Quote:
Originally Posted by donno
Thanks for the good info. I did take issue with the last sentence though! Too much HP? Never heard of her!
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Seriously. Most people put north of 500HP with bored/stroked new engines (be they Windsor or FE). The net result of so much hp and torque from the new engines is the inability to put said horsepower consistently to the ground. The high hp cars are notorious for breaking the wheels loose. If you're lucky it's just a pucker event, if not it's a curb, tree or other large immovable object. There is a recent topic with lots of feedback from a person flaunting this.
Having had a 550hp engine in my 427 CSX4000 car, my next Cobra would be (should I miracously suddenly be 20 years younger) a 289 car. The HP you get out of the smaller engines is more closely matched resulting a track car that won most of the races anyway and is much more street friendly. You see videos of it everywhere - someone with a high hp car making a every day ordinary left turn and suddenly into a oversteer spin in the wrong lane. Someone a bunch of years ago downshifted to pass on I25 in Denver and the rear end suddenly spun out. It was a fatality. The short wheelbase exacerbates this tendency.
In summary, much north of 500hp/high 400s torque results in a car that I was always second guessing about what would happen next.
Just 2c from someone who experienced it.
(I'll wager there are others that rolled their eyes and said "you can think that but shouldn't say it").