The silly HP race

jagsv8p

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2006 xj superv8
Re: The newish Jag range

the hp race is getting kiddoff stupid. In 1999 a m3 had 260 hp. now you can get a toyota camry or honda accord with that hp. the 1984 corvette c4 had 200 hp now the c6 has 430 stock with approx. the same engine disp. 5.7 vs 6.2 liter and same or better gas millage. I am not saying that I don't like the muscle but speed limit is slow by todays car standard...
 
Conversely cars are getting heavier and I wouldn't say that in the main they are getting faster. There are obviously exceptions to this, there is also the chase for better gas mileage as well which keeps the peak power figures low.
 
Yeah. The name of the game is a 500hp v8 that get 40 mpg and costs $40,000

Safety concerns make the cars heavier, as do all the new electronics that pretty much have to come standard on everything.

Cars are getting faster...slowly. the weight figure is going up only a little at a time, but the HP/TQ numbers are going up a little faster. Hp matters more than weight in the big picture. especially the way most people drive.

I hope they keep coming up. I want to see a 1000bhp Camaro. Then I'll buy it, shave off all the weight, and drive it like that. Or maybe i'll just buy the engine Haha. I'm sleepy.
 
I think that ten years of investment in derv technology has forced manufacturers to re-examine their petrol models. Not before time either. So many have been struggling on with yesteryears petrol engines whilst there's been a veritable revolution in diesel performance.

I still think that diesel is the cheap performance option at the moment but let's see what another couple of years worth of supercharged* petrol development brings. It should be an interesting time.

* I use the term supercharged to cover mechanically supercharged engines and ones with exhaust driven turbo-superchargers.
 
I really can't wait to see people start using supercharged (hehe) V8s in their performance/non-performance cars. They're doing it more and more here, like the ZR1 vette, and the GT500 mustang. It's not a v8, but I see a lot of promise coming from Fords "Ecoboost" turbo v6 with 355hp. Put it in a small AWD car with a manual trans., you have a beastly fast, roaring tunable monster of a sport compact or hot hatch. put the same engine in a truck and you have a tow/pull vehicle that will not easily be put aside, put it in a luxury sedan and you have a nice beautiful vehicle that has enough balls to show the young riff-raff who's boss. Haha. I definitely think these companies are moving in the right direction. Even Kia, with their 270bhp turbo I4. it's definitely enough to be repsectable on the street. I hope they keep this HP/MPG war going for a nice loooong time. Like I said, I'm waiting for my 50 MPG 1,000hp camaro that sells for $40,000.
 
The current trend (in Europe at least) are smaller engines, reinforced by either a supercharger or turbo or both.

Check out Audi, VW or Seat, 1.4 litre engines (TFSI) with a nice turbo on top. NA days seem to be over soon or...? The industry seems to be embracing boost. Everything needs to be "green" or eco friendly nowadays...
 
Not long ago press have praised atmospherical engines for quick reaction on trotle, and in some way marked supercharged engines like engeeniring shortcut to power. Today, after supercharged diesels become pretty fast on the roads and after they learned how to control the turbo gap, that technology is transfered in petrol cars again. (everybody remembers old BMW 2002 turbo) That and fuel consumption made possibile for customers to enjoy turbo or supercharged petrol engines again - like in R5 GT Turbo.
That leads us to more powerfull everyday cars and it is no wonder that if you need to be distinguished from crowd you need at least, say 500 BHP when some "plain" Clio got almost 200 of them.
Maybe even growing tuning society is considered? Maybe factorys make some kind of investigation do they be able to sell more units if product is highly tunable? And supercharged engines are highly tunable.
 
The current trend (in Europe at least) are smaller engines, reinforced by either a supercharger or turbo or both.

Check out Audi, VW or Seat, 1.4 litre engines (TFSI) with a nice turbo on top. NA days seem to be over soon or...? The industry seems to be embracing boost. Everything needs to be "green" or eco friendly nowadays...


The nice thing is, you really only need, like, 28hp to cruise on straight, level road @60mph.

That's great for turbo cars with tiny engines. you get all the grunt you need from the turbo for accelerating/hill climbing, but when you're just hanging out on the highway, the car is just sipping fuel. I'm waiting for them to start giving compound boost to these little engines too. Can you imagine a 1.6litre 250bhp 60mpg little renault? hahahahaha
 
4 years on and the power figures are still climbing! The plus side is that fuel economy is also improving.
 
I think that when I read about the new Leon Cupra, now with 280bhp and a 0-60 of 5.7 seconds - this is a family hatchback with stats that belonged to supercars not that long ago.
 
What will it be like in 10 years time I wonder.

We'll also have 100mpg 500BHP cars to drive around in. ;)
 
it isn't a war its technology
designing a more efficient engine is what it is all about and that efficiency can be shown as gains in bhp or mpg
But if you want both then it wont be the max possible of either.
 
I would say that with small engines ( 1.0 litre) the goal should be 100bhp, 60 mpg and 0-60 in under 10 seconds?, I have so much fun in my daughter's Citroen C1 (67bhp) because i'm using all of those 67 horses all the time, when I drive my RS6 (530bhp) it's no fun knowing you can beat almost anything.......
 

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