What's considered good bhp

wotzgoingon · 23-08-2014 1:31am #1

As above what is considered decent bhp?
My own opinion is 150-200 bhp.
I know you can get a lot of car's with more but that range above is good performance, so I think anyway.

dgt · 23-08-2014 1:34am

Power to weight

Keith186 · 23-08-2014 1:36am

dgt wrote: »

Power to weight

e=mc²

toastedpickles · 23-08-2014 1:42am

bout tree fiddy

wotzgoingon · 23-08-2014 1:42am

dgt wrote: »

Power to weight

Sure some TDi's I drove have 110 bhp and I didn't consider them slow. Don't know what they weighed though.

Toyotafanboi · 23-08-2014 1:43am

dgt wrote: »

Power to weight

i agree.

i had 130bhp in my starlet and it was nippy as ****. i had the same in the vectra and it was very sluggish.

i think they say the "minimum requirement" for fun is 100bhp per tonne isn't it?

dgt · 23-08-2014 1:48am

A good example. This 325 has about a 100bhp advantage over the Seicento, which weighs about 700kg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVBMlYWWcvc

Noccy_Mondy · 23-08-2014 1:51am

Ya entirely depends on the cars size/weight, Mondeo's 125 is great, even the 90 in the Focus ain't too shabby, the pin moves up fairly lively. Now only if I had 125 in the focus......

JC01 · 23-08-2014 10:36am

It's very true what other posters said about power to weight but IMO 200+ is the minimum before you can even start calling a car nippy, and that would be in the like of an old light jap car etc.

Guy:Incognito · 23-08-2014 10:42am

I'd like more than 180 in my s80. Another 50 maybe.

YbFocus · 23-08-2014 11:08am

Have 220 in the 530 and it used to seem nippy. You become used to it like anything!

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime · 23-08-2014 11:27am

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

I'd like more than 180 in my s80. Another 50 maybe.

Theres some serious speed in an S80 with 180BHP

i was very happy with the S80 with the power it had even with my one having an automatic gearbox, still plenty of power and speed from a 2L !

Comhrá · 23-08-2014 12:34pm

My 1980 Mk.1 Golf GTI had 110 bhp back in the day and it was a right little black rocket. (Didn't have the brakes to match though) and recently I had a 2011 VW Jetta with 105 bhp and it was pretty leisurely.

Have an Audi A3 Saloon 1.4 petrol with 138 bhp and it feels pretty fast and is a pleasure to drive it on a bit occasionally.

The bhp no. is only half the story. weight/power ratio plus the gearing and maybe aerodynamics?

Kenny Logins · 23-08-2014 12:47pm

dgt wrote: »

Power to weight

This. 100 bhp in a beetle (~800kgs and RWD) is a lot of fun. In a Golf it's just meh.

Chimaera · 23-08-2014 12:58pm

How much is enough is a bit complicated. Power to weight has to be the figure used for any comparison - a 125 bhp Caterham is going to be a whole pile faster than a 150 bhp Golf because of the better power to weight ratio.

After that though it depends on what kind of driving experience you want and how often you want to experience it. A 450 bhp sports car is going to be great fun on a track, but your opportunities to make use of that power in the real world will be limited: the speeds you need to achieve to enjoy the car are too high for most roads.

Which brings me neatly to the idea of grip and traction. There's an increasing argument to be made for bringing grip down to allow more fun at lower speeds and lower power levels. James May made the point well when he compared the Caterham R600 to the new 160 model: the R600 was dynamite on a track but just not that much use in the real world. Chris Harris found something similar when he put 4 spacesavers on a Merc C63 AMG and hooned it around a track: the stupidly low grip made it a lot more fun.

For normal driving in the real world, I reckon something around 100-150 bhp/tonne is probably the usable limit. More than that is nice, but you're heading into diminishing returns.

Comhrá · 23-08-2014 1:08pm

This was the coolest car in the 80's: 112 bhp, 0-60 in 8.4 sec. Around 115 mph max (Aerodynamics of a load of bales)

Pretty economic if driven reasonably, around 35mpg overall.

Serious fun to drive though

corglass · 23-08-2014 1:58pm

Keith186 wrote: »

e=mc²

That's not exactly relevant here. ...

Supergurrier · 23-08-2014 2:07pm

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime wrote: »

Theres some serious speed in an S80 with 180BHP

i was very happy with the S80 with the power it had even with my one having an automatic gearbox, still plenty of power and speed from a 2L !

