Technical How much is enough for you?

Depends on how much "lard" your ride is carrying and what you want to do with the car I reckon.

Oh an how much dinero you wanna shell out.

But isnt "improving the breed" called hot rodding ?

 

Me? I'll stick with 400hp and 480ft.lb. of torque that has gone 30+ years and a heap of miles without needing anything much more than oil and filter changes.

It gets me along just fine and gets 18mpg (on a good day...)

 

I realize there are factors like inflation, but how do the cost of today’s “muscle cars”(Hellcat, SS Camaro, Hemi Challenger, Mustang, etc) compare to the cost of the muscle cars of the Sixties and early Seventies? It’s my guess(I don’t really know for sure) that horsepower was much more affordable “back in the day”. Any ideas?


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I bought a new Camaro Z28 in 1968 for $3600 which would equate to $26,541.72 in 2019.....so it seems you are correct, at least using that as an example!

 

But today's new cars are so much nicer. Because they figured out how to make a lot of money on them. Hint : they are not stripped , bare bones cars. They have all the luxury features.

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Pickup trucks aside, highest profit margin cars are the ones with few, to no options, but color, and possibly wheels.

When you make just one thing, fully loaded, you take the variability off the assembly line.

That's the same as money.

 

Dick, that must be just money-speak because you won't get much of a 68 Z/28 now for that money.
In 1971, while still in high school, I drove my pal to buy his 68 Z/28, don't recall the price but I'm betting a bare "MO" 302 block goes for much more than that now.

 

$3600 in 1968 is equal to $26,541.72 in 2019, so I was saying that you can't buy a similar car today for what you could back then!

 

then there's the ol farts and their flatheads..........."Whats this power thing you speak of"....................

 

I just wanna say something that could get me banned or at least a serious talking to here. LOL

Actually when talking ZOT we usually want to talk HP and in my mind it is not a real number. At least it cannot be measured as well as torque. it is a calculated number based on Torque and RPM. So when determining what is enough or too much maybe we should talk torque as opposed to HP. Torque is what the ant uses to move a mountain or a driver uses to move a vehicle. When building the optimum engine for whatever I actually determine the amount of torque desired and where in the RPM range I want that torque to happen. I guess that makes me not as good a builder as the next guy but it gets the job done for me.

 

I think the new high horsepower cars are great!
They make for very entertaining YouTube videos.
On rainy days I can watch multiple idiots on YouTube, doing burnouts, etc. leaving a car show, cruise in, or some other car event, and then crashing their $60-80,000 toys!
Horse power is best used in moderation!
KK

 

Banned, NAY NAY!

"Torque is what moves the car" that statement has stuck with me since the first time I heard it.
Apparently I have mellowed in my old age as torque was more on my radar than rpm was when I put my 427 small block together.

 

If you have to ask how much is to much there in is the difference between drivers, street riders vs hotrodders/ racers.. me my right pedal is " tuned " to perfection and never gives me more then I tell it to.... hence never is there to much under the hood...


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Circle track guys say, "Horsepower is how fast you were going when you hit the wall. Torque is how far you moved the wall!"

 

Tom T Hall said it best .....
"It's faster horses, younger women,
Older whiskey, and more money"!

Im having fun with my 95 hp Flathead 6 in my Dodge while
my O/T Mercury 408 makes 350 hp and 480 tq

 

I'm buttoning up a 230 c.i. Dodge flathead in my '54 C1B pickup. In an attempt to make the thing go faster, I have had the head milled and am ready to add a pair of 2 barrel carbs, a split manifold, and a real live no shit Isky cam for a little performance. I'm looking at getting around 110 h.p. if all goes well.

My dad would have said that that engine set up would not have pulled a sick whore off an Army cot. The man had a way for words, all right.

 

It is power that moves the car, not torque [In physics ,there needs to be a measurement of time]
When you park a car up against a solid weight and stand on the gas that is torque! When the weight starts moving a set distance within a time-frame ,that is power.

They got it wrong
Torque is how tight the bolt is! Power is how hard the wrench hits you in the face when the bolt snaps!

I hope not! I'm in that Older Women category

 

I always said TORQUE moves mountains and HP is how many mountains you want to move!

 

When you have enough torque to rotate the Earth on a different axis... Then you'll have enough!...

