Horsepower. Less is sometimes more!

[sciphi]

Driving around today, I came to the conclusion that for the commute and vehicle needs I have, 140 hp/150 ft/lbs is entirely adequate for those needs. Those needs are commuting, getting groceries, and getting the occasional large item such as a Christmas tree. Even passing on a 2-lane road it's more than plenty. It'll get a car up to 60 mph by the end of a short on-ramp, so merging isn't an issue.

Sure, more horsepower would be nice to have in theory. The downsides are higher initial cost, higher maintenance costs of a large engine shoehorned into a small engine bay, and higher running costs such as fuel and oil. And, using that horsepower is difficult to do on a public road. Aside from the rare onramp blast or WOT 2-lane road pass, it's not used by a lot of folks. And what's there is up to the task. In those very pedestrian uses outlined above, more ponies become a liability rather than an asset.

There is a use for raw horsepower and mountains of torque. Towing a heavy trailer or hauling 5 kids/spouse/school gear to and from school. 150 ft/lbs would make for a slow ride for those folks and their needs. More power is necessary in those cases, and the folks who need it will pay for it.

I guess my point is that there's a balancing act between power and costs associated with running that vehicle. It's up to the owner to decide where the balance needs to fall.

 

[Mr Nice]

My 80 year old dad has a 2005 Civic LX with 117 horsepower and its more than adequate for everyday driving.... even for highway driving.

 

[KrisZ]

Waiting for someone to chime in and say that they need it for merging...

I totally agree. I never found myself in a situation where I had to go WOT and use engine's full power. There were ton's of situations where I wanted to use WOT and I did, but never because I had to.

 

[Corvette Owner]

A lot of manufactures (e.g. Ford) are using Turbo engines to give good fuel mileage (and low horsepower) and then supply high horsepower when needed. A great compromise!

Even the new Corvette uses cylinder shutdown (on highway and in Eco mode it runs on 4 cylinders) to get better mileage (over 26mpg on highway).

 

[yesthatsteve]

My 108-hp, un-aerodynamic xB does pretty well for similar tasks, plus hauling my kids around. I'd like a 6th gear in the MT, though. 3500 RPM at 70 mph is too much buzz on the highway, plus I'd like to see 40+ mpg with a little more regularity in the cold weather. My old Prizm did 70 at 2800, and my wife's Ody does it at about 2000.

 

[Quest]

*smiles* I got through my dirt-poor days (college days) by driving a Suzuki Forsa 3cyl, a dinky 1L 3cyl carbed with no more than 46 horses. That thing can redline around 9k rpm and overpassing an 18wheeler on highway takes some time (and lots of them), courage and some seriously high RPM windup on the passing lane, often times took mins before I can catch up on it before I approach an incline.

I got through all of those 5 yrs w/ my then GF in this car (loads of memories), with trunk full of our belongings....gas was not cheep back then but then: i can manage to get from point A to point B in just about less than 18bux of gas, provided that I nurse it gently ...(compared to my Mazda B3 1.6L engine, which would have cost me around 30bux of gas per trip.

Yeah, I know, a bit more horsey would be nice but then you have to (a) live with what you have, and (b) as a utilitian vehicle, that car served me well (c) I ended up having a very small student loan (very frugal back then), and was able to pay it off in 2.5yrs time.

now I'm continuing that tradition in more luxury (still utilitarian) in my fit, which gets me 37miles/gal city and 42 miles/gal highway, and still have A/C to keep my sweaty feet dry...

Life is good now, even though I'm on a 1.5L diet.

Q.

 

[NateDN10]

It has often been said that it's more fun to drive a slow car fast than to drive a fast car slow.

 

[badtlc]

The 106 HP in a Fiesta is more than adequate for my needs.

 

[Coprolite]

Merging in Texas can be a bit scary. It never hurts to have some power to spare. That said, most engines can be flogged enough to merge or merging can be done at slow speed and let all the others behind worry about it.

Growing up in Western NY, power was not really needed. Driving was mainly on surface roads and the terrain was flat.

