Why does HP matter so much?

I have a regular 2008 Mustang GT with just a intake/tune.. and I beat my coworkers SRT8 Charger from 0-60 CONSISTENTLY.

He's got a 6.1L 425hp hemi. I have a 4.6L 300hp engine.. +30hp.

He has 100hp more than me and summer tires. I have factory all seasons. What gives?

1) Don't worry about the HP, they will be only a little bit faster than the 2010 mustang.
2) In 2011, the GT will be identical to the Camaro SS in terms of power-to-weight ratio. Has this ever happened before?? Hasn't the camaro traditionally ALWAYS outpowered the mustang and been faster??

I think these are GREAT times to be a Mustang fan. Right now, you will have a Camaro that is a bit faster than the Mustang (look at power to weight, not pure HP.. see my example above). In a year you will have a Camaro SS that is virtually identical in straight line performance. Has that ever happened before? Mustangs have been outselling Camaros for decades while underperforming. For once we will finally be equals.. I see nothing to complain about.

 

^^ well obviously we cant go down on weight with all the electronic crap so all we have is HP

and beating the charger, that isnt even a mustang competitor. they designed to be a fast fun family car not a mustang killer. so theres apple to oranges.

you say that the camaro is going to out perform the new mustang (true obviously) yet on down in your post it says they are equal, so which is it?

 

did you read my post?

315hp 2010 mustang = slower than new camaro
400hp 2011 mustang = equal to new camaro

ALSO, the charger weighs 4200lbs. The Challanger weighs 4100lbs. Same engine. Same chassis. It's only slightly faster than the charger. I would guess the 425hp challanger would probably be about equal 0-60 with me. Not impressive at all.

I reiterate: THeir 425hp means nothing when you weigh that much.

 

Trey, IMHO. If it weren't for the Mustang, Ford would have already declared bankruptcy by now, if not sooner.

That being said, be thankful, for Mustang has saved Ford's bacon up to this point.

 

Well THAT is what we should all want to happen!!!
That type of competition is good for us! It benefits us and makes these car makers give us what we want.
Don't be afraid to ask for more.

 

I totally understand where your coming from, but once again. Regardless of how much horsepower Ford gives us. GM will never allow Ford to catch up, nor surpass them anyhow.

So the only other solution, I can come up with. Is either find a low mileage 07-09 GT500, or wait for the 2011 to arrive, and then modify to keep ahead of the competition.

 

I said it before, but it's worth repeating-- there are still '09 Mustangs on the lots. Plenty of time to pick one up new. No need to look for a used one... at least not yet. I suspect Ford will see a bump in '09 Mustang sales when more people see the '10 styling.

 

I agree. I have said this before, and I will keep saying it until I am proven wrong. There isn't a question of whether or not we will get the 5.0, but I still say a 400hp GT next year is pretty unlikely. Can you imagine how pissed people would be if they bought a 2010 at the end of next year just before the 2011 (same car for probably an almost identical price) comes out with 85 more hp?! There would be riots

The Mustang has NEVER seen such a drastic increase in power during a model run. A 400hp GT is not a fact no matter now much we want it to be.

 

It's a big jump, but it's not that difficult. Remember, we are only getting 375ft lbs of torque, which is only 55ft lbs more than our current 320.

HP is a meaningless figure. The reason our hp will be higher than our torque this time around is because the new 5.0 engines rev alot higher (7000 rpm). HP is a mathematical figure that comes from RPM and Torque.

 

Of course most of the people here understand the importance of torque, but the fact of the matter is that HP is the figure that auto manufacturers have been using as bragging rights for years. Nobody says "my new batmobile makes XXX lb. ft. of torque." They all quote the HP figures instead becaue that's what we're all used to hearing. So in my opinion, it's the HP that helps sell the car, which makes it far from meaningless when it comes to sales.

 

I disagree that HP helps sell the car or they would be selling more GTs than they do V6s. It also hasn't hurt Mustang sales in the past.

 

Congragulations Ford, your 107 hp short of the competition. Not a chance in hell I would buy one.


Nice going Ford. NOT>

Ill keep my mach 1 built in 03 until you can come up with something thaT can out perform it.

What a crying shame.

 

I didn't mean it was meaningless from a marketing standpoint. I was just showing why it is very easy to produce 400hp, and that is not really a big TECHNOLOGICAL jump from where we are now.

This is how easy it is:

1) Our current engine produces 300hp near our 6000 RPM redline.
2) Maintain torque curve and bump up the redline to 7000 RPM.
3) 300*7/6 = 350 hp!
4) Now factor in the increased displacement of the 5.0L and the power add from 4V vs 3V.. we are really only gaining 50hp. The rest is from the increased RPMs.

Very believable.

 

I didn't mean for overall Mustang sales. I was generalizing that ALL manufacturers quote HP numbers rather than torque numbers. So in that sense, yes, it is HP ratings that "sell" the car.

 

I have to disagree that raising the redline to 7000 is considered easy. If the engine wasn't designed to rev that high, it would probably be a fairly expensive proposition. But I agree that raising the redline could be a good solution on a high-revving engine. I had an '87 5.0L and it really died out in the upper rpm range, but it was great down low.

 

You're right, it's not an easy task, but it should squash any disbelief about Ford being capable of +100hp.

Half is from increased displacement and whatever engine wizardry.

The other half is from the RPM increase.

I dont know if you're looking for reasons to disagree with me, but my point has been "Ford has the ability to accomplish this +100hp feat, and here is why." Are you disagreeing with that, or am I just missing qualifiers such as "relatively" before words like "easy"?

My goal is to show where the power is coming from, and why it's feasible. Do you disagree with my point or do you only disagree with specific supporting statements in my post?

 

I disagree with your assumption that it would be so "easy". Sure, it's possible, but it couldn't be done without considerable expense. In fact, a change as seemingly as simple as that would end up causing the engine to be completely recertified. (more time and $$$). I guess my point is that Ford isn't going to "waste" money on something like that when it's just a carryover year for a more potent engine coming in a year. And hopefully we see that happen...

 

I think you are just trying to disagree.

If you have been reading this thread at all, you will see that I have ONLY been arguing that Ford made the CORRECT decision by sticking with the 315hp engine. In fact, I have been the loudest and most verbose supporter of this.. are you missing this on purpose?

If you read the post I quoted/responded to when I said increasing the rev limit to get an extra 50hp was "easy" - then you will see I was squashing someone elses argument that Ford is not capable of releasing a +100hp engine in one model iteration. I'm obviously not saying it should have been done for this model year - that would be financially impossible. I even go into details of why this is impossible in many posts.

You are just skimming through all my posts and looking for something to disagree with. I dunno why you are trying to pick a fight. I have been saying what YOU are saying long before you said it if you read through this thread.

 

In essence yes, but still just a small part of the pie. I suppose it depends on the buyers threshold is. For me 315 is plenty (heck 300 was plenty in my '05), why would I need 400?

 

But now your standard Mustang GT no longer meets CAFE Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards, and now makes too much pollution too...