It hit me last night that we are currently living in a second golden age for horsepower. 300 hp family haulers that do 0-60 faster than sports cars of 10 years ago, 400+ hp pony cars, and 600-700 hp sports cars. On the low end, we have dinky little engines like 1.4's and 1.5's putting out 160-180 hp reliably, while 2 liter engines are now pushing out 250-280 hp or more with aftermarket tunes. Granted that's with the help of forced induction. It's just incredible to me that we have all these massively powerful and reliable engines so readily available. $32k will get one into a 400 hp pony car, while $27k will get a 290 hp family sedan. $20k gets a 160 hp compact. Even $15k gets 100 hp or more.
Coupled with the modern 5-9 speed autos and manuals, and those ponies are more accessible today than in years past. Generally most of that power is accessible within a downshift or two. That's why I say we're in a second golden age of horsepower.
Coupled with the modern 5-9 speed autos and manuals, and those ponies are more accessible today than in years past. Generally most of that power is accessible within a downshift or two. That's why I say we're in a second golden age of horsepower.