I've been thinking lately whilst I'm looking for a new motor what the threshold is for unreasonable power. It's weird that as I've got old I've sought more powerful cars but I tend to have slowed the way I drive. Anything less than 150bhp and it seems to be scoffed at. Have we become power snobs?
How much is too much?
- Thread starter MR_Punk
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A large number of people nowadays care more about mpg than bhp.
Personally though I like the idea of slowly increasing how much power my cars have. I've gone 74bhp, 141bhp, 150bhp, 206bhp.
Personally though I like the idea of slowly increasing how much power my cars have. I've gone 74bhp, 141bhp, 150bhp, 206bhp.
Or be like my Dad who moans about the tax on his Range Rover rather than the 8mpg he gets out of it.
I think between 200-300bhp is more then enough for the UK roads. It's nice to have the extra power when needed. Though it isn't an excuse to drive at wot all the time.
The major population don't care for power. They care about the badge and if they can impress their neighbours with the car they drive. Cue those living in houses which are not worth much with £50k+ cars on the drive.
The major population don't care for power. They care about the badge and if they can impress their neighbours with the car they drive. Cue those living in houses which are not worth much with £50k+ cars on the drive.
Slow car fast > fast car slow. Every day of the week. Power is only fun when you can safely play with it, which you can't in 95% of the general driving we do. There's a reason cars like the MX5 are so popular, absolute hoot to drive and cost slightly more than a packet of crisps.
Couldn't give two poops about mpg.
As for your question. I think it depends on the following
1. The weight of the car - 250bhp in a car weighing around 1000kg or less is more than enough.
2. The wheels being driven - FWD, AWD or RWD
As for your question. I think it depends on the following
1. The weight of the car - 250bhp in a car weighing around 1000kg or less is more than enough.
2. The wheels being driven - FWD, AWD or RWD
DAIR said:
Can't be many full road trim cars around that weigh less than 1,000 Kg.
For driving, road or track, the Torque and in particular how it is delivered throughout the rev range to suit gearing is far more important, IMO anyway. I think it becomes even more relevant as turbo'd smaller engine displacements are so common now.
Soldato
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The two things that people seem to care most about are how fast it is off the lights and how stupidly bright your headlights are. Bonus if your indicators are hidden by the rear light cluster.
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376bhp is deployable 99% of the time with AWD. I found 197bhp in the GT86 quite unusable in the wet (which was a good 50% of the time!)
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Sounds like my Father in law. He drives the most dreadful 1.6hdi Citroen (which he bought brand new) and still moans about £30 tax. 'Depreciation' isn't in his vocabulary.
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it really depends, for example 100bhp in a small car like a polo is plenty, but drop that in a big saloon or 4x4 and you'll find it severely lacking.
i've always tended to preferr a larger engine to car ratio, in my experience a tiny engine in a big car can be just as bad for mpg (because you really do have to drive wot everywhere just to get the damn thing to move) and with the smaller engine you don't even get the power benefit for your lack of fuel effeciency.
i do think there's a problem though with this fashion for cars with small engines and big turbos to get the power and effeciency figures, because whilst the numbers look good on paper it becomes a very digital experience, it's either sucking fuel and motoring on, or it's sipping fuel and barely moving. this sounds fine if you're in a lab or you live in holland, but in the real world with traffic and hills you'll be stuck somewhere in between the 2 extremes.
i've always tended to preferr a larger engine to car ratio, in my experience a tiny engine in a big car can be just as bad for mpg (because you really do have to drive wot everywhere just to get the damn thing to move) and with the smaller engine you don't even get the power benefit for your lack of fuel effeciency.
i do think there's a problem though with this fashion for cars with small engines and big turbos to get the power and effeciency figures, because whilst the numbers look good on paper it becomes a very digital experience, it's either sucking fuel and motoring on, or it's sipping fuel and barely moving. this sounds fine if you're in a lab or you live in holland, but in the real world with traffic and hills you'll be stuck somewhere in between the 2 extremes.
Soldato
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Not at all. I have 130bhp in both my car and on my bike...
I do, however, hate bad drivers and find a large percentage of road users to be highly unworthy of their licence, let alone trustworthy enough to give them actual power!!
*zooms past you at merely 1/3 throttle*...
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Depends entirely on the car and the roads/conditions, really. Some stupendously powerful cars are very docile and easy to drive; some low-powered lightweight cars can be a bit of a handful (a bit of a simplification, but hopefully you get my gist).
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I had about 110 bhp, which sometimes felt like I needed a bit more power to get out of trouble, so it was a bit dangerously slow.
Now have 150 bhp, that's enough for roads IMO, but it would be better if it was more responsive, i.e. an EV.
Don't know about 'too much' though, this is the fastest car I've driven.
Now have 150 bhp, that's enough for roads IMO, but it would be better if it was more responsive, i.e. an EV.
Don't know about 'too much' though, this is the fastest car I've driven.
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I found 320bhp in my old Impreza too much for the roads sometimes, it opened up a lot of overtaking opportunities as you can just 'nip past' a slower vehicle in a very short space of time which sounds great but it can warp your sense of speed a bit and make it very easy to drive dangerously fast. I could only really enjoy that car on the track as even with 'only' 300 odd horsepower in a ~1500kg car you could get to quite big speeds very quickly.
I have also ridden my mates 130ish bhp motorbike and that really messed with my head speed wise, hitting the rev limiter in 2nd in that made my Impreza feel like a milk float, nothing has ever felt remotely fast since then!
Most fun in a car was in our old 2.0 MX5 - 160bhp in 1100kg was perfect imo
I have also ridden my mates 130ish bhp motorbike and that really messed with my head speed wise, hitting the rev limiter in 2nd in that made my Impreza feel like a milk float, nothing has ever felt remotely fast since then!
Most fun in a car was in our old 2.0 MX5 - 160bhp in 1100kg was perfect imo