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Horsepower to Weight Ratio

22 messages,  Last post on Oct 24, 2006 at 4:56 PM

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What is this discussion about? Dodge Viper, Porsche Carrera GT, Chevrolet Corvette, Ford Mustang SVT Cobra, Performance Mods

Messages Page 2 of 3

#3 of 22 Re: Horsepower to Weight Ratio [mako1a] by Mr_Shiftright HOST

Jan 15, 2006 (12:48 pm)

Replying to: mako1a (Jan 15, 2006 10:15 am)
Power to weight isn't the only indicator for performance. You have to include gearing. One of my cars is only 15:1 weight to power but it's not a slug because of gearing...sure at 80 mph+ you pay the price for low gearing but in the city or on-ramps it's more than adequate.
 
Also weight affects handling, braking, etc. so while you may be very "fast" at 10:1, you may also have to work very hard on anything but a straight road. (e.g. Viper).

#4 of 22 Re: Horsepower to Weight Ratio [Mr_Shiftright] by steve_ HOST

Jan 15, 2006 (1:29 pm)

Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Jan 15, 2006 12:48 pm)
What you call low gearing I've always thought of as torque - something tells me they aren't equivalent.
 
What other factors do you have to look at? Coefficient of drag? How the weight is distributed or the front/rear bias?
 
Steve, Host

#5 of 22 Re: Horsepower to Weight Ratio [steve_] by carlisimo

Jan 31, 2006 (3:18 pm)

Replying to: steve_ (Jan 15, 2006 1:29 pm)
The way I think about it is that gearing multiplies torque at the wheels, and low gearing means greater multiplication.
 
Take a hypothetical 9000rpm engine with a flat torque curve of 100 ft-lbs. And another engine, 6000rpm redline with 150 ft-lbs of flat torque curve.
 
If you gear both of them so that the top of second gear is the same speed (usually 62mph), the high-revving one will have its torque multiplied 1.5 times more than the other one. So the wheels on both cars will experience the same torque per rev, thanks to the gearing.
 
But the high-revver will output more revs before they get to 60mph, so it'll actually reach 60mph faster. It's not totally intuitive to me... I might be wrong, so correct me if you see a mistake in there.

#6 of 22 Re: Horsepower to Weight Ratio [carlisimo] by steve_ HOST

Jan 31, 2006 (3:37 pm)

Replying to: carlisimo (Jan 31, 2006 3:18 pm)
lol, I'm not going to see any mistakes there.
 
This reminds me of those word problems I couldn't do in school - if one guy leaves NYC driving a 9000 rpm engine and another guy leaves LA driving a 6000 redline engine, who will reach the steak house in Kansas City first?
 
I'll have to rely on a seat of the pants guess when the equations start flying.
 
Steve, Host

#7 of 22 Sorry, carlisimo by fredmcmurray

Feb 01, 2006 (1:36 pm)

Actually, your hypothetical case should yield identical 0-60 times. What really matters is force at the drive wheels, which is torque times the radius of the drive wheels. Velocity equals acceleration times time and acceleration equals force divided by mass. So two cars with identical mass and identical force applied will reach identical speeds for any given amount of time.
Of course the case is so hypothetical as to be nearly meaningless in real world applicability.

#8 of 22 Re: Horsepower to Weight Ratio [mako1a] by gary045

Mar 18, 2006 (10:04 am)

Replying to: mako1a (Jan 15, 2006 10:15 am)
Some high end picks.
Horsepower to Weight Ratios
Model weight HP lbs/hp price
1999 Dodge Viper 3,380 450 7.51 $80,000
2001 Corvette Z06 3,115 385 8.09 $48,055
2000 Porsche Turbo 3,400 415 8.19 $118,000
2000 Ferrari 360 Modena 3,241 395 8.21 $179,000
1999 Porsche GT3 2,975 360 8.26 N/A
1995 Corvette ZR-1 3,535 405 8.73 $65,000
1999 Corvette C5 Coupe 3,250 345 9.42 $37,171
2000 Porsche Boxster S 2,855 250 11.4 $54,303
2000 Audi TT 2,655 225 11.8 $36,000
2000 BMW M Roadster 2,899 240 12.1 $43,743

#9 of 22 Re: Horsepower to Weight Ratio by hystricidae

Mar 19, 2006 (4:59 pm)

If 2 cars make the same torque, one at 4500, the other at 9000, all else being equal, which one will get to Kansas City first ...?

#10 of 22 title by fredmcmurray

Mar 21, 2006 (1:39 pm)

The one without the navigation system. Nobody goes to Kansas City on purpose.

#11 of 22 Re: title [fredmcmurray] by steve_ HOST

Mar 21, 2006 (2:20 pm)

Replying to: fredmcmurray (Mar 21, 2006 1:39 pm)
Steaks, BBQ and some weird concrete history if you like graft. Nice fountains at the ballpark too.
 
Steve, Host

#12 of 22 Re: title [fredmcmurray] by hystricidae

Mar 22, 2006 (9:18 pm)

Replying to: fredmcmurray (Mar 21, 2006 1:39 pm)
lol ... kind of like Levenworth

Messages Page 2 of 3

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