Too much power ???????
Discussion
So , today I have read and written on the thread about the new caterham 620s , which I am particularly interested in as I own a caterham k series with about 200bhp and I use it on the road mainly and enjoy it massively .A few people have commented that the new 620 has too much power for the road , which my immediate reaction Was NO WAY !! But on reflection maybe it is just not usable on our roads ?? So with this in mind I wondered how many other cars could fall into this catergory , new focus RS ? All the high power German saloons ,m5 amg rs6 etc , Anything over 500bhp ? Are car manufactures producing cars with too much power we simply cannot use ? Or is it just for bragging rights ?
My Vette C6 Z06... did 60 in 1st gear.
James Hunt said the best fun car he had was has old Austin A10 (or was it A35???) - gutless, skinny tyres.. and you have to work it.
The Vette was an epic hoot - but.... there is a lot of fun working the gearbox on the twisties.
I'm heading towards a Caterham for a weekend car.... and it will probably be a little asthmatic in comparison.
James Hunt said the best fun car he had was has old Austin A10 (or was it A35???) - gutless, skinny tyres.. and you have to work it.
The Vette was an epic hoot - but.... there is a lot of fun working the gearbox on the twisties.
I'm heading towards a Caterham for a weekend car.... and it will probably be a little asthmatic in comparison.
Troubleatmill said:
My Vette C6 Z06... did 60 in 1st gear.
James Hunt said the best fun car he had was has old Austin A10 (or was it A35???) - gutless, skinny tyres.. and you have to work it.
The Vette was an epic hoot - but.... there is a lot of fun working the gearbox on the twisties.
I'm heading towards a Caterham for a weekend car.... and it will probably be a little asthmatic in comparison.
Will be an A35, and A10 is fun in an entirely different way, mainly around destroying Taliban, the A35 is good but it isnt much use in that Scenario,James Hunt said the best fun car he had was has old Austin A10 (or was it A35???) - gutless, skinny tyres.. and you have to work it.
The Vette was an epic hoot - but.... there is a lot of fun working the gearbox on the twisties.
I'm heading towards a Caterham for a weekend car.... and it will probably be a little asthmatic in comparison.
There is a lot of fun to be hand from lower powered cars, but they have to provide feedback, 100 bhp/tonne is the sweet spot for small cars being fun, much less and its a bit slow but the same power to weight ratio in a big car isnt that much fun.
I think I may build a Morris Minor this year with K series or an A35, my CLS V8 is fun in its own way with its Millenium Falcon impression but it isnt quite the same as a gruff little 4 cylinder giving its best.
A drive a 100bhp Fiesta and ride a 180bhp Fireblade. I've driven cars with everything from less than 50bhp to over 500bhp. I wouldn't say any of them have been either under-powered or over-powered. Everything can be enjoyed in the right time and place. If a condition of buying any vehicle was that you had to use all of its power all of the time, that would be ludicrous but thankfully we live in a world where we can be very selective about how much power we feed to the wheels.
Problems occur when people may not be familiar with how power is delivered and the effect it has. There are plenty of YouTube videos showing what happens when you put one of these people behind the wheel of a something with big power and they don't take the time to learn how things respond and react. Most of these videos end up in ditches, trees, fences or other vehicles.
So no, I don't think there is such a thing as too much power but I most certainly believe there is a thing as too little understanding and appreciation.
Problems occur when people may not be familiar with how power is delivered and the effect it has. There are plenty of YouTube videos showing what happens when you put one of these people behind the wheel of a something with big power and they don't take the time to learn how things respond and react. Most of these videos end up in ditches, trees, fences or other vehicles.
So no, I don't think there is such a thing as too much power but I most certainly believe there is a thing as too little understanding and appreciation.
No such thing as too much power really, unless you've gone daft and have a 5,000 methanol dragster motor in your Corsa.
My 600hp Caterham is a pussycat to drive around, although I've not used it on the roads yet, but it drives around like a normal 140hp. Sure, it'll leave the dirtiest and longest set of tyre marks on request, but only if provoked. Same for my 700hp E63, pussycat.
I've also in my past run a 600hp Busa turbo and a 1507cc 230hp all-carbon Busa and these were also perfectly usable when ridden to the conditions.
If you want to wring their necks everywhere then obviously you'll die horrifically, but there is fun to be had blasting out of corners up to the speed limit and in other suitable places.
My 600hp Caterham is a pussycat to drive around, although I've not used it on the roads yet, but it drives around like a normal 140hp. Sure, it'll leave the dirtiest and longest set of tyre marks on request, but only if provoked. Same for my 700hp E63, pussycat.
I've also in my past run a 600hp Busa turbo and a 1507cc 230hp all-carbon Busa and these were also perfectly usable when ridden to the conditions.
If you want to wring their necks everywhere then obviously you'll die horrifically, but there is fun to be had blasting out of corners up to the speed limit and in other suitable places.
Too much power, not sure.
I dislike a car that's too refined though. If you have to be travelling 130mph to get a buzz from driving your car it's just not right.
My MG Midget has less than 100bhp but I had much more of a hoot driving that than my 440bhp bi-turbo RS4, in most situations. Though frantic acceleration is quite addictive!
I dislike a car that's too refined though. If you have to be travelling 130mph to get a buzz from driving your car it's just not right.
My MG Midget has less than 100bhp but I had much more of a hoot driving that than my 440bhp bi-turbo RS4, in most situations. Though frantic acceleration is quite addictive!
PanzerCommander said:
There is no such thing as too much power. Only a lack of traction.
But when 1st gives you 60, 2nd gives you 90.The driver involvement through twisty country roads isn't as involving.
You can keep the car in 1st or 2nd all day long.
Having to play with the gearbox is a lot of fun.
Pdelamare said:
My 600hp Caterham is a pussycat to drive around, able places.
Holy mother of lumping feckery!Just to be clear, that's actual power as opposed to power/weight ratio?
This needs a thread
Edit: Just realised it's the Levante. I'd actually forgotten that existed! Still, definitely worthy of more detail
Edited by TheJimi on Thursday 4th February 23:01
Troubleatmill said:
PanzerCommander said:
There is no such thing as too much power. Only a lack of traction.
But when 1st gives you 60, 2nd gives you 90.The driver involvement through twisty country roads isn't as involving.
You can keep the car in 1st or 2nd all day long.
Having to play with the gearbox is a lot of fun.
R8VXF said:
Troubleatmill said:
PanzerCommander said:
There is no such thing as too much power. Only a lack of traction.
But when 1st gives you 60, 2nd gives you 90.The driver involvement through twisty country roads isn't as involving.
You can keep the car in 1st or 2nd all day long.
Having to play with the gearbox is a lot of fun.
Z06 annihilates almost everything around the ring, or anywhere else.
An epic car.
But... I think an asthmatic Caterham will be more fun.
And.. ATEOTD... it is about the fun.
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