Is there a thing as too much HP's?

[Andy]

News of the forthcoming 2009 550 hp CTS-V made me ask, ÔÇ£Is there such a thing as too much HPÔÇÖs?ÔÇØ

Aside from the whole environmental/petroleum use thing, what about public safety? Honestly, there is no legal way to use 550hpÔÇÖs on public roads and aside from a really long straight, when is the owner going to get to use all 550 hpÔÇÖs on the track?

http://www.autoblog.com/2008/01/08/detro...th-550-hp/

[Kaan]

It makes merging easier when you get stuck behind that Prius that cant get its ass up to the speed limit in the 300 yard merging zone.

[G.Irish]

News of the forthcoming 2009 550 hp CTS-V made me ask, ÔÇ£Is there such a thing as too much HPÔÇÖs?ÔÇØ

Aside from the whole environmental/petroleum use thing, what about public safety? Honestly, there is no legal way to use 550hpÔÇÖs on public roads and aside from a really long straight, when is the owner going to get to use all 550 hpÔÇÖs on the track?

http://www.autoblog.com/2008/01/08/detro...th-550-hp/

A 5000 lb SUV or 10 ton semi is much more dangerous to the public that a car like the CTS-V. Yeah if someone comes screaming through a yellow/red light at 95 mph it could be problematic but I'd have to say that I'm much more concerned about someone t-boning me in a Canyonero.

As for not using all of the horsepower, who cares? Every sport-minded motorcycle for sale today is too fast for the road but its not that big of a deal. And pretty much anything above 300 hp is a bit too much to really stretch out on the road. No biggie.

[Kaan]

well on a bike... i use the "power" to get out of the way of people that dont use their mirrors.

[.RJ]

well on a bike... i use the "power" to get out of the way of people that dont use their mirrors.

I think I need a b-king

[Apoc]

Can horsepower be possessive... 'cause plural doesn't include the ' or the s.

...and no, there's no such thing as too much... just the wrong application of it. Perhaps there should be driver requirements for anything over 300, just like there should be for supersport motorcycles.

[Sijray21]

There's no such thing as too much horsepower, but there is such a thing as not enough traction

On a serious note i think that a lot of the higher horsepower cars and motorcycles are a little excessive, but most of the horsepower really isn't being used by the general public since the rating is just the peak (typically...i'm not talking about the flat power curves or the low-rpm torque monsters). I think this falls into the category "it's nice to have it".

[.RJ]

just like there should be for supersport motorcycles.

I'd love to see some sort of graduated licensing system here... but it'll never happen. The lawmakers are too worried about traffic fines, baseball and global warming.

[Andy]

News of the forthcoming 2009 550 hp CTS-V made me ask, ÔÇ£Is there such a thing as too much HPÔÇÖs?ÔÇØ

Aside from the whole environmental/petroleum use thing, what about public safety? Honestly, there is no legal way to use 550hpÔÇÖs on public roads and aside from a really long straight, when is the owner going to get to use all 550 hpÔÇÖs on the track?

http://www.autoblog.com/2008/01/08/detro...th-550-hp/

A 5000 lb SUV or 10 ton semi is much more dangerous to the public that a car like the CTS-V. Yeah if someone comes screaming through a yellow/red light at 95 mph it could be problematic but I'd have to say that I'm much more concerned about someone t-boning me in a Canyonero.

As for not using all of the horsepower, who cares? Every sport-minded motorcycle for sale today is too fast for the road but its not that big of a deal. And pretty much anything above 300 hp is a bit too much to really stretch out on the road. No biggie.

I don't disagree but at the same time, F=MA. Up the acceleration and you don't need as much mass. I didn't think legislation was necessary to deal with some of my concerns with SUVÔÇØs because at such large production numbers, the market would be able to regulate itself.

However, I don't think that companies should be allowed to produce cars that are essentially PR/Marketing tools that are harmful to society and costly to taxpayers. In my mind, I see these cars as a marketing tool that externalized its costs to the taxpayer.

[Dave]

I recall reading a old racer (my memory sucks) saying that if you can't spin the wheels in every gear, you don't have enough power. I've always thought it was kinda funny :-).

As for the street, I think it's stupid to continue with the horsepower nutswinging that is going on, but that's just way it's going to be. It's cool, because some good cars come out of it, but it scares me that normal people with zero training and out there driving them around like they know what they are doing. People in this country don't take driving seriously enough as it is, so it bothers me that we just keep giving them more power and momentum (due to increased curb weights) to go around ramming into each other.

