Technical How much is enough for you?

The wife's 2019 Mustang GT makes 460 hp, redlines at 7500 rpm and will hit 100 before you know it while you're laid back and steering with one hand. Smooth as silk. Hit 100 in the coupe and it's a near-death experience.
They offer very different driving experiences but I like them both.

 

I mean that’s just a brilliant piece of homespun hotrod philosophy right there. I think Lippy has answered the question.

 

I can almost guarantee the guys that did the first Flathead V8 transplant were wishing for more...........

 

With a 2.9 liter Whipple Supercharger.

There's a fellow who brought his new Hellcat to the Friday street legal drags and was runnng 9.80's- 10.00 all night long.

 

That's funny.

I have put SEVEN cars across the dyno that are over 1,000-horsepower, at the wheels. Each is over 275hp at 2,500 rpm, all on pump gas.

Each of them is a Honda K24, 1,998cc (122 C.I.D.) four-cylinder, with a 72mm-78mm hair dryer, and can reasonably be driven to the grocery store (with earplugs). Each can make a 60's-70's muscle car look impotent on the drag strip, and on the skidpad. If that's not enough, you can have 2,000-horsepower out of one, and cut an E.T. of 7.47 seconds at 215.48 mph, front wheel drive.

It is called digital engine management, boost, and hyper-efficient design. Carburetors do not get you there.

Even a dowdy 5.3l LS engine, with a $200 88mm Chinese knockoff turbo kit, from eBay, and a cheap cam (revised LSA, to accommodate boost), can top 750hp, of which, 450 is available from 3250-up.

None of this is welcome here, you you did cast doubt on the veracity of horsepower claims.

 

We're still waiting for one of them little import things to show up on Drag Week and kick butt. It's been a long wait. Still waiting.

If you want to see some fun cars with way too much power driving around, that's a good place to see it. There's even a nitro car, for gosh sakes.

 

Agree....just bought what I'm guessing was an early class sedan - running a sbc hooked up to a 39 top loader style trannie to a banjo....going back to a flattie.....it's a 1940 Ford sedan.

 

Those guys don't bother themselves with what they call "dinosaur cars".

 

I work for a race shop that does driveline stuff for about any kind of car out there. But mostly we cater to really high end street cars and drag cars. Get customers every single day with 800-1200hp in a street driven vehicle, and some race cars in classes that make 2500+ hp. The technology and ability to make crazy power now a days is mind blowing.

Id really like for my race car to make in the low to mid 500 range. But honestly at this point though im just happy if one of mine runs.

 

I don't know what HP the little non-HAMB friendly V6 motor in my coupe makes, and I really don't know what the car weighs.

I do know I can get rubber in 3rd gear (OK its just a chirp, but its tire spin just the same) if I'm beating on it hard. 3:55 gears, limited slip with 225 x 75r x 15 tires, so its not a open wheel spin. It is fun to drive. I also know it gets 17 mpg around town, and about 22 on the highway @ 65 mph.

My recent build hot rod pickup has a 360 V8 with an auto trans behind it. I believe the truck may be lighter then the coupe, it sure feels a lot faster. It is traction challenged, and puts you back in the seat when it finally hooks up. It too is a lot of fun to drive, but its a different kind of fun then the coupe is.

Back in my younger days, I had some pretty fast hot rods (think built big block Mopars with 4 speeds). I did a few years of the taboo street racing. I also had a big pile of broken parts. There were a few times I was skating by barely hanging onto my drivers license.

I have a few observations through my 62 year old eyes. I know my reaction times are not nearly as fast as they were when I was 20, I know my eye site isn't as good as it was when I was 20, and I know my body doesn't move like it did when I was 20. Its a really good thing I did all the pursuit of HP when I was a younger man. Some of those rides I had when I was younger would be a lot more dangerous now as an older man, then they were in the hands of that younger me back then. I sure don't miss the pile of broken parts, nor the work (and cost) involved with changing those broken parts.

I recently declined the chance to drive a Hellcat and a Viper because I have taken one of those 400 hp Chargers for a few drives. I can tell you it could be addicting real fast, and would probably be pretty dangerous in these old hands. They are so smooth you don't realize how fast your going and could easily forget how much hp is under you.

