Average UK bhp on the roads

Are you referring to bhp when each car was new or the cumulative effect of wear and tear on the output of the engine over time?
 
I'd imagine it's something like 120bhp, 100bhp seems a bit on the low side as an average as it's only recently we've had that unflux of 80bhp city runners. Still an awful lot of older cars out there.
 
PiKe said:
I'd imagine it's something like 120bhp, 100bhp seems a bit on the low side as an average as it's only recently we've had that unflux of 80bhp city runners. Still an awful lot of older cars out there.
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I'd agree with this - the cars with really weedy engines havent been popular for that long. So i am thinking more like 130 bhp
 
wasc said:
I'd agree with this - the cars with really weedy engines havent been popular for that long. So i am thinking more like 130 bhp
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Seriously? I'd say the exact opposite. Cars are getting much more powerful, even for the base models.
How many 1.1 Micras, 1.0 Corsas, 1.25 Fiestas, 106s, Polos, etc etc do you see on a daily basis?
I'd wager that it's <100bhp actally due to the high volume of small, old, crappy hatchbacks.

Of the 6 cars I can see out of my living-room window, 4 are in the 50 - 70bhp bracket and the other two are a 1.6 Focus and an MX5 so only about 110bhp.
 
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Rilot said:
Of the 6 cars I can see out of my living-room window, 4 are in the 50 - 70bhp bracket and the other two are a 1.6 Focus and an MX5 so only about 110bhp.
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Looking out of my office window I would say the average is above 200bhp. Its very hard to judge by looking out of the window as that just tell you about the immediate area.

Imo I would say the average car is a 1.8/2.0 petrol or equivalent TD, so my best guess would be about 120-130bhp. There are MANY cars above this and a large amount below. I understand where people are coming from with all new cars with tiny engines flooding our roads in recent years, but I doubt they make up more than a quarter of the cars on our roads.
 
Firestar_3x said:
It could be worked out if someone went through the published excel list of what's on the road.
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I have just taken the time to do this :D i have multiplied the number of cars by their engine size added the total together and divided by the number of cars to try and see what the average engine capacity is.

Taken from Department for Transport statistics - 'Licensed cars by make, model and engine capacity, Great Britain, annually: as at 31st December 2011'

The average engine size between 1856cc – 1973cc

so you can work BHP out roughly from this
 
Can you split out the diesel and petrol ones, then we can assume the diesels are mainly turbo, and the petrols are N/A, get the average bhp guess for both and average out?
 
p1RATE said:
I have just taken the time to do this :D i have multiplied the number of cars by their engine size added the total together and divided by the number of cars to try and see what the average engine capacity is.

Taken from Department for Transport statistics - 'Licensed cars by make, model and engine capacity, Great Britain, annually: as at 31st December 2011'

The average engine size between 1856cc – 1973cc

so you can work BHP out roughly from this
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I've just been through a similar sheet which is by engine size.

Grouped the engine size classes into larger ones then assigned them average BHP figures.

Engine Capacity Number Typical BHP
499 - 1199cc 3067946 60
1200 - 1499cc 7270503 80
1500 -1699cc 5337776 120
1700 - 2099cc 8942452 150
2100 - 2499cc 1860460 200
2500 - 2899cc 496369 220
2900 - 3299cc 973232 250
3300 - 3599cc 109707 300
3600 - 3999cc 149913 320
4000 - 4999cc 179901 400
4500 - 10,000cc 75937 500
Unknown 3093 130
Total 28467289

That came out to 128bhp, however it was only a very quick hashing together, the groups need spliting further apart really, the real answer is lower than what i've given.
 
Firestar_3x said:
I've just been through a similar sheet which is by engine size.

Grouped the engine size classes into larger ones then assigned them average BHP figures.

Engine Capacity Number Typical BHP
499 - 1199cc 3067946 60
1200 - 1499cc 7270503 80
1500 -1699cc 5337776 120
1700 - 2099cc 8942452 150
2100 - 2499cc 1860460 200
2500 - 2899cc 496369 220
2900 - 3299cc 973232 250
3300 - 3599cc 109707 300
3600 - 3999cc 149913 320
4000 - 4999cc 179901 400
4500 - 10,000cc 75937 500
Unknown 3093 130
Total 28467289

That came out to 128bhp, however it was only a very quick hashing together, the groups need spliting further apart really, the real answer is lower than what i've given.
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This is very best case though as most 2.0 engines dont make 150hp now let alone one from the 00's 90's or 80's
 
Exactly, and also included in the huge engine sizes is things like Wolseley which erm don't make much power.

The only real way to do it is car by car, but i don't have 3 years free to do that.
 
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