Hot Rods Horsepower minimum, got a number?

Wow,the guy has a formula...I don't do math.

 

That's what is wrong with the world right there.

 

yeah, but his formula is off! so it doesn't matter.

Everyone knows you can only move 4 lbs with 1 hp

 

Right at the very end of a header collector.

I run extensions that bolt on my headers when I race that are 18” long. At idle my AFR gauge is at 20:1 or high as the gauge will register. Soon as I accelerate it starts reading more accurate and at full song it’s right on the money.

 

Thank you
Dan

 

And toss performance cams out of em

My 283 cane with a 350hp cam. Gonna leave that on the shelf for something smaller.

 

It’s all you need so Y-not!

 

Straight Line ,
Leaning to control the toque/power to your tires is the Challenge
( testing my self)
at least for me,

You will know that you have the feel when you can Black track the tiers with out Completely smoking like you doing a Burn out , & not go Nowhere ..

Left & Right turning is thrilling also Challenging in Hight torque / hp weight to tires,

 

I like big power because the throttle pedal has finer resolution.

 

Sometimes it is more fun to drive a slow car fast, especially if it is a manual transmission.

CN

 

My 64 has 450 dyno proven horsepower @ 2800lbs
My OT Plymouth has 650hp @ 3200 lbs
The Fairlane is a nice driver, it’s a little hard on drag radials but it’s more than fun to drive.
The Plymouth is on a different level, it will light the tires in high gear from a standing start and keep it up until you quit. The 3mpg on E-85 can be an inconvenience but damn it’s fun.

I will say that driving either of them isn’t about driving like an idiot because I don’t, there both high strung and I get a kick knowing there not pretenders.

 

I don't know what HP my 49 has (probably not much, pretty stock 20+ year old motor), and I really don't know what the truck weighs (it is not a light weight, probably in the 4800lbs range. Some day I might run it across a scale just to see). I could make up some HP and torque numbers, if it makes you feel better...

I know it will spin (squeal) the tires, to fit an earlier HP chart, leaving a stop sign, and I know it has the power to pass someone on the highway, if I feel the need. The brakes are great, the suspension is a bit on the soft side (it rides very nicely), but handles pretty well (bigger torsion bars would help both). The tires are up to the task the truck requires. That is good enough for me!

I did the max HP numbers back in my younger years, had a pile of broken expensive parts to prove it. My off topic Plymouth could scare the hell out of you at any given point, you had to be ready for anything when you mashed the gas pedal, and you better been ready to upshift fast. It had disc brakes (I added them), it was low to the ground (on functioning suspension) and had wide tires on all 4 corners. It was fun when I was younger and my reactions were much faster, it would probably kill me now. I feel no need to relive my younger days.

 

Ya, and don't forget to put that 1-1/2 single exhaust back on. Your excess hydrocarbons are killing us over here

 

Gonna go all out with this one.
2 inch duals through 55/56 manifolds.

 

A lot of truth in this.

 

Im actually running 55 Chevy manifolds with 2" exhaust on my 53 Bel Air lol

 

For my purposes I would probably be happy with 300 crank hp. It's going to be a daily driver so stuff like off the shelf parts and starting in cold weather are important to me. Currently makes around 200 hp with the 882s and peanut 1976 cam. I figure when I swap to 461s and an RV cam it'll get me close to 300 hp

 

Over the years I've come across blokes who love to tell you how they've got 450 horses under the bonnet. When you ask when did they have it on a chassis dyno they go quiet and mumble that it was on an engine dyno. "So how much H.P. at the rear wheels?" Suddenly there's somewhere else they have to be.

 

Torque is more important than HP

A stock model A ford inly produces 40hp but has 124 ft/lbs of torque

 

Well Alfred E Neuman says you only need this much horsepower to drive the posted speed limit with a .02 mph tail wind bla bla bla
I'm no Alfred E Neuman, so I like my horsepower and who cares if you're not using it all, all of the time. I like knowing that at any given time I can drop a gear while simultaneously pushing down on the skinny pedal on the right that it'll put an instant grin on my face. Who wants to drive boring cars ?
I have a couple high horsepower cars that are relatively light (2900 lbs and 2500 lbs) and one that weighs 1800 lbs with around 425 hp that I took gear out of to tame it down a bit.
Now that I'm planning an engine for the 57 pickup it's hard getting out of the mindset of picking the high horsepower parts to put in it, it'll still have 2x4's like the others though. Would be kinda nice not to have to run 93 octane.
I would think 400 hp on a small block and 500 on a big block would be my minimum on an engine I'm choosing parts for.
The few people that I have let drive my cars all seem to have a cheese eating grin on their face, so something must be right !

 

I've heard that "bragged horsepower" in inversely proportional to penis size........

 

Can I brag about torque then ???

 

Well... no. Horsepower is what performs the job, i.e. moves and accelerates the car.
Torque (twisting force) on it's own does nothing, think of it like trying to unscrew a rusted bolt - you apply torque but get no movement, hence no work gets done.
Once you break it loose you have torque AND movement, the work happens, and that is *drumroll* power. Torque multiplied by rpm is power, throw in a conversion factor and you can get the numbers in hp & ft lbs, kW & Nm or whatever you want.
(Note: that applies to one rpm only, torque @ 1500rpm multiplied by 1500 is the power at 1500rpm, you can't mix and match numbers from different rpms.)

People tend to confuse torque with power at low rpm, and/or power in a wide portion of the engines rpm range. There is a connection, but the torque itself is still useless, there has to be movement and as soon as you multiply that torque by that rpm you are talking about and using power.

 

My DD probably makes around 125bhp. It weighs 1850lbs. It's fun. Is it enough power? Not nearly.

 

Louder for the people at the back!

 

The real definition of horsepower



Your car with 200 hp



Your car with 400 hp

 

The correct answer to the original question is,” just a little bit more.”

 

Whatever a bone stock 350 Pontiac with a cast 4bbl intake makes is enough for me. In a 3000lb car with 2.70 gears even. Any more than that and I'd get myself in trouble.

 

Not much of anything that makes you smile is really "A Waste" . Ask anyone nearing the end if they wished they HADN'T done that last burnout , or accelerated quickly over a 100 mph. I'll bet most would say no ! No real point in opening your eyes if you can't have a little fun , get a little rush , you'll be " safe & practical" soon enough !

 

Might get you 250...