How Much Power?

The 'confession' thread got me thinking: what's the most powerful car you've owned or regularly driven? And, how does that compare to the car you've had the most fun with on a consistent basis?

I've had around 300 hp in my Turbo Stealth, but that was years ago. The 300 hp in my dad's 'Vette was a predictably bad combination with a 17 year old driver, which tells you something about AWD and/or restraint.

Current commuter car is a ZX3 Focus - probably what, 120 hp?

The 120+ hp that my TL1000S streetfighter delivers is rather more entertaining.

I have almost as much fun in the '99 Miata (trying to sell, ask for details) on a twisty road as I do on the TL, which is certainly saying something.

In terms of horsepower? Or power/weight ratio?

I daily drove a 1987 CRX Si or awhile. Which, of course, doesn't sound too cool. But, it had nothing in it, completely stripped. I bought it off a dealer lot for $300 including all paperwork, the sunroof didn't close completely so the interior was trashed anyways.

The end result of the car before i finally gave up on it were as follows:

D16Y8 out of a 1998 Civic EX

Skunk2 Intake manifold

DC Sports header

custom 2.5" mandrel bend side exit (Fireballs ftw!!)

AEM intake

Skunk2 stage 2 cam

Mild port and polish

Chipped P61 ECU tuned with crome w/ datalogging

8lb flywheel, 4 puck unsprung clutch

ARP head studs

And the deal breaker, even though it was highly entertaining without it..... 125 shot Zex wet kit.

It was scary. I'm glad it's gone.

The P71 is 300HP/330TQ right now and I drive it everyday. My last Turbo Coupe was 300HP/340TQ @25PSI.

400hp/400lb-ft in the GTO, daily-driven. Though not right now cause I'm changing the clutch. Very slowly. Though I'm really enjoying the 82 rx7. I dunno what it actually is making cause of the mods.

for HP-200ish out of a 3L taurus OHV V6

for TQ-??? 300/I6 in an F-150

PW/WGHT 2 '98 DOHC Neons

And for shear "how did I not kill my self" pushing my 99HP '88 Accord to it's absolute limits.

'80 Mustang Fox body with autocross suspension and a 466 cid (punched out 460) engine delivering over 500 hp and 700 lb ft of torque. Fun car to drive, and with the built C6 autobox, easy to drive as well, though the brakes were not up to my usual standards. ;)

Most fun on a consistent basis was the V8 RX7. 330 or so RWHP in 2720 lbs, with autocross modded suspension and Yokohama A032Rs. Lived with that car for 4+ years in that form as a regular street driver.

For my own personal cars, the Starion and 944S are about equal at 180ish HP (at least when they were new), followed by the Lotus at around 165. All the rest have been under 150.

If you count cars I don't own but (used to) drive regularly, my parents' Grand Cherokee V8 tow vehicle makes around 230 with loads and loads of torque. My dad's '65 Mustang with a 351 Windsor probably makes 260+ but I've only driven that a couple times.

J

My street car ('90 mazdog protege 4wd)...Shagnasty drivetrain swap from a 323 GTR, 1.8l of sillyness at 22psi. 320hp/310tq at the wheels and under 2700lb. It's vastly entertaining.

I had a 400 hp big block chevy in an old station wagon, but it was dragging around 4500 lbs.

My dad's duramax is putting 450 hp and 900 lb-ft to the wheels... but the truck is about 6500 lbs.

My beetle(1970) 70ish? the loaner 99chevy pick-up (very clean) 5.7 V8 dont know, but I am NOT inpress with it nothing agaisnt it. I just dont care for it.

the most powerful I have ever owned I currently own. The 185 hp Saab 900 Turbo. I don't find it as much fun to drive as my 318ti though.

Most fun to drive would be my Fiat spiders.. all screaming 82hp of them.

Scariest car I ever drove was a Type 4 powered Volkswagen Superbeetle that I built before I got my license. Dual carbs (double dells) lightened flywheel, headers (no heat!) and a lumpy carb that would not allow it to idle below 1500 rpms.. it was a 2.0 litre that sounded like a harley and turned a nice little commuter car into an oversteering beast that constantly tried to kill me.

