300bhp per tonne

[zebra]

neil1jnr said:

I thought BHP/tonne was measured at wheel horse power....

It's actually measured by the size of the Cahunas required to wear a Stetson in the UK.

Now, where's that photograph?

[Atmospheric]

CraigyMc said:

Since when did an F10 M5 have 592bhp?

Since the Germans started under quoting the power outputs for their V8s

They're all at it.

Edited to add link:

http://jalopnik.com/5941080/does-the-new-bmw-m5-se...

Edited by Atmospheric on Wednesday 2nd September 17:59

[R8VXF]

mercer868 said:

By any chance do you own a VXR8 mate? It's not very clear...

Will try to make it more obvious in future for you

[ORD]

R8VXF said:

Still faster than a stock 996 911 Turbo But yeah, badly aero limited at the top end, not helped by the fact there was a fair old headwind . Was still accelerating so not sure what its true top end is. Plus quite a lot of knock retard on the stock tune.

It is in no way similar to the mustang though apart from having an American sourced V8, but even they are totally different designs of engine. S/C VS N/A. Coupe vs saloon. Doesn't lose 5bhp due to being remastered for RHD. I definitely prefer the look of the GTS interior.

I know I should love the Mustang, but am more of a fan of the Camaro tbh.

Just checked my logs and 2.2s changing gears! Must work on that

Is it really that different from a Mustang? Both white collar muscle cars with big engines and decent handling. I would have thought that there are few cars that would be more similar.

[R8VXF]

ORD said:

Is it really that different from a Mustang? Both white collar muscle cars with big engines and decent handling. I would have thought that there are few cars that would be more similar.

Mustang and Camaro are a good comparison. The VXR8 is more suited to being compared to the E63 AMG and M5, both of which have similar power and weight figures and number of doors.

[kambites]

Performance and practicality may be similar but I don't think the VXR8 is really an AMG/M5 competitor - these days the big German cars seem to thrive on technical complexity largely for the sake of technical complexity and a sort of subtle bling (if that makes sense); Holdens are unashamedly simple and decidedly brutish looking. I wouldn't imagine they typically appeal to the same people.

I don't think the VXR8 has any obvious competitors in the UK market.

Edited by kambites on Wednesday 2nd September 19:02

[Nedzilla]

C

jontysafe said:

My weekend fair weather car is 873bhp/tonne which is I would think "adequate"!

Just had a nosey at your Westy and it looks fantastic. I had a bike engined megabusa for a couple of years and absolutely loved it and kind of regret selling it. That was putting out 220bhp and weighing a touch under 500kgs it had a pretty healthy power/weight ratio!
I have been getting the itch again and being pretty familiar wth cossie engines would love a cossie powered one though I've rarely seen them up for sale.
I also think 300bhp would be MORE than adequate!!

Cheers

[ORD]

R8VXF said:

Mustang and Camaro are a good comparison. The VXR8 is more suited to being compared to the E63 AMG and M5, both of which have similar power and weight figures and number of doors.

On some objective factors, yes, but I would be amazed if many people cross-shop between the VXR8 and an AMG. Very different markets, in my view, notwithstanding the same pace and number of doors

[R8VXF]

kambites said:

Performance and practicality may be similar but I don't think the VXR8 is really an AMG/M5 competitor - these days the big German cars seem to thrive on technical complexity largely for the sake of technical complexity and a sort of subtle bling (if that makes sense); Holdens are unashamedly simple and decidedly brutish looking. I wouldn't imagine they typically appeal to the same people.

I don't think the VXR8 has any obvious competitors in the UK market.

Edited by kambites on Wednesday 2nd September 19:02

Shopping wise they do certainly target different markets, but the current GTS is a different beast to the E series HSVs in terms of electronics and interior quality and they are no longer a simple brute.

Launch control, adjustable MRC, HUD, Lane departure, collision alert, auto park, data logging, brake torque vectoring etc all come as standard now. I only mention the big German saloons as that is what it is always reviewed against, and really doesn't come up wanting by all accounts.

