Do 500bhp plus cars belong on the road

obi_waynne

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Do you think that 500bhp plus cars rightly belong on the road.

Does having this much power make it dangerous on the roads? Or perhaps you feel that this power actually helps you on the road and makes it safer?

Is there an upper limit to how much power is practical to have on the roads?
 
It's not the power of the car, it's the power of the brain controlling it that determines whether a car is dangerous or not. 500bhp controlled by an experienced, defensive driver is safe. 50bhp controlled by an inexperienced and aggressive idiot is dangerous.
 
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I would actually argue it is safer, you have a chance to accelerate out of trouble.

I will agree in principle but what's more common (especially so with inexperienced and hot-headed drivers) is that they accelerate INTO trouble and make it twice as bad.

I am not saying that all inexperienced drivers are hot-headed. Nor am I saying that all experienced drivers are measured, restrained, or even particularly skilled.
 
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Question is, has anyone actually tried to accelerate out of trouble with 500 horses? No such thing as the first thing you would do is find yourself pointing the wrong way!

Power is nothing without control, so the saying goes!
 
Ok then, should 500bhp be restricted to "advanced drivers" a bit like the current system in the UK for motobike licences. Start off with low power and build up and take a couple of tests till you are let loose with a monster.
 
waynne, doing it this way where are the limitations. As said above its to do with the driver and really it doesnt matter. if they pass the basic driving test and are crap then whatever they drive they will be a danger in. So in some ways the additional testing would be pointless. On the other hand it wuolod stop people with a complete lack of control into very power cars - but how to control this. Take for example the episode Top Gear did with a Evo and a Lamborghini. The Lambo had much more power but the Evo still kept up.?
Think that this idea would be very difficult to implement in practise also, too many considerations. If the car is heavy with over 500bhp then compared to a much lighter car with less power the acceleration etc... could be very similar.
In general the restriction is an interesting idea but in practise seems very difficult to do
 
I think 500bhp+ is unnessesary for any driver. higher BHP cars in the right hands are safer in my opinion, however it is, again, horses for courses. If I had a 400 bhp car, I would die, quite quickly and spectacularly in a ball of flames.

Anything over 500 bhp seems un-needed. There is no need for cars with top speeds of up to 180-200 mph. I don;t know of any roads where you can confidently get away with it even if you wanted to.

Bikes, however, there is the odd place and time...
 
With modern ABS, traction control, anti skid, anti idiot safeguards and the requirement for our cars to have lots of safety equipment we will probably need 500 bhp to match current performance levels.
 
Well I have no issues with my high powered car, plus I like to think that I drive fairly responsibly. I am no angel you understand, but I do try to adhere to the rules of the road wherever possible and save my speed needs for the track |B
 
It's quite simple really in my opinion. High power doesn't make anything unsafe. You can just as easily get a moron in a 75hp hatchback with small brakes and ropey suspension driving around with in excess of his or her ability and the cars ability as you can get somebody with 500hp+ trying to do 3 figures through a built up area.

My daily is circa 700hp and 850Nm torque but I can quite easily leave everything in comfort mode and waft around town at 20-30mph no more dangerously than anyone else.
 
I think 500bhp+ is unnessesary for any driver. higher BHP cars in the right hands are safer in my opinion, however it is, again, horses for courses. If I had a 400 bhp car, I would die, quite quickly and spectacularly in a ball of flames.

Anything over 500 bhp seems un-needed. There is no need for cars with top speeds of up to 180-200 mph. I don;t know of any roads where you can confidently get away with it even if you wanted to.

Bikes, however, there is the odd place and time...
 
Just seen this.
One the one hand going silly on a bike seems ok but high powered cars are not

Very strange.
 
The driver is the biggest danger. Not the car. Exactly the same with a motorbike! I have a gsxr 1000 with 186bhp, weighs 180kgs,power to weight that works out at over 1000bhp/ton. Very few cars, even with 1000bhp+ have such a high power to weight ratio and can accelerate in the same manner. The most dangerous thing about that bike is the part that connects the seat to the handlebars, and the same is true for a car.
It's certainly not safer or better to ride at 180mph than it is to drive at that speed, it all comes down to the time/place/situation whether it is safe to do so.
I have no issues with any power output of any vehicle, so long as the person piloting it has enough brain cells to operate such a vehicle!!!
 
it is the driver that makes any vehicle dangerous. whether they are in a reliant robin or Veyron or forklift round the industrial estate. Anything that goes faster than you can walk in the wrong hands can be lethal.
 
well Certainly not for the youngsters cuz they lack the experience and the common sense to know when not to take risks , other than that why not , in the end a proper driver will now how to control it and react in any possible situation tnx to his experience and skills
 
Do you think that 500bhp plus cars rightly belong on the road.

Does having this much power make it dangerous on the roads? Or perhaps you feel that this power actually helps you on the road and makes it safer?

Is there an upper limit to how much power is practical to have on the roads?


High powered or low powered auto's, are NO different than Guns, knifes, forks ,spoons,clubs,rocks, and even"knitting needles"!!! They all can kill and/or injure when in the wrong hands with the wrong state of mind operating them. :(

As to an upper limit? What most want? versus "What" most need, is 180 degrees apart! o_O

For me personally, I am at ONLY 580rwhp x 525rwtrq with 4600 lbs of material in my hands. It can and will get out of control "IF" I really get STUPID with it!! :eek:
 

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