300C SRT-8

[szer0]

[QUOTE='03 6-Speed]I just can't wait for the EPA and the gov't. to jump back on all the auto-makers asses about all the high-HP cars and trucks, we're gonna drop back to like 200 HP GT's just like the early 80's.[/QUOTE]

Wasn't the low horsepower of the 80s due to the oil crisis, not environmental laws?

 

[rhumbline]

Wasn't the low horsepower of the 80s due to the oil crisis, not environmental laws?

Yes -- for both reasons actually. Engine technology, especially electronics, have come a long way since the '80's. These smarter motors are much better able to meet much tighter emission standards efficiently and still make excellent power. Some of the ultra low emission motors now apparantly emit exhaust that is actually cleaner in some aspects than the ambient air in places like L.A.! So I'm not sure how much tighter EPA could throttle engine power through stricter emission standards. One possibility though might be carbon or CO2 output, which goes more directly to how much HP a motor makes. Thermodynamic efficiencies could help maintain power if something like this comes along.

The other side of the performance coin is, of course, mass. Heavy cars need big, thirsty motors to accelerate them -- Physics 101. Reducing mass can significantly improve not only performance, but economy, total emission output, handling and braking. A bigger motor, on the other hand, will tend to only increase straight line performance to the detriment of all other dynamic qualities.