Would tend to disagree tbh, by no means a fast car and my S60 weighs even less, plus manual gearing is too long.

Cleveland Hot Pocket · 23-08-2014 3:17pm

wotzgoingon wrote: »

As above what is considered decent bhp?
My own opinion is 150-200 bhp.
I know you can get a lot of car's with more but that range above is good performance, so I think anyway.

I drove a 1988 ford F350 with a 188bhp 7.3 litre engine in a 3 ton truck.
BHP aint everything laaad

Cleveland Hot Pocket · 23-08-2014 3:18pm

Supergurrier wrote: »

Would tend to disagree tbh, by no means a fast car and my S60 weighs even less, plus manual gearing is too long.

It's quick by irish standards, if you're used to sh!tty cars then 180bhp in a car that weighs a house is still quick.
In the real world though it isn't fast at all. Fast IMO is a sub 7 seconds 0-60. Sub 5 seconds would be epicly fast.

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime · 23-08-2014 3:38pm

Supergurrier wrote: »

Would tend to disagree tbh, by no means a fast car and my S60 weighs even less, plus manual gearing is too long.

That's strange tbh.... i mean i got mine upto about 145-150mph according to the speedo a few times

The thing was about the s80 was it never felt fast but it actually was , it just never felt it

HandsomeDan · 23-08-2014 5:57pm

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime wrote: »

That's strange tbh.... i mean i got mine upto about 145-150mph according to the speedo a few times

The thing was about the s80 was it never felt fast but it actually was , it just never felt it

Top speed 9nly has a limited bearing on acceleration which is really what it's all about.

8 to 60 is adequate. 6 and below is fast. Imo.

StudentDad · 23-08-2014 6:04pm

I often wonder what's the bloody point in Ireland. I was travelling behind a Skoda VRS recently and you could feel the frustration of the driver. All that power and literally nowhere to go with it. He drove aggressively, overtook like a maniac and two minutes up the road I'll roll on up behind him.

I'm not a slow driver by any means but by god I often think, what's the point?

SD

mphalo1 · 23-08-2014 6:24pm

300bhp no less

quadrifoglio verde · 23-08-2014 6:29pm

StudentDad wrote: »

I often wonder what's the bloody point in Ireland. I was travelling behind a Skoda VRS recently and you could feel the frustration of the driver. All that power and literally nowhere to go with it. He drove aggressively, overtook like a maniac and two minutes up the road I'll roll on up behind him.

I'm not a slow driver by any means but by god I often think, what's the point?

SD

Quiet Country road, lots of bends and more than 100bhp/tonne equals big cheesy smile.

StudentDad · 23-08-2014 6:36pm

quadrifoglio verde wrote: »

Quiet Country road, lots of bends and more than 100bhp/tonne equals big cheesy smile.

I agree

Can be hard to find though.

SD

quadrifoglio verde · 23-08-2014 7:02pm

StudentDad wrote: »

I agree Can be hard to find though.

SD

They're everywhere...

corktina · 23-08-2014 7:21pm

Noccy_Mondy wrote: »

Ya entirely depends on the cars size/weight, Mondeo's 125 is great, even the 90 in the Focus ain't too shabby, the pin moves up fairly lively. Now only if I had 125 in the focus......

I think 202 in my Mondeo and 173 in my Focus are not shabby at all :-)

wotzgoingon · 23-08-2014 7:31pm

corktina wrote: »

I think 202 in my Mondeo and 173 in my Focus are not shabby at all :-)

Which is faster (not top speed but quickest off the line) and better to drive?

Twas Not · 23-08-2014 7:36pm

dgt wrote: »

A good example. This 325 has about a 100bhp advantage over the Seicento, which weighs about 700kg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVBMlYWWcvc

Sounded like the Beemer was in the wrong gear.

corktina · 23-08-2014 8:14pm

wotzgoingon wrote: »

Which is faster (not top speed but quickest off the line) and better to drive?

good question...the Mondeo just shades it (0-60 7.7 as opposed to 7.9) and is more comfortable. The Focus is probably more fun as it doesn't look quite as out there as the Mondeo

Noccy_Mondy · 23-08-2014 8:44pm

corktina wrote: »

I think 202 in my Mondeo and 173 in my Focus are not shabby at all :-)

Stop showing off :P

pudzey101 · 23-08-2014 9:04pm

Have 190-220bhp in a car that weights about 1024kg nippy out !!