[CaptainHenreh]

News of the forthcoming 2009 550 hp CTS-V made me ask, ÔÇ£Is there such a thing as too much HPÔÇÖs?ÔÇØ

Aside from the whole environmental/petroleum use thing, what about public safety? Honestly, there is no legal way to use 550hpÔÇÖs on public roads and aside from a really long straight, when is the owner going to get to use all 550 hpÔÇÖs on the track?

http://www.autoblog.com/2008/01/08/detro...th-550-hp/

Is this the part where I say "This is America, Love it or Leave it, Hippie!" ?

I can never remember if that comes now or after.

[.RJ]

I recall reading a old racer (my memory sucks) saying that if you can't spin the wheels in every gear, you don't have enough power.

"it will never have enough power until I can spin the wheels at the end of the straightaway in high gear." - Mark Donahue.

He was talking about the 1500hp porsche 917's - you know, the one that nearly killed him at road atlanta...

[Andy]

Can horsepower be possessive... 'cause plural doesn't include the ' or the s.

...and no, there's no such thing as too much... just the wrong application of it. Perhaps there should be driver requirements for anything over 300, just like there should be for supersport motorcycles.

"Forming plurals of abbreviations

When forming plurals of abbreviated forms:

Form the plural with a lowercase s (never an es).
PBXs (not PBXes)

If the abbreviation contains internal punctuation, form the plural
with an apostrophe s.
Ph.D.'s
M.C.S.'s
(but CPUs, LANs)

Avoiding periods in abbreviated forms.

I mixed up my rules a little though HP's is still acceptable. HPs is preferred. Now we know. Thanks, Jackass.

[Maengelito]

i would probably go with HP+ instead of HPs.

[ScottyB]

However, I don't think that companies should be allowed to produce cars that are essentially PR/Marketing tools that are harmful to society and costly to taxpayers. In my mind, I see these cars as a marketing tool that externalized its costs to the taxpayer.

i think this is kind of bunk because the really, really high horsepower "halo" or "marketing" cars are produced in small enough numbers that it really doesn't add up to any major threat. as an example, i see a CTS-V maybe twice a year.

secondly, these cars tend to be expensive, which means your average Spillner Jr. can't get hold of one. To put it bluntly, in most cases idiots don't get rich.

lastly, no Regular Guy buys a 500 horsepower car. they want a prius or a camry. remember now, i'm talking in the context of halo cars.

if we're talking about 400 horsepower camrys then yeah....take it down a notch or ten.

[.RJ]

secondly, these cars tend to be expensive, which means your average Spillner Jr. can't get hold of one. To put it bluntly, in most cases idiots don't get rich.

Except for the EVO/WRX crowd...

[ScottyB]

secondly, these cars tend to be expensive, which means your average Spillner Jr. can't get hold of one. To put it bluntly, in most cases idiots don't get rich.

Except for the EVO/WRX crowd...

true but they aren't making 500 horses either.

[Apoc]

I mixed up my rules a little though HP's is still acceptable. HPs is preferred. Now we know. Thanks, Jackass.

Isn't the plural abbreviation of HP still HP anyway?

[.RJ]

true but they aren't making 500 horses either.

Not that far off with a few tweaks of the happy knob.

[G.Irish]

I don't disagree but at the same time, F=MA. Up the acceleration and you don't need as much mass.

Not quite. F = ma in the case of a car refers to how much force is applied to accelerate a mass at a certain rate. When you are talking about a collision you need to calculate momentum. Momentum is mass * velocity (p = mv). So in a 60 mph collision, a 3500 lbs CTS-V would have to be traveling 94 mph to equal the momentum of a 5500 lbs lChevy Suburban. And if you're talking about Semi's its an even bigger disparity.

If you really want to make things safer in terms of collisions you would need to enact a momentum limit. Lighter vehicles could go faster, while heavier vehicles would need to go slower. That would be the only way to be fair.

I didn't think legislation was necessary to deal with some of my concerns with SUVÔÇØs because at such large production numbers, the market would be able to regulate itself.

However, I don't think that companies should be allowed to produce cars that are essentially PR/Marketing tools that are harmful to society and costly to taxpayers. In my mind, I see these cars as a marketing tool that externalized its costs to the taxpayer.

You'd have to talk about the exact externalities imposed by a given vehicle to be fair. An SUV or truck uses a lot more gas, emits more CO2, puts more wear on the road, takes up more space causing more traffic, and endangers other drivers more than the average sports car. On paper it seems like an ultra fast car is a public menace but in reality it is hardly a factor.