Location: Rochester, NY
Posts: 2,405
My VIN: 01049
-Mike
My engine twists my frame.
1981 DeLorean, Carb LS4 swap completed
1999 Corvette, cam/headers/intake manifold, 400 rwhp
2005 Elise, stock
2016 Chevy Cruze
Posts: 4,808
My VIN: 3937
I think our "standard definitions" need to be based on a well maintained car and not those with problems.
This goes for automatics vs manuals, stock PRV's and upgraded stage 1 or 2 cars, and also for the steering/suspension and handling.
Personally I think too many poor opinions come from guys who have driving experiences in cars that aren't in good condition. That's especially true of the slagging on automatics, and the handling too. We seem to perpetuate that misinformation internally as badly as the outsiders perpetuate the coke jokes stuff.
There is no modern comparison for performance with our cars because they aren't modern. Guys come up to me at shows asking if it is fast and I'll tell them it would get beat by a new Civic. Then I'll also mention you could go buy a Countach from the 80s for $400k and get beat by a new Accord.
These aren't apples to apples comparisons. This is more like comparing an apple to the shopping cart you're using while at the grocery store. They aren't the same.
Sept. 81, auto, black interior
^ +1. I have also driven DeLoreans that were not running their best, fuel system problems, vacuum leaks, etc. and it definitely has an impact on performance. It’s not fair to judge the whole fleet on these examples.
I remember passing an Acura sedan on a toll road at 75 mph while accelerating, and the surprised look on the driver’s face was priceless. I think I dispelled a myth in his mind. Not bad for a bone stock car.
Last edited by DMC-81; 08-04-2018 at 10:21 AM.
Dana
1981 DeLorean DMC-12 (5 Speed, Gas Flap, Black Interior, Windshield Antenna, Dark Gray)
Restored as "mostly correct, but with flaws corrected". Pictures and comments of my restoration are in the albums section on my profile.
1985 Chevrolet Corvette, Z51, 4+3 manual
2006 Dodge Magnum R/T (D/D)
2010 Camaro SS (Transformers Edition)
Posts: 990
After you have been K-liberated and the necessary exhaust fixes, there's not much to complain about.
Location: Rochester, NY
Posts: 2,405
My VIN: 01049
I'm sorry, but I could not disagree more. I have driven more DeLoreans than I can count, ranging from bad shape to stellar, near mint shape, and I have been around these cars for nearly fifteen years. I have spent a lot of time driving other sports cars from that same era, and the DeLorean simply does not hold up to them (Esprits, Corvettes, 911s, Ferrari 308, etc) in either power or handling terms. Frankly, I wonder what basis of comparison the folks that claim DeLoreans have good handling/power are using.
I think it is important to be honest about DeLoreans. I love mine to death, and have spent far more time and money on it than any other car I've ever owned. But the reality is that they are not anything more than average for a car of that era.
-Mike
My engine twists my frame.
1981 DeLorean, Carb LS4 swap completed
1999 Corvette, cam/headers/intake manifold, 400 rwhp
2005 Elise, stock
2016 Chevy Cruze
A DeLorean in top running condition has the ability to fall out of a tree*
*tree branch must be pointing toward ground
Posts: 4,808
My VIN: 3937
I'm good with that, Mike. You definitely have way more experience than I do with driving comparable cars. I haven't even sat in some of the cars you mentioned much less driven them.
It is all about the comparables though, isn't it? With most things we talk about or ask about. Even something like "how are you?" or "how was your day?" Compared to what? Compared to yesterday? Compared to that guy over there? You know what I mean. If someone asks if you're tall or not, you might say yes or no, but you compare yourself to something. Hang out with a bunch of basketball players, then probably no. Hang out with midgets, then probably yes. Ask someone how tall are you, though, and it's a different question and different answer.
If Joe Car Show asks me if it is fast or if it handles well, I tell him not really for the fast part and pretty well for the handling part. Both subjective answers comparing my car to something else I'm familiar with. If buddy asks what kind of time it gets in a 0-60 race, I don't have much to tell him because I don't know. That's the answer that would tell people whether it is fast or not, but most of the guys I talk to can't relate that to something they know or feel. And I've never had someone ask that before.
Most of the time I answers people's questions, it's subjectively. Ball park stuff, comparisons, touchy feely answers. Guy asks me if I'm tall and I say yes. Absolute answer is I'm 6'3". The comparative answer is I can't fit in a couple of those cars you rhymed off
Sept. 81, auto, black interior
The traction control system in the DeLorean is more than suited to reeling in the excess power the PRV makes. Not once when leaving from a stop at full throttle has my car even offered to spin the tires before the set of complex algorithms takes over and settles it back into place almost before I know anything is even wrong. Catching the dreded upshift dogleg is a piece of cake. As I shift into second bracing my hands against the wheel for the violent yaw shift, the TCS wrangles her back on point in the blink of an eye. The PRV may be a monster of a PITA in the DMC12, but JZD's TCS is AOK.
Posts: 990
Dana
1981 DeLorean DMC-12 (5 Speed, Gas Flap, Black Interior, Windshield Antenna, Dark Gray)
Restored as "mostly correct, but with flaws corrected". Pictures and comments of my restoration are in the albums section on my profile.
1985 Chevrolet Corvette, Z51, 4+3 manual
2006 Dodge Magnum R/T (D/D)
2010 Camaro SS (Transformers Edition)