Take That holden!

[BENT_8]

Originally Posted by naddis01

I think the uproar over the Raptor was that most people were expecting a performance engine not one out of a van.

Would many people even know what its origins were though?

No, i believe its the capacity that puts people off, especially when for decades the rule of thumb was to increae capacity in order to increase output.
A bit of a walk down memory lane but..

When the GT was first released it was a 289ci, the it went 302ci, then Windsor 351ci, the 351C, all the time offering more go.
Fast forward to the 90's when ford brought the V8 back and it was 5.0l with 165kw and by the time the last AU's rolled around that 5.0l was 5.6l and 260kw.

Enter the BA and despite a slight decrease in capacity the power was on the rise again and stayed that way until the blown 5.0l reset the agenda.

Over in the other camp it was 307, 327 and 350, then the GTR Torana came about and despite its David and Goliath win over the fire breathing GTHO at Bathurst, they didnt sell in any real numbers, average joe still bought the biggest V8 offering in the humble 308 or the few lucky enough to score a 350 HQ.
Holden turned up the wick on the old girl via numerous different methods culminating in fuel injection and finally the stroked 230kw blueprinted GTS/R.
Enter the Gen3 5.7 and subsequent upsizing since.

Its not in the Aussie psyche to accept smaller is better, the exceptions to the rule are too few and far between.