rocket_rabbit Posted September 1, 2011 Posted September 1, 2011 Bhp is mostly irrelevant, torque gets the job done... Having said that I can have fun in almost any car whatever the bhp..... On the appropriate bits of road just pretend yer a DTM driver and clip apexes, flatten curves, maximise corner speed and generally behave like a t*t...... Why, onnly this morning I won the Hockenheim rd of the WTC champ's in my diesel van on the way to work..... Yes, I am a 48 yr old child and proud of it... You old schoolers with your torque. Power is everyrthing . Torque is for people who dont understand engines or physcs! Quote
Captain Colonial Posted September 1, 2011 Posted September 1, 2011 I did enjoy the quick tinkle on the valve springs on Monday... Next time, try the shower, SteveD recommends it! Quote
John Loudon - Sponsorship Liaison Posted September 1, 2011 Posted September 1, 2011 FWIW - my opinion is that upto 150bhp max for road. For track as much as you can get! Quote
Bananaman Posted September 1, 2011 Posted September 1, 2011 FWIW - my opinion is that upto 150bhp max for road. For track as much as you can get! Good advice that John! Although i personally like 200+ Quote
JeffC Posted September 1, 2011 Posted September 1, 2011 FWIW - my opinion is that upto 150bhp max for road. For track as much as you can get! my advice would be the other way around, having had a 180bhp track car I thought that was more than enough to have good fun and there was always plenty of cars to have battles with , but on the road the lack of acceleration bored the pants off me, yet my faster cars I enjoyed on the road but on track were too quick for track days and spoiled my fun constantly having to slow down for traffic we are all different though Quote
Andrew Posted September 1, 2011 Posted September 1, 2011 FWIW - my opinion is that upto 150bhp max for road. For track as much as you can get! I'd presume by "track" you mean competition of some sort, in which case I agree, but as Jeff says, you dont need much more than 180bhp for a trackday. Much more than that and you end up catching stuff down the straights too quickly, and crawling round the corners behind them. The opposite of what you want to do on a trackday... for me, anyway.. Pinto power, the future! Quote
funbobby Posted September 1, 2011 Posted September 1, 2011 Fully agree with that Capt - if you can get a group of you with similar powered cars for a bit of friendly jousting its far more fun. Quote
moomin Posted September 1, 2011 Posted September 1, 2011 Not fixiated on BHP, now torque that's another thing The irony is strong in this one... Quote
John Loudon - Sponsorship Liaison Posted September 1, 2011 Posted September 1, 2011 Yes, by track I mean competiton. For a track day car I would use an engine which makes reasonable beans in standard form eg - 2.0 duratec, S2000 etc. BUT with means of keeping its oil system in tact. Bike engines possibly as straight replacement for another isnt too pricey A tuned / modified track day engine is uneconomical to maintain / replace when it grenades itself which given the high rpm / number of miles a track day toy will do will be inevitable at some point! - just my opinion Quote
juansolo Posted September 1, 2011 Posted September 1, 2011 IMO a strong reliable engine with adequate power is far more desireable than a fragile screamer with loads. I'd even go as far as to say that I'd want the engine to be as stock as possible, that way if you do grenade it, it doesn't cost thousands to fix. Indeed, my current engine I'd just throw away and drop another in for a few hundred quid. That's how it should be done. Quote
B5234FT Posted September 1, 2011 Posted September 1, 2011 Not fixiated on BHP, now torque that's another thing I love people who dont understand physics Quote
oioi Posted September 1, 2011 Posted September 1, 2011 it all depends on what you want from a car. im probably one of the few who have gone for less power (rather than more). i sold a 215bhp westie and bought 125bhp (on a good day, with a following wind) sylva. why? cos i needed the money but still wanted a toy. the first and foremost question is, do I have less fun with less bhp? answer for me is no. one of the reasons for that is the rest of the car is balanced to the power, it has crap tyres, alightly too hard suspension for the road, is a live axle etc. when i get out of the car i have the feeling of really driven it. it has been peddled. and thats a great feeling. am i any slower? i enjoyed the westie for its acceleration out of the corners, and i could be quick down a b road by being heavy on the brakes, tipping it in and a hooligan on the exit. great fun and rapid progress was made. and when i say rapid i mean as fast as i thought was just the wrong side of sane. with the phoenix i am learning a different driving style. momentum becomes all important and with that line through corner, minimal braking and early acceleration. on the road i am probably no slower (except through the really fast sections) but I am far more committed and far more on the edge. its a more physical and challenging drive. overtaking is annoying as i need a bigger gap, and therefore get stuck in traffic more. It could be argued that im having more fun with less power going at a marginally slower speed - i have noticed that i have to wait less time for others to catch up than i used. do i want to fit a 250bhp+ durabang to it? of course i f**king do Quote
Andrew Posted September 1, 2011 Posted September 1, 2011 it all depends on what you want from a car. im probably one of the few who have gone for less power (rather than more). i sold a 215bhp westie and bought 125bhp (on a good day, with a following wind) sylva. why? cos i needed the money but still wanted a toy. the first and foremost question is, do I have less fun with less bhp? answer for me is no. one of the reasons for that is the rest of the car is balanced to the power, it has crap tyres, alightly too hard suspension for the road, is a live axle etc. when i get out of the car i have the feeling of really driven it. it has been peddled. and thats a great feeling. am i any slower? i enjoyed the westie for its acceleration out of the corners, and i could be quick down a b road by being heavy on the brakes, tipping it in and a hooligan on the exit. great fun and rapid progress was made. and when i say rapid i mean as fast as i thought was just the wrong side of sane. with the phoenix i am learning a different driving style. momentum becomes all important and with that line through corner, minimal braking and early acceleration. on the road i am probably no slower (except through the really fast sections) but I am far more committed and far more on the edge. its a more physical and challenging drive. overtaking is annoying as i need a bigger gap, and therefore get stuck in traffic more. It could be argued that im having more fun with less power going at a marginally slower speed - i have noticed that i have to wait less time for others to catch up than i used. do i want to fit a 250bhp+ durabang to it? of course i f**king do That was all reminiscent of James Hunt and his A35 van, up to the last line! Quote
Porkie Posted September 1, 2011 Posted September 1, 2011 FWIW - my opinion is that upto 150bhp max for road. For track as much as you can get! Agree. 150bhp is fun on the road especially down lanes! and its fun extending and really reving the engine. You cant do that safely on the road with too much power I like mental power though in my Westy on track though Had mine out at Bedford the last few weekends Been ALOT of fun. Last saturday there were lots of Atoms there as well. Was cool THUNDERING past them! I can hit an Easy 155mph on the backstraight at Bedford backing off early....( my speedo is on my AIM dash and uses GPS so its real) would be well over 160mph with boost up and trying.... out of the corners its amazing fun sliding it and learning to control it and painting huge 245 section '11's' everywhere! Love my monster Westy You REALLY dont need alot of power to have fun. Especially on the road. My mate was doing some funny drifts in the wet in it last weekend.... sadly the photographer caught his one spin! Quote
Jenko Posted September 1, 2011 Posted September 1, 2011 I think it also depends on the track you are on. I tend to stick mostly to airfield track days that are typically short and never have much of a straight. At the moment, 175bhp seems plenty and I can stick with most of the high power stuff....BUT, for the faster tracks like Castle Comb, I think I would struggle a bit Quote
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