 

Why is this thread listed in "technical" should be listed in "jealously" if you have to complain how much horsepower someone else has...good grief
I know plenty of guys that are 70+ and out there dropping the hammer in 9 second drag cars at every chance they can get, so you can't blame your age on wanting less that's for sure. It's called Hot Rodding for a reason, have you never had an adrenaline rush in your life, that's what horsepower does. If you're not getting it, then you don't have enough and you better add some more which is how high horsepower cars get where they are. Hopping up your hot rod's horsepower is a way to get adrenaline but it wears off quickly so your 300 turns into 400, then 5, then 6, then 7, then 8. Just like a junky looking for high only you're looking for high horsepower to get that rush.
If you're the type that gets terrified when you lose your stomach going over a small hill then you're not the type for a "hot" hot rod, which is fine, but don't criticize the guy that likes that feeling and wants a bigger hill to jump.

 

As always, are we racing or cruising ? At one time (age 22-43 ) I owned/raced Midgets then 600-700 HP winged Sprint cars, that was big time fun, thrills. At this time in my life, Yes, I would like to buy a Hellcat, No I don't want to spend 75K for one and sneaking up on 72 what would I do with 700+ HP. When I was a kid, 60's we hopped up our Chevy's to maybe 300/350 HP and most of us had 1 car, street race car, work car, grocery getter, baby hauler. When the muscle cars hit, way too many accidents, the Insurance industry killed them and guessing that will happen again with today's HP cars available. In my world today 300/350 Hp is plenty and I want/have hobby cars/drivers/suv that runs on our shitty 87 octane 10% ethanol gas at $3/gal, gets reasonable mpg with all the comforts a/c etc. To each their own said the farmer who hugs his cows.

 

As long as he ain't behind his sheep.

 

Lol....

 

Is there a problem officer?

 

It depends if its usable HP or more precisely torque. I drove a 6-71 detroit diesel238 hp 2 cycle with a 10 speed. loaded to 80,000 required constant shifting to keep the RPM in the usable range. The last truck had a computer fuel 475 HP cat engine. 13 speed. And I ran it 58 MPH in 12 th gear and hardly ever needed to shift. And It got better fuel economy that that little 426 cube 2 cycle screaming jimmy. In a GM pickup I like a 250 six better than a 292. Just don't use that extra Torque very often. In a drag race there aint no such thing as too many HP & cubic inches or too many RPM

 

I understand the attraction of the new factory super cars.
They are comfortable (A/C, stereo sound, race style seating etc), fast (700-800 hp, 6-8 speed gear boxes), safe (air bags, race style restraints, z rated tires, large 4 wheel disc brakes) & in most cases the cars are good looking(as good as new car can get).
You can go to any dealership & get one if you have deep enough pockets.
They are becoming almost "belly button" cars, everywhere you go, there they are in some form or another.
I would say that these new cars make up about 10-15% of the cars at local car shows?
Personally I like to drive something a little out of the ordinary.
I like the uncomfortable seats ,the smell of gas & exhaust, the sound of a well tuned V8 through long tube headers, the whole unrefined vibe that encompasses Hot Rods ,Customs & the unappreciated (on this site anyways) Muscle Car.
I subscribe to the addage "Built not bought".
I'm into my car for less than 25k (a fraction of what a new Mustang, Camaro or Challenger/Charger) & usually have the only car like it at any show or cruise.
True it also has a fraction of the horsepower but 425 hp(@flywheel) in a 2800# car is a lot of fun.
Horsepower is addictive, I've been driving it in this form for 3 summers & I want more!

 

As much as I hate to admit it. the new fuel injected computer engines do make more HP and its more reliable than our old souped up carbed engines. My wife has a 6 cyl fuel injected 2 wheel drive 4 speed automatic. OT Jeep Cherokee. and it easy turns 110 MPH in the quarter easy high 14 second car. and way over 200,000 miles on the drivetrain.

 

Doh!
No, I did not know that.
My apologies to @Mimilan

 

Interesting conversations on HP, Torque and Power. Here's my take on this subject, I passed this advice onto my sons, #1 Never underestimate the Power of Money. #2 Never underestimate the Power of Pussy, it cannot move mountains, But it can get a man/men to move mountains. My daughters only got advice #1 from me, I think they figured out #2 on their own by judging my son in laws.( Good Guys) LOL Before and If this gets removed I hope it put a few smiles on some fellow seniors, young bucks won't get it.

 

I subscribe to my Dads saying;

Some is good,
More is better,
Too much is just enough!

This applies to a lot of things.