New S.A.E. horsepower rating hits Jap brands

[airshaq20]

I just read from my Motor Trend October 2005 issue that the japanese brands "over-rated" their HP rating - so for 2006 models, a lot of them have "lower" advertised rating due to the SAE standard.

I didn't bring the magazine with me so can't put the exact words here but googling it produced these links:

http://www.forbes.com/2005/09/28/acu...es_ls.html<br>

Vehicles Feature
Missing Horses
Steve Kichen


For years auto scribes have questioned why Japanese V-6s, such as the 270 horsepower motor in the 2005 Acura TL sedan, seemed more powerful than many American V-8s. Now we have some answers. For 2006, Acura claims only 258 hp for the TL's 3.2-liter V-6.

It is not $3-per-gallon gasoline or a retreat from the industry's ongoing horsepower race behind the revised statistics. Acura and other automakers had to restate power ratings in order to conform to a new standard promoted by the Society of Automotive Engineers, a professional technical organization.


Slide Show: Missing Horses
"The committee took a look at the existing horsepower standard and found areas open to interpretation," says SAE spokesperson Gary Pollak. Under the previous documentation, companies had more latitude in the testing process to select fuel grades, fiddle with electronic control units or exclude accessories like power steering. "The new standard has no ambiguities," says Pollak.

Nameplates such as Acura and the Lexus division of Toyota Motor (nyse: TM - news - people ) have quietly restated figures on a number of models. For 2006, the high-end Lexus LS V-8 sedan, the 430, for example, drops to 283 horsepower from 290, while the V-6 in the Lexus RX 330 fell to 223 hp from 230. In contrast, numbers went up a bit for some motors from Pontiac and Buick.

SAE added another twist: voluntary outside verification of horsepower tests. So far, only General Motors (nyse: GM - news - people ) and DaimlerChrysler (nyse: DCX - news - people ) have taken this extra step--at least on a few engines. Some GM engines went down in advertised power. But under the new standard the horsepower promised in the new super Corvette motor, the LS7, went up to 505 from 500.

Slide show of some of the cars with "revised" HP ratings.

http://www.forbes.com/2005/09/28/cz_...0&#39;,800,600

http://www.autospies.com/article/ind...&categoryId=21

Acura and Lexus caught fudging horsepower figures?
9/29/2005


Or the more politically correct way of saying it is they 're-stated' horsepower figures...

For years auto scribes have questioned why Japanese V-6s, such as the 270 horsepower motor in the 2005 Acura TL sedan, seemed more powerful than many American V-8s. Now we have some answers. For 2006, Acura claims only 258 hp for the TL's 3.2-liter V-6.

Nameplates such as Acura and the Lexus division of Toyota Motor (nyse: TM - news - people ) have quietly restated figures on a number of models. For 2006, the high-end Lexus LS V-8 sedan, the 430, for example, drops to 283 horsepower from 290, while the V-6 in the Lexus RX 330 fell to 223 hp from 230. In contrast, numbers went up a bit for some motors from Pontiac and Buick.

[OTEP]

There are different ways to measure hp. S.A.E. is promoting a standardized way of doing so.

Back in the 70's, gross horsepower was the unit used and it was terribly overrated compared to the actual outputs of the engines as the test engines used for horsepower measurements were free from accessories and emissions equipment. Then came brakehorsepower. This is what is currently in use. Though some differences in computations and testing methods can still result in different values.

[niky]

In Japan and Europe, they use "metric" horsepower (not sure, but it IS different from US SAE hp) and PS to gauge their engines. Marketing divisions often take this as the same as SAE hp, even though they are not. The new SAE procedures also clarify how to correct for SAE and include a different testing strategy for SAE that was jointly developed with General Motors, who've been using it all this time. So of course, GM's numbers stay the same, while companies who've been testing using the old rules get hit below the belt by the new testing guidelines. Especially Japanese companies, who are used to testing with higher octane gas and at different engine speeds and temperatures (as per their domestic measurement guidelines).

It's easy to make your motor a "dyno queen"... tuned specifically for a certain test. Sucks for those manufacturers whose cars are designed to run under different conditions.