LS1 or smokin hot type 4 ?, Driveability ? Options

[got914?]

Hey everyone, just considering the above.

An LS1 is 350 hp and with the factory injection will both start and run like a dream.

A real done up type 4 will sound much nicer but obviolsuy about a bit more than half the power.

[DBCooper]

That's a pretty good perspective. You can have any opinion you want, but unless you've actually driven all those different combinations to compare then your opinion isn't based on facts. Just because you "believe" something doesn't make it true.

To address the "but it's not a 914 anymore" thinking, sure, that's right. But is that a bad thing? That AC Ace/AC Cobra analogy, is the Cobra an Ace that's been ruined? It's heavier than the Ace, carries the weight higher, has a friggin' American motor so it's a POS hot rod, but looking at them and driving them, car for car, is the Cobra a bad car? Different, for sure, but less anything than the Ace? Is it less "sporty", less "pure", less "balanced", less "English"? Those things might all be true for some hard-core Ace owner, but not for any car enthusiast with an open-mind. For any reasonable person the Cobra is a great and iconic car, plus it's a hell of a lot faster and a lot more fun to drive. Trade your Cobra for my Ace? Seriously? That makes sense only if you've never driven a Cobra.

So my suggestion is, if you haven't driven/ridden in a V8 914 go find a way to do it, then tell me it didn't put a smile on your face. No one's saying you have to do it to your car, just saying that it makes for a very nice (if different) car on its own merits, and it's a valid way to have some fun.

OK, a LOT of fun.

[era vulgaris]

To address the "but it's not a 914 anymore" thinking, sure, that's right. But is that a bad thing? That AC Ace/AC Cobra analogy, is the Cobra an Ace that's been ruined? It's heavier than the Ace, carries the weight higher, has a friggin' American motor so it's a POS hot rod, but looking at them and driving them, car for car, is the Cobra a bad car? Different, for sure, but less anything than the Ace? Is it less "sporty", less "pure", less "balanced", less "English"? Those things might all be true for some hard-core Ace owner, but not for any car enthusiast with an open-mind. For any reasonable person the Cobra is a great and iconic car, plus it's a hell of a lot faster and a lot more fun to drive. Trade your Cobra for my Ace? Seriously? That makes sense only if you've never driven a Cobra.

I get what you're saying. You keep using that analogy, but I don't think it's valid in terms of how these cars are perceived. The Cobra is essentially a factory built car; water cooled 914's are not.
Had Chevy (or another large name) been importing 914 bodies and putting V8's in them in the factory I think you'd see a different attitude towards the conversion from the air-cooled purists.
And I also think, had Cobras been built by private enthusiasts, you would see a different attitude towards them as well. If it wasn't Carol Shelby who had done the engine/trans conversions, in a legitimate partnership with Ford, they would just be a novelty car and certainly not worth the $1,000,000+ that they go for now.

I'm not making an argument either way...just saying I think there's a reason why there's a different attitude towards the Cobra "conversion" than towards a 914 conversion; and that reason is the legitimacy of the cars being built by a famous racing driver who was backed by an automobile manufacturer.

Look...if you love water-cooled cars, that's great. If you love air-cooled cars, that's great. Whatever puts a smile on your face, man! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/aktion035.gif)