I'm not sure what you're trying to get at with that comment.... comparing our cars to those cars is apples to oranges in almost every way.

Thos cars engines are half the size of ours and probably about 1/3 or less the size of a big V8 from the modern Vettes. The bigger your engine, in general... the more torque you have, which means that in order to help balance out the mass of the motor and the amount of fuel that it takes to keep those cylinders full of of the proper air/fuel mixture, you want to utilize that torque by trying to have the motor spin at a lower(preferably optimally efficient) RPM to minimize the amount of fuel being used per increment of time.

 

Dude if it kicks your but just drive less or get a civic. 88 to 91 EF civics are nice with a B series engines. I had one and went thru several engines. I pay like $4.61 now for premium, And my wife went from a 04 maxima to a 5.6 08 Armada. Now thats a fuel bill let me tell you.

 

My G is a gas guzzling hog, still not sure how a 3.5L V6 manages to do this? but I love my car.

 

Without getting too technical, torque is directly related to the amount of fuel burned per revolution of the engine.

Theoretically, you can burn half the fuel and have double the rotations, and end up with the same power ignoring friction, etc.

The biggest loss to MPG with RPMs is the constant opposed acceleration of the pistons, not friction itself.

Now, with the fuel itself in the engine, it will combust at different speeds and the flame's velocity is a big factor in the amount of heat created and power delivery. As great as the VQ is, it utilizes a lot of OLD technology.

NISSAN... WHERE IS THE DIRECT INJECTION?!?!?