Question of the Day: How Much Horsepower Is Too Much?
My car has 224 hp. I'm suddenly mature enough to not bother racing people at stop lights (especially since that CTS-V humbled me). I only use all my car's strength when I'm getting on the freeway or when I'm at a red light in the left hand lane and need to quickly get over to the right. And you know what? It's more than enough. I was going to write up a whole post about Lightning taking pre-orders for their 700 hp GT EV, but… what's the point? (Sidenote: TTAC will be taking pre-orders for our new 1,200 hp vapor electric car soon) Unless you routinely drag race (and I'm talking, you know, all the friggin' time) what on earth do you need 700 hp for? I'm not in any way suggesting we cap output, I just want to know who's buying these beasts? And why? For the record, 420 hp feels just about right. You?
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0-60 mph in 8 seconds is just fine. Much faster and it starts getting insane. Much slower and it starts getting dangerous. By the way, I get that performance from my 195 HP Camry V6. If you really want to snap your neck: take a motorcycle.
EJ_San_Fran; My Speed3, stock, did 0-60 in the five second range, and I'd hardly call it "insane". Well, back then at least.
I think this "horsepower" dilemna is all about what the person wants his or her car to do. My sister thinks her 2003 Camaro is just a beast with 7lbs of boost and 380hp. Me on the other hand I drive daily a 638hp mustang gt! I know it may seem like a lot to some people but to me its just fine . Like some one else said earlier its all about balance! thats why i have crossed drilled 12" rotors on all four tires to provide the stop power!!!
You have to remember all cars have a BHP that is the horsepower as advertised but in actually the horsepower at the wheels WHP is about 15% less. So a 250 HP car has about 213 at the wheels since the drivetrain eats up 15%, 4 wheel car even more closer to 20%