Catche 22 situation?

[Omshanti]

I was thinking about the group B rally in the 80s. The cars were starting to reach 400~500bhp and I remember Walter Rohrl saying in an interview from then that the cars were becoming too powerful and hard to control. He was pointing out the danger of the cars.
Now, he was one of the greatest drivers ever who was saying this, yet 400~500bhp has become kind of normal or even low in today's cars. However, today's cars mostly have automatic transmissions, are heavier and are full of computerised driver's aids.
So this is a catch 22 situation. Horse powers keep increasing, but to keep up with that driver aids increase as well, which in turn ask for even more horse power.
This makes me wonder. What is the point?
Of having so much power that the driver is no longer capable of driving the car without the help of computers? And then to ask for even more power because the aids make the driving dull?
This is not even for racing cars, but for road going legal cars which don't actually need to win races.

[TheEnd]

You can go faster without becoming dead.

[Nick M]

I think there's a big difference between what drivers actually want, and what the marketing departments *think* they want.

Horsepower figures are nice headline grabbers, but rarely do they translate into real world, on the road performance because realistically the opportunties to unleash 500+bhp for any length of time are few and far between (and not just in the UK).

And the twiddly knobs on the steering wheel (or wherever) with things like traction and stability control are, for the most part, there to pander to the ego of the owners (courtesy of the marketing department again I would suggest). How many of them actually put their car into 'race' mode on the road and drive accordingly ? Versus the number who leave it in 'nice and comfy' and still enjoy the driving experience, just with rather fewer sphincter-twitching moments.

Now, I'm all for powerful cars, don't get me wrong - the idea of being able to drive something on the road, legally, with more horsepower than some older F1 cars would still put a massive grin on my face. And I don't believe you can have 'too much' horsepower. However, I am realistic enough to know that the opportunities to enjoy balls-out driving in such a car are few and far between, and that if one should get caught out in the rain or other inclement road conditions then I wouldn't mind having all the help I could get !!

[Olf]

The 'point' is to sell cars and make money.

[Burbleboy]

The group B rally cars were obviously lighter and faster compared to modern, heavy cars with the same bhp. Tyres and suspension were nothing compared to today's technology and that is the key...in my opinion.

Put modern suspension, tyres and brakes on an 80's group B rally car and it would then become 'normal'..so to speak!

You then would reduce the amount of owners that think it could do with more power!