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Originally Posted by fedezyl
Well, just one question, why is it then, that most high performance car manufacturers use OHC instead of pushrods, as well as formula one and basically most racing engines?
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Formula One, as the name implies, deals with racing that adheres to a strict code of regulations. They could have made it a free-for-all, but do you really want to see the effect of Can-Am era displacements combined with insufficient chassis development and track safety? Might as well ask why they banned driver's aids (traction control, ABS, active suspension, etc) back in the '90s. Because it makes a car worse? No, that does not follow.
And since the current formula calls for a 3-liter limit, the best way to maximize hp is through increased revs. And DOHC allows for outright breathing capabilities. No one is disputing that. What's in dispute is: how relevant is that to street car applications? Do you really want a 3-liter Formula One car engine for the road? It may sound like a sexy idea, but it'd be stupid, totally impractical. Just because most people want cars that are "high-tech" (despite the fact that Duesenbergs had DOHC in the '20s, as well as Renault even in the early 1900's) doesn't mean that that's the best way to go for
all applications.
So DOHC works for Porsche, that's fine. So GM wants to use pushrods, more power to 'em. The point is, Porsche, with its 3.6-liter engine, really has no choice but to go with DOHC if it wants the breathing capability to wring out 380-ish hp, without going to forced induction. GM can already do that with its pushrod V8, all the while tacking on an additional 25-odd horses, with the engine still not stressed to its max. They're giving people the performance of a Porsche, but at a substantial savings. And for this...they should be slagged off? Remember, GM already had a DOHC for its Corvette, the ZR-1. The marketplace basically said "Thanks, but no thanks." So it was dropped. Totally different companies, totally different philosophies. It's sorta useless to say that one company
should adopt the philosophy of another, particularly when things are going well enough.