“No way would a 327 (or 350), do 160 unless it was seriously reworked.”
Not true at all. I’ve had several cars including a 1996 2.5L Acura TL that could do 160. I even got clocked at 147 after slowing down outside Douglas, WY late one night.
Wife has a 2015 BMW x1 i35 with an inline 3.0L turbo charged 300hp engine. It will do 160 without breathing hard.
Remember that the way horsepower was measured was changed in 1972 and the fact that a vehicle must dyno the horsepower it is advertised now.
In the past, ratings were made up, at best.
Rotflmao!
Same source as before:
Acura 2.5TL, model year 1996, version for North America
•4-door sedan body type
•FWD (front-wheel drive), automatic 4-speed gearbox
•petrol (gasoline) engine with displacement: 2451 cm3 / 149.8 cui, advertised power: 131 kW / 176 hp / 178 PS ( SAE net ), torque: 231 Nm / 170 lb-ft
•characteristic dimensions: outside length: 4865 mm / 191.5 in, wheelbase: 2840 mm / 111.8 in
•reference weights: base curb weight: 1475 kg / 3252 lbs
•how fast is this car ? top speed: 211 km/h (131 mph) (theoretical);
•accelerations: 0- 60 mph 8.8 s; 0- 100 km/h 9.2 s (simulation ©automobile-catalog.com); 1/4 mile drag time (402 m) 16.7 s (simulation ©automobile-catalog.com)
•fuel consumption and mileage: 20/25 mpg (U.S.), 11.8/9.4 l/100km, 23.9/29.9 mpg (imp.), 8.5/10.6 km/l EPA ratings average estimated by a-c: 11.9 l/100km / 23.7 mpg (imp.) / 19.7 mpg (U.S.) / 8.4 km/l
I stand by my statement.
There is no way a 327, 300 hp Corvette of that era would do 160. I was a young man or teenager during that era and pretty much knew what they all would do. It is slightly possible that one of the hot fuel injected models might do it.
Around two years ago, I got free subscriptions to Car & Driver and Road & Track. I have frankly been amazed at the performance they are now getting from even small blocks. Of course just about all of the hot ones are turbocharged or Supercharged. Not the same thing at all.
With computers, tuning large HP numbers out of small cc’s is easy. Not so in the early to mid 60’s. I grew up building hot rods and race cars - ran 13.5 sec in a 57 Chevy with a 302 in late 60’s, able to beat about anybody on the street. The car mags said no car would ever break 7 seconds in the quarter in the mid 60’s, when top fuel was approaching that. 160 with a 327 or 350? Not likely without some serious mods.