too much horsepower??
 

So after work I ate some pizza and later there was a burbbling in my tuimmy. So I am sitting on the shitter and reading the sport compact car (I know everyone does it:yes: ) I was reading the article "Red Devil" where a turboed k20 is laying down 455 wheel Hp. The next artcle is "Straight Shot" About a blue civic with a b18 laying down 355 whp. And I noticed something.....Both ran on 15' slicks the red devil ran a 13.3 while the car with 100 less hp ran an 11.3. Now I like "wtf?? I dont understand" Then I came up with a question that I never thought could be a problem...Is there such a thing as too much horsepower?!?:confused:

yep...there is such a thing.
Whats the difference between a 1000hp supra and a 650hp supra? Nothing. They both tend to run similar times.

Too much hp is even more of a problem in fwd cars since there is less traction. Lets face it. Our hondas shouldnt have more than 300whp because after that its just silly. And if that car is out daily driver....250whp is kinda pushing it.

interesting concept, I never once thought about it

there is no such thing as too much power, its all about how you use it.

I think what people over look is the driver, the car doesn't get itself down the track on the own. My guess is both drivers are just putting it downall the way. In this case the guy with that much power would simply spin his wheels all the way down the track.

That much power is onyl really useful if you're already going 100mph and you want to jump to 200mph in 15seconds.

Exactly- it's not too much power, it's not enough traction.

yea but those were ran with slicks....What is the point of slicks if they are no good for you? That just seems like a waste of money:confused:

its all about the launch

i guess once you think about it, there isnt too much HP but maybe too much torque. hypothetically speaking, i fyou had a car with a ton of Hp but nothing comparable for torque you be.... well.... stuck, just another thought
but as for this topic it would be the driver, i mean you need to know the vehicle enough to know how to get a good launch and knwo the perfect shifting point to use the car to its full potential

I don't think it's a problem of power...it's a problem of the original design and intent of the car. Do you think the original intent of Civics was to put down 355hp? While the B18 motor ran a lot quicker, I seriously doubt whatever that K20 was in was designed for 455hp. Now if you applied some serious power to say...an S2000 you'd probably see more gains since the car is made to handle being wound up and pushed hard ocassionally. Besides...FWD + big power has rarely equaled quick times. At least not without some serious suspension work and big ass front slicks.

Well the hasporst civic (red devil) had all that done (1.02 on the skidpad) to it while the other one was made for auto cross and just ran 11's

exactly, its just 11's.

I didnt mean for it sound like I can jog that fast...I was saying how it was set up and and just ( like just left track) and ran 11's I wasnt saying that wasnt a rather big accomplisment