So how much is enough for me? Enough to give me a little thrill when I feel the need. In older cars & trucks, that number is a lot lower then it would be in the newer stuff. The newer stuff needs a power booster like a turbo or a supercharger to give the same kick in the seat as pure throttle gives you in the old stuff. Gene

 

Ford Barn called- They want all of you old fucks that lost your MO JO back!

 

The guys running mid 6s with their dinosaur cars could show the dyno racers a thing or two....

But I guess if you are king of the dyno, you don't have to take real man risks.

 

Do you have access to Youtube on your internet connection? Every single record run is on video. You can even see a Toyota AE86 run under 6-seconds, and over 240mph.

This is not a case of conditional existence. Just because you did not see it, does not mean that it did not happen.

 

Oh...Yeah? Well ...I, I bet they don't have points and drum brakes. Bet ya they don't. And.... do they hang their arm out the windows, all kinda cool like? Huh uh, their windows are open just enough for the vape cloud to roll out.
No points!?! What's next? No Santa?

 

I wondered how far I'd make it before somebody quoted from TLB. This is what I used to subscribe to. I still find it to be true... just not in quite the same way. I used to look at it like The Driver and always want to go as fast as possible. Once I had gone fast(in my opinion), the rush got less and less and now I would need to go significantly faster to get the same rush. The first dozen or so times I drove my '56 Chevy(529.8 hp small block on pump gas) it was unreal(to me). Now, it's still fun, but I would prefer it to be more cruising-friendly.

I guess, if someone has the $ and the skill to continue going faster and faster, then go for it. For me, at this point, I'm pretty much content with a dependable, 200-300 hp driver.

Times change, people change. I just wanna do my own thing in my own time without being hassled by The Man.

 

I've got three bone stock rigs sitting in the yard that will go way faster than I want to drive any of them 1 straight six, 1 V6 and one V8 I saw 115 in Nevada with the V8 on a road trip and that wasn't even close to wide open Not bragging but when you think you are doing about 80 an the speedo says 115 and the GPS says 115 it wakes you up.
I've had the 400+ hp 327 that if it had been in a lighter and more streamlined car would been way too fast on the street in the 70's Even in the 57 panel it held it's own in two block street races.
For the 48 or the A I don't need a lot of horse power just enough so that I can maintain good highway speed when I am on a road trip and enough so if I want to pull out and pass I can do it safely without overtaxing the rig. Thought I was going to see a head on right beside me Saturday because the fool trying to pass me didn't have enough power to pass safely in the time he had. I had to hit the brakes to let him back in and then ended up passing him on a grade three miles down the road that his little piss pot was straining to pull at the speed limit

 

Didn't someone do that with Chryslers 45 years ago?

I have no problem with the little motors using modern technology to go fast, I'm just disappointed that they can't bring their toys out to play with the old guys and show us a thing or two. We'd really like to see it work out in the real world.

 

Sure, but that was with a 426+ inch Hemi, with a blower, not a 122-inch 4, or a 144-inch 6.

Times change. Go to an import meet, and throw down the challenge. Get TV involved. I think people would watch.

 

You should try "road racing" as a passenger..........you'll turn religious at every braking zone, waiting to meet your maker at the corner.

My husband's 49 year old vintage road racer [Big Block Corvette] would brake from 167.7 mph [270 kmh] at a 207 yard [190 m] marker and turn into a 43.5 mph [70 kmh] hairpin corner.
That is scrubbing off 124.3 mph in 207 yards or 0.60 mph per yard.

That deceleration rate is the same as 0-264 mph over a standing 1/4 mile [5.16 sec ET] with one big difference! If you overcook it on the quarter, you can back out of the throttle, whereas under braking you're stuck for the ride!

Modern downforce , brakes, and tyres would simply drive under that old car in the braking zone.
He took me for a ride in his newer model Road Racer [with ABS and 315/35 x 18 slicks] and it nearly ended in a ....................divorce

 

The challenge is there, they just haven't stepped up.

