Do you really need that much Hp in RP?

**niky** · May 22nd, 2007 03:06 PM

There are a few shops that cater to Euro-tuners... most recently, Autotechnika... but the market is quite small, so you'll sell only the occassional supercharger or ECU-upgrade kit... considering the high cost of modifications available for European cars.

Many speed shops double as garages that do oil changes and regular maintenance to survive.

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How much power do you need? From experience, 75 hp will do for metro traffic, but for highway use, about 95-100 is nice. Heck, you don't need a lot of power to actually do 100 km/h, but overtaking is another thing.

Personally... I like having at least 150 hp or more for compacts... maybe 115-125 for subcompacts (unless it's a diesel... even just 100 hp from a subcompact diesel will do, considering they usually have about 170-180 ft.lbs of torque), and about 200+ hp for an SUV or a midsize car.

But that's personal preference, mind. I could survive if I had to drive a 40hp car everyday. I wouldn't like it, though...

**Radical!** · May 22nd, 2007 03:26 PM

Originally Posted by GreenhillsKid

Do you really need that much Hp in RP?

Same question I asked my uncle about the US when I visited him a couple of years back. He has a preserved mid-80s Camaro Z28 doing 200 or so horsepower. He was bragging about it doing 0-60 mph under 6 seconds. I asked him, Uncle, you need all that hp to get to 60 mph? And then what?

But seriously, you should visit the Philippines one day and see the changes yourself... you'll be surprised...

**Dr.Kamiya** · May 22nd, 2007 03:46 PM

Let's quote Jeremy Clarkson on this one:

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Travelling. The unfortunate end result of internal combustion and jet propulsion. The scourge of the modern age. It’s dangerous, it’s time-consuming and it’s irretrievably boring.

In the olden days when men wore hats made from wolves, no one wasted their lives by travelling from A to B, because B was too far away. Now, though, people are quite happy to spend 10 hours in an aluminium tube, watching all their veins clog up with lard, simply so they get a tan.

When you are on a plane you are achieving nothing and you are not enjoying yourself, so you are wasting the most precious commodity you have: time. If you’re middle-aged now you only have 200,000 hours left, and are you prepared to spend 20 of those being squashed, plus another 20 waiting to be squashed while someone confiscates your knitting needles? Especially as a recent survey found that, on average, the modern Briton now spends four years of their life in a car. That’s four years moving from place to place. Four years just travelling.

This is why I like cars that are fast. In the same way that an F-15 fighter can enliven air travel, a powerful engine can turn the most tedious slog into an adrenaline rush. I like the feel of g when a quick car accelerates, I like the cornering forces as it slices through the bends, and I love the sense of danger when you pull out to overtake and you’re not sure you’re going to make it.

Drive quickly and you turn the act of travelling into an adventure. You make those four years in a car exciting. You give them a point. And you will arrive at your destination sooner, too, which means you have more time to have fun. Put simply, 500bhp enriches your life.

http://driving.timesonline.co.uk/tol...icle546878.ece

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**Jun aka Pekto** · May 22nd, 2007 05:05 PM

I'd like to see what Jeremy Clarkson would be thinking if he's stuck in the middle of Manila's snarling, choking, jeepney-infested traffic......

**mazdamazda** · May 22nd, 2007 05:16 PM

150hp
335Nm torque

that's just about right for RP road conditions... enough to haul 7 passengers, go to 180kph, overtake pesky rice boys and whatnots...

and oh, those numbers are coming from a 2.2L crdi vgt c/o the hyundai sta. fe

**kyle618** · May 22nd, 2007 07:43 PM

a 1.6L engine developing lets say 110-115hp is fine by me in city driving but highway driving is a different thing sobrang mas nakakapagod magovertake using a 1.6L car to lets say to a 3.0L v6 engine. i really have to downshift and rev it high just so that i could use all of the 115hp under the hood.

so all in all id say
115hp for a compact sedan would do fine for city driving (150 would be the sweet spot imo).
minimum of 180-200 for highway (250hp and above would be ideal).

**pixelparadigm** · May 22nd, 2007 09:39 PM

at 140hp (1.8L 1ZZ-FE) with a stickshift... it takes forever from 0 to a hundred kph when loaded with 5 adult passengers. But I've been in worse situations when I drive a van with a 1.5L carb engine making 64 hp.

In other words, more HP and much more torque please!

**redorange** · May 22nd, 2007 09:49 PM

Originally Posted by GreenhillsKid

engines that are 6 & 8 cylinders. i would say about 190hp at the crank is good enough.

I hope you don't mean 190hp for a 6 or 8 cylinder engine because that is really low for this day and age.

Originally Posted by Radical!

Same question I asked my uncle about the US when I visited him a couple of years back. He has a preserved mid-80s Camaro Z28 doing 200 or so horsepower. He was bragging about it doing 0-60 mph under 6 seconds. I asked him, Uncle, you need all that hp to get to 60 mph? And then what?

But seriously, you should visit the Philippines one day and see the changes yourself... you'll be surprised...

Well in the US the horsepower is important because you have freeway on ramps and merge with traffic that's already going more than 65mph(104.61km/h). If you are driving a car that takes forever to reach that speed then you risk getting into an accident because you'll have problems merging with traffic.

**Jun aka Pekto** · May 22nd, 2007 10:21 PM

Originally Posted by redorange

I hope you don't mean 190hp for a 6 or 8 cylinder engine because that is really low for this day and age.

Well in the US the horsepower is important because you have freeway on ramps and merge with traffic that's already going more than 65mph(104.61km/h). If you are driving a car that takes forever to reach that speed then you risk getting into an accident because you'll have problems merging with traffic.

65 mph? The cops must be nearby. If the cops aren't there, it's more like 75 mph on the slow lane and +85 mph on the fast lanes. Then, when a CHP car comes along, everyone stays behind the cop. No one dares pass. Many times, I've yelled, "You bunch of hypocrites!"

Not only that... If you take a little 2-lane side road, there's grandma and grandpa doing 35 mph at a 55 mph zone in their under-utilized Bimmer or MB. That extra hp comes in handy for overtaking.
In the Philippines, the roads are probably a lot more unpredictable. I can dimly remember traveling SLEX (South Expressway?) from Alabang/Muntinlupa headed out to EDSA and on to UP Diliman to drop off my sister (at her dormitory) every Sunday. I recall the traffic flow pretty good with the heaviest traffic mainly along Cubao and Makati where Quad used to be. I suppose if we kept that route today, I'd still stick with a 200 hp car.

**Memphis Raines** · May 22nd, 2007 10:58 PM

Horsepower is important to drivers who really need it, especially if they do a lot of out-of-town trips in a week. Ask anyone who frequents Bagiuo or Pampanga or any similar destinations and they'll stress how handy it is to have those extra horses.

Unfortunately most drivers/car owners who have extra ponies under the bonnet seldom know how to wield the surplus power. I know some who have memorized the brochure specs of their ride to the letter, knows how much tech is stuffed into the engine bay to turn the crank but can't even hit a simple apex or know when to shift in an uphill section.