The Horsepower Race: Where's All This Going?

Mr_Shiftright

Rumors abound of 1000+ HP Hellcats.

A BMW SUV now posts better 0-60 times equal to a 2005 Viper (3.8 sec).

Is this safe? Is it even rational?

Is it good for car enthusiasts, or just wretched excess?

Michaell

I think this is a new golden age for HP - even pedestrian sedans are equipped with 300+ HP engines, and if your V8 doesn't put out at least 400HP, don't bother.

Heck, the new turbo engine in the 2016 Civic (1.5L) puts out 174 HP - the 3.0L V6 in my Saturn sedan from 2003 put out 181HP.

Is it safe? Probably not, given the poor state of drivers education in the US.

Is it rational? No, but HP sells.

However, for those who are trained and have the opportunity to use that HP (track days, supervised visits to the dragstrip, etc.) there is no such thing as "too much".

What would you advocate as an alternative? Governors?

Mr_Shiftright

I'm not advocating one way or the other. Just curious what people think. If I had to offer some opinion, I might consider special licensing for cars over XX horsepower. Right now a newbie driver can buy a 700 HP car and hit the road.

texases

I think things started going wacko with the Germans - Audi/BMW/MB started putting huge engines in their smallest cars several years ago. CAFE will put a lid on it, I'd think.

Michaell

texases said:

I think things started going wacko with the Germans - Audi/BMW/MB started putting huge engines in their smallest cars several years ago. CAFE will put a lid on it, I'd think.

Like the USGA putting a distance cap on golf balls?

Not gonna happen. 

Mr_Shiftright

They might die off on their own. If it's just HP you're looking for, you can build it yourself far cheaper than Chrysler can sell it to you.

kyfdx

Mr_Shiftright said:

They might die off on their own. If it's just HP you're looking for, you can build it yourself far cheaper than Chrysler can sell it to you.

They can tax "extra horsepower", or cars that have a power/weight ratio over a certain number. That way, rich guys can still buy whatever they want, assuming there are enough of them to make them profitable.

stever

Here's a $150,000 slacker.

2017 Acura NSX Gets Official 573-HP Rating

Part of that comes from three electric motors.