Power vs age ?

[J4CKO]

Why do people assume that cars power dwindles with age, was talking to a chap about my 944 who asked what power it had, so I said I believed they were rated at 208 bhp, it is pretty much standard bar the obligatory ss exhaust, have no reason to think it has lost any, good compression, good oil pressure, top end rebuild and it pulls well, he decided that being 21 years old I would be lucky if it still had 150 bhp.

Some cars make better than standard power as they wear, some lose power through clogged filters and other neglect but I don't get this assumption that they dwindle by a few bhp each year.

Your experiences ?

[SirSamuelOfBuca]

He's been watching to much top gear. Which good servicing etc would be fine

[E30M3SE]

The chap is obviously a big fan of Top Gear and hangs off every word the oaf Clarkson and pals come out with.

[GroundEffect]

Cars continue to run in and make power for many thousands of miles. The 'run in' period is pretty much the life-span on the components - I've seen dyno print-outs to show it.

[Strawman]

Some cars increase power with miles as the engine wears-in, maybe less true with modern cars that are built with higher precision but used to be true with cars in the 80's/90's so a 60,000 mile car could make more than a 5,000 miles example. An accurate Dynanometer would tell you.
Barring that a top speed test, given a long enough private road, shows if the power is still there or not.

[chris182]

An old engine which has been badly maintained will be down on power due to carbon deposits and old filters etc but one that has been well looked after should be as good as when it left the factory if not better as it has been properly run in.

[s m]

J4CKO said:

Why do people assume that cars power dwindles with age, was talking to a chap about my 944 who asked what power it had, so I said I believed they were rated at 208 bhp, it is pretty much standard bar the obligatory ss exhaust, have no reason to think it has lost any, good compression, good oil pressure, top end rebuild and it pulls well, he decided that being 21 years old I would be lucky if it still had 150 bhp.

Some cars make better than standard power as they wear, some lose power through clogged filters and other neglect but I don't get this assumption that they dwindle by a few bhp each year.

Your experiences ?

Turbo cars can lose a bit of power ( or even a fair chunk ) if the actuator weakens over time and doesn't allow it to hold the requisite boost