will 1000 bhp cars be the norm?

[obi_waynne]

Power figures keep going up. Old legends like the Cosworth sierra had power figures from the factory that are matched by family hatchbacks.

300 BHP cars seem to be getting more popular. Do you ever think power figures will rise to 1000BHP?

 

[stamford]

No chance for production cars, they will be outlawed as deemed to be unsafe etc. The day we see 1000bhp as standard we will be flying/hovering and wheeled transport will be old school!

 

[HDi fun]

I doubt it - the current vogue is for efficiency and economy - so not any time soon are we gonna see 60mpg with 1000bhp capability

 

[HugoBoss]

Nope, power will always be expensive to produce and world economy still fading with no sighns of improving so pointless to produce such high power figures even electric ones.

 

[claymore]

power sells cars, and each new performance model must have more power than it's predecessor.

 

[HugoBoss]

True clay I mean the Veyron is a production car and that's 1000BHP, but even that they are selling at a loss cause it's so pricey to build. With so many car companies and even entire countries going bancrupt, how strong is the possibility of 1000bhp cars becoming the norm.

 

[HDi fun]

power sells cars, and each new performance model must have more power than it's predecessor.

All new cars require more power than the model they replace. That's because they're bigger and heavier. The clever bit is that the manufacturers do seem in general to be keeping or exceeding fuel efficiency of previous models.

 

[obi_waynne]

Put a modern golf engine in a mk1 Gti and you'll have a stupidly quick car.

Modern impact protection has added a lot of weight to cars along with all those gadgets we now expect.

Perhaps car safety will keep pushing up the weight and we will start to need silly power figures to keep up.

 

[TommyTwinCams]

Actually, over here in the states, We're seeing cars come out with LESS power for efficiency reasons.
Example:
2014 Chevy Cruze 2.0L Turbo diesel (US Market): 148 HP
2013 Chevy Cruze 2.0L Turbo diesel (everywhere else): 168 HP

more examples:
Old Nissan Sentra: 140 HP, 177 HP, or 200 HP (engines: 2.0L, or 2.5L)
New Nissan Sentra: 130 HP. (engine: 1.8L only)

old Chevrolet Cobalt: 155 HP, 175 HP, 205 HP, or 260 HP (engines: 2.2L, 2.4L, 2.0L supercharged, 2.0L turbocharged)
replacement Chevrolet Cruze: 138 HP (1.8L or 1.4L Turbo), 148 HP (2.0L turbo diesel)

Old Nissan Versa: 108 HP, 120 HP (engines: 1.6L, 1.8L)
New Nissan Versa: 108 HP (engine: 1.6L. odd considering the old 1.8L made up the bulk of all Versa's sold here)

So it stands to reason that 1000HP everyday cars will NEVER happen. Fuel economy sells.

 

[MADRod]

Unless you have large capacity engines to produce that huge Power shelf life will be very short. 6K miles is what mine achieved @ 850bhp (1000bhp with gas) & now a dry-sump will probably extend that to 10k miles it also cost over £20k in parts alone. Unless your average small saloon is going to shoehorn in a 7 litre V8 with twin blowers its going to remain hypercars that have that sort of Power. Problem is only very few people can start to comprehend what grunt that Power gives imagine leaving a production superbike for dead will give you some idea. 0-200mph in 17 secs on your local bypass will have the cameras in a spin .

 

[HDi fun]

^ ^ ^ Stick your average 1.6 "L" base model driver in a 535d and they'll struggle immediately. The lack of a clutch will throw many drivers cos they don't have right foot finesse and rely upon clutch control to make up for this. This is a hefty car with around 300bhp and enough torque to make it extremely lively all the same. But it is a sensibly drivable road car.

Stick em in a 1000bhp sub one ton beast they'd wave the white flag at startup.

There is no genuine need for 1000bhp unless you're either hauling twin 38 ton trailers or competing in track events.