Turbos have the HP all the time, unlike noted previously. Using less displacement allows the use of less fuel.

 

[gfh77665]

I have to disagree with "less is more". We parted with a 2000 Dodge Caravan, due just to lack of horsepower. It had the Mitsu 3.0L. It tried its best, but with just 150 bhp moving a large van with family of 5 + freinds and/or luggage, it struggled too much.

Looking back it was my mistake, not the vans. I should have bought one with the large V6. Too bad because we otherwise loved that van.

 

[meep]

Originally Posted By: NateDN10
It has often been said that it's more fun to drive a slow car fast than to drive a fast car slow.


i like this.

 

[Chris142]

60 years ago loads were trucked across the country with 150hp/300ft lbs, bias ply tires on split rims and 2 trans missions.

In 62 Cummins came out with the 855cuin diesel with 280hp/780ft lbs. You were king of the hills if you had a 280 in your truck. While your friends were going up hills at a slow walking speed you could "blow their doors off" while going nearly 7mph on that same hill!

So yes lots of power is not needed but it's nice to have it and not need it.

 

[cptbarkey]

Originally Posted By: Coprolite
Merging in Texas can be a bit scary.


i find people in the austin area to be fairly rude, but other cities are quite nice and polite when it comes to merging.

i'm with the OP on this on several levels. i too enjoy stupid amounts of horsepower but dumb vehicles are best left to video games. if everyone had equal amounts of power the roadways would be quite a bit safer when it comes to safe merging, passing, and overall economy.

on that note too, i've listened to audio books the last few years, and it alone has changed my driving habits to be more relaxed and less prone to putting my foot on the pedal. i highly suggest it for the pocketbook savings alone, not just the mental stimulation.

 

[SLCraig]

My car is adequate too, 140HP/128TQ but it doesn't mean I like it... haha
I long for more power all the time. It's in my veins. Even a car with a lot of power, I want to make more out of it. Why? Because you can.

Of course, at this point in my life what with a work commute, MPG wins over fun, sad time in my life for cars, for sure.

 

[rjundi]

Depends completely on the power curve, engine and transmission. If that 140 ft/lbs is available only at high RPM than it likely does not feel like enough.

Or if its a raucous of an engine that sounds like parts are going to fly at high RPM in order to twist the power its a no go. Especially poorly executed automatic transmissions due tall gearing that hestitates to downshift.

I think you drive a manual transmission which where the pleasure is coming from since you can control overcome shortcomings if any.

 

[wander2039]

Our 65hp Festiva does just fine in traffic even with the auto. If it had a manual would be a little easier. It's almost amusing I have a harder time with the Focus and 110hp/auto. I think it has to do with it being red.. makes people more aggressive it seems!

 

[SwampSurvivor]

My Focus is the lowest power vehicle I own and it has no problem merging.

I think I have around 140horsepower and maybe a bit less torque.

 

[eljefino]

My first car was a mazda 323 with 82 hp. Fun, zippy. Then I got a cadillac cimarron 1.8 with 85hp, more weight to haul around, and a horrible automatic transmission that upshifted way too early. Still, hilarity ensued if I floored it and opened the secondary in the 2 barrell carb. This car taught me the philosophy of putting the gas halfway down and letting the car make up its own mind of how fast it'd go.

Now I'm up to 100 hp that I never use. I think people like to keep revs under 3500 or so and if they have to wind a car out in 2nd gear they think they're going to break something.

 

[TallPaul]

Originally Posted By: NateDN10
It has often been said that it's more fun to drive a slow car fast than to drive a fast car slow.


Exactly. There is a lot more space to floor a 4-banger than a V-8. I have tons of fun in my 4-banger Ford Ranger and can make for some pretty lurchy shifts if I want to really fly through the gears. Also less likely to get in trouble.

 

[randomhero439]

Id prefer a powerful engine. Preferably 0-60 in the 5sec range, gets 30mpg, and has a manual transmission. Hmmm... Oh Honda V6

My Civic on the other hand, makes alot of noise for not alot of speed lol. But it gets 30+mpg around town so i dont complain.