The Horsepower Wars
Some of my cars:
- 1968 Beetle (my first car) = 53 horsepower
- 1973 Plymouth Satellite (400 ci engine) = 250 - 300 HP (guessing based on this) (pic below)
- 2007 Buick Lucerne with Northstar V-8 = 292 HP
5.25.2010
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Somehow I'm reminded of my dad's contention that a lot of the low horsepower vehicles (and lawn tractors) of the past actually had more "get up and go" than today's "high powered" versions.
ReplyDeleteWhat was going on; more hp was achieved with higher rpms, but lower displacement and torque. So that's also why higher hp goes with better mileage, too.
Which is awfully nice going up to Eisenhower Tunnel in Colorado....going into the mountains with a little four-banger with about 85hp was just miserable.....
Upon college graduation, I drove to California (from Cincinnati) in my '68 bug. Me and 2 others. I hauled a camping trailer behind it. We stayed in CA for 3 months and then returned. That underpowered Bug hauled it OK even at freeway speeds.
ReplyDeleteThat's pretty impressive for an air cooled engine....a friend of mine notes that he can practically schedule the engine rebuild on cylinder #3 (I think) of old Bugs by mileage and how much heat it's exposed to.
ReplyDelete