I guess specific HP is important to someone, but to me it just means you're not taking advantage of the ability to fit a lot of cubes into your car.

 

I ask the old question. How much is too much?

 

I just turned 77, and I am still of the opinion that anything worth doing is worth doing to excess.

 

If I can get any kind of ticket I want, any time I want it, then I have enough horsepower on the street.

 

I had an honest 650 horse on the street a few years ago...it was stupid. It wasn't really fun to drive, nor was it as fast as I had hoped at the track. With a manual behind it, it was a handful at the track in a hamb-friendly car. Still ran the quarter all kinds of sideways. Fortunately never hit the wall. Pushed it too hard, blew it up. Dropped in a 283 with maybe 300 horse as a replacement for a while, seemed plenty in a driver in a 3500 pound car. I came to the decision that street/strip is too much of a compromise on both sides, so that car has since been aimed completely for the street and a second car is in process dedicated to the track. I'm building a fresh 427 for that one right now, I suspect with today's components it will come in around 500 hp, and be plenty driveable. More than sufficient for daily driving, yet without the bad habits typically associated with hiperf engines. The race car should be about 800 hp, under 3000 pounds, but basically a bracket car.

Devin

 

Since when did the HAMB start talking about some puke car Rice Burner and even begin to talk about that crap along side a Hot Rod? This thread will not last long ( thank God).

Who gives a flying fart about some 4 cyl or V6 piece of shit and what It will or won't do. Man this is a Hot Rod site, or at least it used to be. I thought the HAMB was about more Power not less.

This sport ( if it can be called that) is a nostalgic based sport, it based on what used to be done, not what is being done to some off topic car, owned and operated by a computer.

A couple of things in this thread are offensive at least to me. One is that the HAMB is for restoring these old cars, I am one of the old guys on here, and I will proudly say I am NOT restoring a damn thing. I love Model A's, no that is not quite a correct statement, I love what Model A's can become. A restored Model A is just the next project but in better shape to start cutting up, and making it into a Hot Rod. The other is the Penis guy, usually the guy bringing that up for the first time is the guy with Penis envy, why else to you even mention something as dumb as that.

Like I said I am one of the older guys here. For me there is no way I will ever stop trying to make just as much Horse Power into my cars as I can. If I break them I will start over. I am not afraid to drive my cars, and there are times when I do drive them fast. If that is dangerous for that particular car, then I have done a bad job and need to fix that shit and I will. I had for sure and for certain rather have more than I need and not need it, than to have less than I need and need it.

 

Yes Virginia, there is still a Santa Claus.
He reduced his power to four reindeer, installed a third brake light, wore a parachute, installed halogen headlights, switched out the fruit jar brakes and stayed clear of airports(damn kids and their jet power) but it was still too much for the jolly old guy............. Ended up using FedEx for the rural stops and has Uber contacts in all the major cities.

 

maybe because I raced a sprint car, I knew the thrill of a piloting an 800hp/1500lb car that would wheelie the front straight and slide through a corner at 80mph was an eticket ride I couldn't duplicate on the street, I never bothered with excessive horsepower in my rods.

 

Boy talk about a buzz kill. I thought The point of a Hot Rod is to go fast. I no longer care about numbers myself, but performance parameters. None of my oldies are daily drivers. my 59
ElCamino must be able to out accelerate most modern rental cars, but be reliable for long trips, as I live in the middle of nowhere. My Henry J is being built to go fast in a straight line. The engine will be as hot as I can make it, but still be streetable. My 65 C10 is up in the air, but once again, acceleration is the goal, and, to me the most fun anyways. The 55 Studebaker has a 327, I don't know the numbers, but it is as hot as I wanted it to be. It will spin to 7200 rpm whenever I want to, and has been ultra reliable. My 72 year old Dad has it now, and he assures me, he is not afraid to excersise it. How much is too much. When it ceases to be fun, then its too much.

 

I don't what to see it!...

 

To us old buzzards these zip start buzz boxes may be quick but they don't look Kool standing still like a HAMB era machine does. Yes, they go like stink but who wants to listen to the burp, fart, empty tin can sound they make.