Someone told me today that the more expensive car companies (BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Jaguar...etc) measure their horsepower by how much it gets in the wheels.
Is this true?

For example the CLK250 is advertised as 268-horsepower, is this to the wheels??!?!

Thank you

 

False.

Andrew

 

Ditto. False.

 

Ya, false.

People would find that out real fast by dynoing even 1 car. Also, the reason they don't measure it that way is because if you get a 325i, the wheel horsepower figure will likely be somewhat greater than if you got a 325Xi, the AWD version with more drivetrain loss. Likewise, that wheel horsepower rating will fluctuate even depending on the options on one RWD car versus another.

Measuring at the engine will produce consistent results, and not lead to lawsuits from customers because they feel they got bait-n-switched.

 

That, and also, why would they measure their HP to be LOWER than their competitors? Higher numbers = better marketing

 

It doesn't matter because everyone knows a euro HP is greater then an american HP...so in sense they do measure wheels HP, it's just euro flywheel HP which equals american HP. You can't argue with it....It's science!!

 

False.

 

Often it's the other way around. It usually has more to do with the sector than the marque, as in trucks often produce claimed hp to the wheels and highend 500hp cars may seem to have closer to 460hp. It's impossible to tell exact engine power figures as long as you have a drivetrain attatched to it to skew them. A fancy smooth automatic can detatch as much as 25% of engine output from reaching the wheels. Insurance reasons also effect claimed hp output, again related to why trucks claim lower output [Titan consistently dyno's at 300whp when claimed 305hp i.e.] whereas a v12 benz owner isn't going to give a $hit about insurance.

 

True!!!



















Lies. False.

 

I'll take False, for the win.