2 ms·

I've seen several cases where a famous old sports car, likely running at 75% of the power when new, manages to beat the 0-60, 1/4 mile, and lap times of old. J

by sliken 7y ago

I've seen several cases where a famous old sports car, likely running at 75% of the power when new, manages to beat the 0-60, 1/4 mile, and lap times of old. Just because tire technology has come that far in the last several decades. But also keep in mind that significant engineering has gone into the best engines of today to broaden the torque and HP curves. It's not unusual to have 90+% of torque from 1800 rpm to 6500 rpm. That alone could significantly help performance numbers. After all it's the area under the torque/hp curve that matters, not the peak. Imagine judging a runner by their peak speed, instead of the time to get across the finish line.

perl4ever 7y ago
"the mammoth 500 cu. in. (8,194 cc) engine in the Cadillac Eldorado fell from 400 gross horsepower (298 kW) in 1970 to only 235 net horsepower (175 kW) for 1971. The real decline wasn’t quite as steep as it looked; the 1971 engine did have a lower compression ratio to prepare for the adoption of unleaded gasoline, but the 1971 gross rating was still 365 hp (272 kW), so the actual loss was about 10%, not more than 40%" https://ateupwithmotor.com/terms-technology-definitions/gross-versus-net-horsepower/ https://ateupwithmotor.com/terms-technology-definitions/gros...