When is more hp not really more hp?

When it is concentrated in a tight little band making a blip in hp over the last 300 or so rpm. Let's say it is real. It adds 7 lb-ft to the peak #, it adds 10-11 hp to the peak rpm. And it'll make virtually no difference in acceleration since you'll be there a % or so of the time. The old "area under the curve" argument. Heck, looks like it might even be disasterous if you get that sharp torque increase when on the edge of adhesion.

So, other than that blip, maybe the '04 still makes more hp than an '03. But forget that last 10 hp. It is almost academic.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Road Rage

 

Next, let's tackle "in gear acceleration".

Of course it is better in the car with higher torque and same, or higher numerical gearing. That's physics and should be accepted as fact.

But don't forget that sometimes you have run out of gear in the '04 and then the '03 (in one gear lower) is faster. Not as much of the time. But don't trivialize it. It's what makes a 240 hp 153 lb-ft S2000 as fast as a 250+ hp 225 lb-ft Boxster S. So, why wouldn't it make an '03 as fast (or near so) as an '04 if hp is the same?

That's why it is less clear that an '04 is faster than an '03 in 0-60 or the quarter.

But yeah, in normal real world driving where you choose to be at "civil" rpm, the '04 will certainly pull better. In "real world" driving, the '04 will be faster the vast majority of the time.