Most powerful in numbers? the Aurora 250hp

Fastest? The motorcycle 0-60 in 3.7

fastest car? tuned 87 Supra 245 hp

Most Torque? the S10 with the TBI Vortec

Most HP: LS400 at about 300 (also gets 26MPG) Most Torque: 72 CDV 472CI Fastest: 4 cyl Esprit (beats the LS400 after about 40MPH)

My Mustang was my fastest daily driver by far. 225 hp stock went up to about 240 with my headers and other niceities. Boy that thing was fun (the 300 ft-lbs of torque didn't hurt the car either).

Currently, the Z3 is the fastest pony in my stable. It will run a 15 second 1320. Not horrible, considering that the Miata runs it in 16 seconds at under 90 mph! (I need to get the Miata back to the drags once though . . . it's much healthier now than it was when I ran it a few months ago).

The Miata is the most fun for some reason.

i've had a more power from each subsequent vehicle that i've owned. right now its the Mazdaspeed3 with about 280 at the crank (prolly 245 wheels) its also the fastest, best handling, and most fun to drive car i've owned.

The Delta 88 has 250hp but a gnarly 500lb/ft of torque.

My daily for a while was a Lincoln Mark VII, 215hp but 300lb/ft of torque.

Scary fastest thing I've owned was a '89 Probe Turbo with waaaaay too much boost and no interior. Car lived for one month under the beating, but JEEZ it did John Force burnouts from a roll in 2nd gear. I have a little baggy full of the rod bear flakes in my desk.....

Most powerful (brute force) i've driven is a VW Touraeg V10 TDI. Felt like a freight train when the torque kicked in (500+ lb ft!!).. Most powerful i've rode in was either my friends new G8 or that E36 M3 with every engine mod done short of forced induction..

DD's-91 Protege had 125 hp and would run E36 all the way to the redline.. 92 Civic had about 90 hp but in a 2100 lb body made it pretty entertaining.. 95 Metro..48 hp..well lets just say it got great gas mileage! 89 Toyota Pickup..100 or so hp..well it was a truck motor that did blow the doors off a 200sx one night.

That I've owned, probably a toss up between my warmed over MR2 Turbo (300rwhp) and 944 Turbo. The MR2 was faster to 100, the Porsche faster over 100 and easier to drive at speed.

Most fun: another toss up but for different reasons, X1/9 or 600D, both Fiats.

Fastest driven, not counting race cars: 500 plus rwhp TT Supra. Easily faster than the '05 Viper I had just gotten out of although they had similar hp figures. It wasn't just fast, it was scary fast in the way the speed never let up, even well into triple digits.

Well, my old Q45 had 280 mfg.-rated HP (220 at the wheels) and I bumped it up to around 250 at the wheels. It wasn't themost "fun to drive" car i've ever had, but it was comfortable and ate up the miles faster and more comfortably than anything else I've ever owned.

It's funny - the older I get the less horsepower has to do with the "fun-to-drive" equation. I put a big turbo and stuff on my 9-2x and while it was putting out 300 horsepower at the wheels with 18psi, all of the power was just so much useless bragging rights. High-hp boosted engines are a riot, but really it's not all that fun to have to keep the revs above 5000 rpm. I had more fun with it when I went back to the stock turbo at 17psi.

Motorcycles also have something to do with it. A moderately fast motorcycle is faster than any car. Drive a 1000cc bike for a while and cars begin to all feel like appliances.

Roberto Bowen wrote: It's funny - the older I get the less horsepower has to do with the "fun-to-drive" equation.

I hear ya, to me at least, the speed of a car in no way relates to the fun factor. Some of the modern fast cars (we're looking at you M3 and 911) I've driven get to be yawners after a while because you have to risk going to jail for all enternity to have any fun at all. Screaming through the gears in a Miata gives me a lot more pleasure than loafing along in a 911 Turbo or C6.

I've had a few small block Ford and Chevy powered cars in 40 years of driving, but the most fun car I've ever owned or driven was a '74 Porsche 914....with the 1.8 liter engine. Even somewhat "clapped out" it was a great driver. It just barely beats the car it replaced: an '80 Ford Fiesta. The Ford loses because it seats 4 and doesn't have a lift off roof panel.