP (and paddle shifters) in that case.
I know what you mean. There is something about putting a slow car to its limits. The best one I had for that was a 1994 Geo Metro 3 cylinder manual. It was like an oversized go-kart and everything was completely manual on the thing. It didn’t even have power steering.
I never had trouble keeping up with traffic and would frequently pass people on those uphill passing lanes you get on highways through hilly areas. I guess one day I passed the guy I had bought it from on one of these. He called and thought I must have done some crazy performance mod to it. I did replace the engine with one for $100 out of a wreck because the original was worn out beyond use and made sure everything was tuned up but that was it.
I never reached max speed in the car but it wasn’t limited by power. It was limited by the fact it was such a light car and you could feel it start to float. Going at full speed even on a flat straight road wouldn’t have been a good idea.
This isn’t saying much but the 2015 Mitsubishi Mirage I replaced it with is far more powerful and has higher torque numbers as well. There is something just not as fun about this car but not having to constantly fix years of neglect is kinda nice. Just hop in and turn the key. It has electronic power steering and throttle control so something about it just isn’t as snappy feeling.
The Geo Metro also had independent rear suspension which the Mirage doesn’t. I am sure that helped with the feel and was probably a rarity on cars made that cheaply.
That gave me a chuckle. I have heard many descriptions of the 3.0 but have never (and never will again) heard “Chrysler 3.0” and “rocket” in the same sentence. Unless someone designs a rocket that burns motor oil through the valve guides and leaves a cloud of smoke at every traffic light!
For some of us, a car is more than just a conveyance from A to B. We also want to enjoy the process of getting there.
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+1
While I normally drive in a very responsible manner, there have been a few occasions when I had the urge to show my tail lights to the jerk in the next lane. Just knowing that one’s vehicle has more-than-ample power is a good feeling–even if you don’t use that power to the max very often.
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My most-fun-to-drive car was a 62 Ford Galaxy, base-model inline-6 engine w/manual transmission. It was a fun challenge to figure out the optimum place in the road to make each of the shift, what speeds were best to carry in and out of each turn, on the mountain roads to the ski resorts. My first attempt took me 40 minutes. Eventually, by trial and error experimentation, got it down to a little over 25 minutes. My friend’s cars with 8 cylinder powerful engines took about the same time, but not as fun.
That car was no good at higher speeds though, like freeway driving at 75 mph, suspension system tended towards instability.
A couple years ago I did the same trip in a new-ish Corolla with automatic, took 35 minutes … lol . I couldn’t remember the details about how best to drive that route.
My take, HP/torque is like life jackets on a boat. Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.
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Find a reputable speed shop, like Saleen, Shelby or Roush and give them the Escape, the performance idea and a blank check. Just don’t be too surprised if you spend 2 or 3 times the cost of the car once they are done with it.
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Use it and maintain it. If it meets my needs, keep it. If not, sell it or trade it in.
The only “performance” expenditure that will be an improvement is tires: choose them with care, to perform well in the criteria that matter to you.
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$90,000 for a noisy muffler and racing stripes? Years ago we have Shelby Durangos at the dealer, I think the package was $15,000 to $20,000 (included a supercharger).
Did Dodge send those out to install the Shelby package?
I don’t know if that was a Chrysler program or a Shelby program. There were a lot of custom vehicle shops selling through dealer networks, this dealer sold Starcraft custom vans years ago when many dealers sold custom vans.
If you absolutely, positively need to upgrade the performance of a Ford Escape, your best bet may be to invest $25,000.00 to $50,000.00 and send your car to a place like Kindig it Design, in Salt Lake City, and have them graft a Ford Focus RS turbo 4 cylinder into it. 350 hp, 350 ft.-lb. of torque. That should dump your clutch.
You must enjoy throwing money around. Wouldn’t it be more practical to perform a mild modification to the turbocharged engine that is currently in the Escape?
I was thinking more of a belt driven centrifugal blower, a lot less pluming, but either way he will get to start playing the find the next weak link game…
My opinion is to leave it alone, maybe some wheels but other wise use it as the daily driver and buy something else (that already has a good performance platform and available performance parts) to hot rod to have fun with it, cause stuff will break… lol
Then what is it you are wanting to do with it??? Drag, Drift, Track, off roading (mud/dirt), what every floats your boat… Then buy a RWD FWD 4WD or AWD…
Just remember that a fast vehicle still needs to stop also, plus faster vehicles on a track will require safety equipment… Find out what your end game is and work backward…
I limit myself to upgrading the tires maybe even the wheels, but that’s it. I draw the line there.
Cars drive best when they are in balance. You can’t really just upgrade one system for example, give it a whole bunch more power and not do anything with the brakes. Otherwise with the ability to go fast means your stock brakes aren’t going to be up to the job of constantly slowing the car down so you’ll be eating through brake pads at a rapid rate and then that gets expensive.
Plus, it gets iffy with the warranty and then there’s always a question of emissions like California. That could really bite you in the ass if you did anything that would cause you not to pass inspection.
What am I saying, I’m saying that if you want Corvette performance, then save for a Corvette. Otherwise you’ll inevitably wind up spending Corvette levels of money on upgrades to try to get it there. And then you’re left with the dissatisfaction at the end of the day knowing you spent all that money, and while the car performs better, it’s still not a Corvette.
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