Gumbo · 23-08-2014 9:38pm

I have just short of 180bhp and just short of 300 foot pounds of torque in my Fabia, and that a lot! But I had 345 bhp and 500 foot pounds in the E60 before that. It's all relative!

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime · 23-08-2014 9:38pm

id get one of these if i could

http://www.createforum.com/ljp/viewtopic.php?t=2029&sid=192119deb92206157320ef10fb604e36&mforum=ljp

wotzgoingon · 23-08-2014 9:39pm

pudzey101 wrote: »

Have 190-220bhp in a car that weights about 750kg nippy out !!

What car is that?

corktina · 23-08-2014 9:51pm

Variohorsepower model....

HandsomeDan · 24-08-2014 1:01am

Pudz is fos

pudzey101 · 24-08-2014 1:11am

dont be jelous dan , its a stripped out dc2

MortGoldman · 24-08-2014 1:44am

I have 197 bhp ( probably 170-180 really) in my FTO Version R.

193 bhp standard e39 530d. The FTO feels faster and definitely is 0-60, but the BMW is relentless on the open road. Going to remap the 530d soon to take it to 230. To be honest, I think 160-170 is the bare minimum I can tolerate in a daily driver. Driving my girlfriends 04 c220 cdi is a pain in the arse and that has 140 or so.

wotswattage · 24-08-2014 4:43am

My old 150bhp Golf Mk3 GTI would eat my 160bhp Alfa 159 in a straight line.
1090kg vs 1480kg!!

Overall I'd say any car with 150+ bhp should be able to move with some urgency if needs be. Not necessarily rapid, but 150bhp is more than a good share of cars on the road regardless of weight.

gctest50 · 24-08-2014 5:46am

Twas Not wrote: »

Sounded like the Beemer was in the wrong gear.

seems to happen a lot - they need a shift light or smth

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEPu6TyMGt8

lomb · 24-08-2014 10:55am

250bhp seems to be the sweetspot where there aren't many performance gains beyond. Traction control kills the power anyway and unless you've all wheel drive you wil struggle to get the power down.

kay 9 · 24-08-2014 11:32am

Bhp without torque is no fun. Had a Rover 25 van 2.0 td with 155bhp and 250lbft torque with minimal work & cost needed and that was fun to drive bar the handling being a little testing. I think they weigh somewhere between 1100 - 1200kg. 0-60 was low 7s. Sub 7 sec 0-60 would have needed a vnt turbo upgrade, upgraded clutch etc and that's all ££ I didn't have.

simplybam · 24-08-2014 11:48am

In regards to power to weight ratio. Got a Merc E 200 Kompressor with 163 bhp and a Kawasaki ZZR 1200 with 168 bhp. Car weighs in at about 1.5 tons and bike at roughly 250 kg. Guess which one is faster and accelerates better?

Merc: 0-60 in 9.8 seconds, top speed 230 km/h
Bike: 0-60 in 3.2 seconds, top speed 270 km/h

Bohrio · 24-08-2014 11:51am

Power is never enough, 200, 300, 400, it might be ok for a while but after a few hours you always want more

kay 9 · 24-08-2014 11:53am

Bohrio wrote: »

Power is never enough, 200, 300, 400, it might be ok for a while but after a few hours you always want more

That's why the lads on top gear find it hard to review family estates I'm thinking :d

B Rabbit · 24-08-2014 12:07pm

Went from a 130bhp tdi mk4 golf which I thought was quick until I got a 200bhp MK5 GTI. After a while i'm sure I'll get used to the power.

Pawwed Rig · 24-08-2014 12:09pm

JC01 wrote: »

It's very true what other posters said about power to weight but IMO 200+ is the minimum before you can even start calling a car nippy, and that would be in the like of an old light jap car etc.

True that. my insurance company tried to tell me that my Insignia 160bhp was a high powered car :pac:

corktina · 24-08-2014 12:14pm

Bohrio wrote: »

Power is never enough, 200, 300, 400, it might be ok for a while but after a few hours you always want more

yep, too much is just enough....for now

Bohrio · 24-08-2014 2:02pm

corktina wrote: »

yep, too much is just enough....for now

Thats what I said about mine... I'll give you a month

What's considered good bhp

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