[kambites]

R8VXF said:

they are no longer a simple brute.

Shame.

[ORD]

kambites said:

R8VXF said:

they are no longer a simple brute.

Shame.

Agreed! All the things he mentions make the car worse in my book!

[JonRB]

Wills2 said:

300hp/tonne is a huge amount of power in a road car, you have to be looking at the latest 991 GT3/turbo to gain entry as a standard car and then on into the likes of Ferrari/Lambo/McLaren/R8 [insert mental car of your choice] etc...

Only a few of the AMG/M monsters get to the 300 mark.

Really?

TVR Sagaris => 400bhp, 1060kg = 377bhp/tonne

And, as the long list showed, it's by no means the only TVR to easily surpass 300bhp/tonne. The Cerbera was doing it back in 1996.

[kambites]

ORD said:

kambites said:

R8VXF said:

they are no longer a simple brute.

Shame.

Agreed! All the things he mentions make the car worse in my book!

I wouldn't say most of them make a car worse as such; most of them I couldn't care less about. They just indicate a focus on things I don't care about.

[JockySteer]

kambites said:

ORD said:

kambites said:

R8VXF said:

they are no longer a simple brute.

Shame.

Agreed! All the things he mentions make the car worse in my book!

I wouldn't say most of them make a car worse as such; most of them I couldn't care less about. They just indicate a focus on things I don't care about.

Hear hear. I would be very surprised if someone shopping for an AMG was also considering a VXR8. Both cars have their appeal, but there can't really be much doubt in my mind that the AMG is the 'finer honed' machine, as well as being better in a straight line/twisty.. subjectively speaking of course. Each to their own!

[Welshbeef]

I didn't realise the Morgan Aero was so powerful impressive though it has odd eyes

[kambites]

Welshbeef said:

I didn't realise the Morgan Aero was so powerful impressive though it has odd eyes

I think it's the same engine as the E60 550i in roughly the same state of tune. Obviously the Morgan weighs a bit less than the BMW though.

[R8VXF]

kambites said:

ORD said:

kambites said:

R8VXF said:

they are no longer a simple brute.

Shame.

Agreed! All the things he mentions make the car worse in my book!

I wouldn't say most of them make a car worse as such; most of them I couldn't care less about. They just indicate a focus on things I don't care about.

Auto parking: Awesome first thing in the morning when not fully awake
Launch Control: Doesn't invalidate warranty like on Datsun's
Collision Alert/Lane Departure: Turned Off
HUD: Really bloody useful
MRC: Nice and soft day to day, firms right up for handling
Data logging: Fun toy

The lump up front is still a simple brute though. Easily tuned and a torque monster for great everyday driving

[kambites]

Indeed, as I said I wouldn't call any of the features bad; they just tend to indicate a car in which I will have no interest.

Actually thinking about it, the simple fact of having 300+bhp/tonne probably means I wont have much interest in a car.

[Poopipe]

JonRB said:

Wills2 said:

300hp/tonne is a huge amount of power in a road car, you have to be looking at the latest 991 GT3/turbo to gain entry as a standard car and then on into the likes of Ferrari/Lambo/McLaren/R8 [insert mental car of your choice] etc...

Only a few of the AMG/M monsters get to the 300 mark.

Really?

TVR Sagaris => 400bhp, 1060kg = 377bhp/tonne

And, as the long list showed, it's by no means the only TVR to easily surpass 300bhp/tonne. The Cerbera was doing it back in 1996.

In 1996 you didnt have to hang 15 airbags and a million electric motors off a car in order to be able to sell it and you were allowed to burn a decent amount of fuel in order to make it go.

[Welshbeef]

Poopipe said:

In 1996 you didnt have to hang 15 airbags and a million electric motors off a car in order to be able to sell it and you were allowed to burn a decent amount of fuel in order to make it go.

Or the 250 GTO some 40years before the Cerbera had it nailed