Tekknikal
11-10-2007, 07:00 PM
I thought it would be interesting to see how much power the typical family car has gained over the years. But what would be a good typical family car? Well the leading car in the segment is the Toyota Camry. So, I took the Toyota Camry and looked at its highest available power (most powerful engine available) from its inception as the Celica Camry up to today. I then charted that data.
But then I wondered, what would it take to kill that car? Let's say you wanted to roughly double the whp of the most power your average family car on the road probably has. To do that calculation I assumed 15% drivetrain loss to estimate the Camry's wheel horsepower and then I doubled the result.
But what I really wanted to know was what would it take to future proof your killing machine against the Camry? :rofl: How much power would it take? :confused:
So, I inserted trend lines and took the Camry out 2 model generations into the future. This is what it looks like:
http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/ssvi_bin/camry.jpg
Conclusion?
1. It's interesting to see that the average family car, two generations from now, will be packing about 350hp hp in its higher trim.
2. 400 horsepower -on the ground- seems to be a safe number to kill the average family car for the next 10 years.. To be truthful, even 350whp should work, but go too far below that and you're begging for moms to get an intake & exhaust on her next ride. Why take the chance.
On the flip side, remember that's nearly two model generations out.... or the better part of ten years. A pretty long time. So all in all, I'd say 350whp+ should keep you comfortably above moms n them.
But then I wondered, what would it take to kill that car? Let's say you wanted to roughly double the whp of the most power your average family car on the road probably has. To do that calculation I assumed 15% drivetrain loss to estimate the Camry's wheel horsepower and then I doubled the result.
But what I really wanted to know was what would it take to future proof your killing machine against the Camry? :rofl: How much power would it take? :confused:
So, I inserted trend lines and took the Camry out 2 model generations into the future. This is what it looks like:
http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/ssvi_bin/camry.jpg
Conclusion?
1. It's interesting to see that the average family car, two generations from now, will be packing about 350hp hp in its higher trim.
2. 400 horsepower -on the ground- seems to be a safe number to kill the average family car for the next 10 years.. To be truthful, even 350whp should work, but go too far below that and you're begging for moms to get an intake & exhaust on her next ride. Why take the chance.
On the flip side, remember that's nearly two model generations out.... or the better part of ten years. A pretty long time. So all in all, I'd say 350whp+ should keep you comfortably above moms n them.