Today's Horsepower Wars

[CurtEgerer]

On the one hand, I can't believe I'm saying this. But am I the only one who believes the horsepower wars of the last 5 years have spun totally out of control? I just read a piece about the new Audi RS6 - 610HP twin-turbo V10. The new Viper is 600HP. The Shelby Mustang is +500HP.

What in god's name do you do with these cars? It's at a point where the only valid reason for owning them is to one-up somebody else - i.e., "I've got 610HP, you only got 575. What a joke you are!" Have these cars become the 22 inch Dubs of the country club set?

My very meager 333HP M3 was total overkill for the street and I sold it because it was a dumb car to drive on public roads. I don't get it. At all.

[edmayo]

Amen 'bro, you're not alone!

[Chuck Miller]

I hear'ya Curt....

Anyway, when you divide all that new horsepower with all that new luxurious and 'safe' weight....
You come up with a number just a little better then my Malibu......

... and so it goes

Cheers,

[Flat Six, inc.]

I agree totally.......mini-vans with 270hp.......

My new Toyota Tundra has 381hp........it's the fastest vehicle I've owned to date..and the one I'd least like to drive fast. It tows very well though.....

[sithot]

Gents:

(ALL OF) The Porsche owners I've known for many years now have always been into one-upsmanship. Do you think for one minute that the guys running at the Parade are going to say to themselves: "Gee, I really should use less power to win".
Ask John Ashford about his experience with that. He ran modified for years in the Auto-X circuit kicking ass and taking names. Then along came some talentless monied wannabes who had 3.5 dual plug engines stuffed into very stripped out cars long before Excellence Magazine existed and wrote about such cars.
They quickly closed the gap on him although none could really out-drive him. When he raced at Summit Point the wannabes would catch him and pass him on the straight and he would in turn pass them and "gap" them very handily in the turns. ( Some of these cars suffered serious rear end damage. HINT:Lift-throttle oversteer.) John saw the handwriting on the wall and dropped back to stock class and still did just fine because "he can drive".

HP won't make you a better driver. It will, however, eventually prove Darwin was correct.

So if you are serious here is my suggestion:

Sell your 911/930/RS/RSR with the big HP engine, buy a Honda Hybrid and joint the ranks of the PC party and possibly move to a really liberal state that doesn't like cars or anyone enjoying themselves because they can.

The next time I hear about one of you doing a twin plug "HP" engine I'll remind you; Why do you need that kind of that power?

"It is more fun to drive a slow car fast than it is to drive a fast car slow".

Tom

[Jim Garfield]

You're right, it's gone beyond silly.

As Chuck said some of it is due to them compensating for the increased pork, but it has gone way beyond what can be used on a public road. These cars are so capable that they can't be that much fun to drive on the street. The term scary fast comes to mind. To me the most fun in a car is when you are just under it's limits - something that you can only do at the track in a 911 or in a bug eye Sprite on the road. God help those with deep pockets and no common sense who want to "see what this thing'll do". Over it's limits in one of these cars is almost always fatal.

[tfmcmahon]

"It is more fun to drive a slow car fast than it is to drive a fast car slow". I can not get myself to part with my "T" for that very reason.With a Targa top off and the sport exhaust and air box off,the sound is wonderful ! Right Curt ? TFM

[Shawn]

what TFM said. I absolutly agree. Of course, he lost me at Targa....

I returned at "air box off." toss 'em into a cardboard box in your garage and run foam filters or Panty hose over the stacks (thanks Cris H) Shawn.

[CurtEgerer]

There's a big difference between buying one of these cars and using it on the track (a VERY rare instance and one in which HP may be justified) and buying, say, a 610HP RS6! 99.9999% of the driving in those cars will be on the road.

These types of cars are very comfortable cruising at 125-150MPH with no drama whatsoever. Well, except for the poor sap who jerks over in front of you at 50MPh on the expressway Then there's cornering? A good rule of thumb in my M3 was to take the posted corner speed and triple ... maybe quadruple it ... to have anything resembling fun. And then it could still be done with one hand on the wheel and the other playing with the graphic equalizer These cars have become comical in their abilities.

It's a different case to stick a 300HP motor in an early 911. Yeah, you got some serious go power but it is going to require skill and 110% concentration to use it. And you'll still have fun at low speeds because of the inherent dynamics of the car. These new supercars are an absolute snore to drive below triple-digit speeds. Just my opinion, of course

[boxster03]

very comfortable cruising at 125-150MPH

yea and legally the only place to do that in the world is on the German autobahn