Why the HP spurt?

[pup2]

Just wondering why all of a sudden, there seems to be a big spurt in the HP race among new vehicles? I remember it took ages for compacts to go from 1.3/1.5 tandems to 1.4/1.6. Now, while there are still some 1.3s (albeit some with improved trannies), most of the units with 1.6 engines before have increased power plants from 1.8 to 2.0!

Since these are compacts and not CUVs, do you think they're anticipating the power drop from the E5 and E10 gasolines?

[BlueBimmer]

i think its because the tax no longer covers vehicle displacement so the manufacturers can now bring in bigger engines without having a huge effect on taxes..

[gearspeed]

Pero ngayon palaki na ng palaki ang mga sedan ngayon tulad ng civic at Altis at cost cutting na rin.Pahirap na rin ng pahirap ang pagdrive ng mga sasakyan ngayon compared before.

[niky]

Yup. In combination with other things.

Like BlueBimmer says, taxes no longer cover displacement, but actual selling price... which is why we can actually get big-engined V6s for under 2 million pesos now.

Also, cars are getting bigger, thus, they need bigger engines. A good illustration of this is the Nissan Sentra. With the B14 chassis, they were able to wring out nippy low-speed performance from a 1.3. With the N15 chassis (the current one), the 1.3, though technically more powerful than before, suffers a loss in performance. With current "compact" bodies all weighing between 1100-1300 kilograms (not so long ago, mid-sized cars were 1300 kgs!), even 1.6s (as in the case of the Mazda3 and Focus) feel slow... as slow as some 1.3-1.5 liter compacts of yesteryear.

Also, new engines are getting more fuel efficient per displacement, allowing manufacturers to put in larger engines without creating monstrous fuel consumption at idle in traffic.

[niky]

Ok lang kung magmahal ang "compacts"... yung subcompacts and super-minis are now the same size as compacts of one or two generations ago, tapos mas mura pa (in inflation adjusted pricing).

People now can even buy brand new cars at dirt cheap prices (Suzuki Alto)... an option we haven't had for the past five years or so (except for the rebuilt Norkis Legacy and its kin).

Pero, yes, money is tight... ganyan talaga naman ang buhay sa buong mundo... but where there's a will... there's wheels...

[IMm29]

Just wondering why all of a sudden, there seems to be a big spurt in the HP race among new vehicles? I remember it took ages for compacts to go from 1.3/1.5 tandems to 1.4/1.6. Now, while there are still some 1.3s (albeit some with improved trannies), most of the units with 1.6 engines before have increased power plants from 1.8 to 2.0!

Since these are compacts and not CUVs, do you think they're anticipating the power drop from the E5 and E10 gasolines?

I think it's more of the growth of the cars' size that pushed the growth in the engine size.

[empy]

the HP wars have been going on for decades...all the way back to my dad's day when Ford, Mopar and GM were stuffing bigger and bigger motors in their Mustangs, Camaros, Chargers, Chevelles and Challengers to get bragging rights on the strip and in the showroom. in the late 90's, it was the battle of turbo cars - the Supra, 3000GT, WRX, Evo, MR2 and RX7. at the high end, BMW, Audi and Mercedes will always try to outdo each other in rated HP (AMG vs M Power vs R/RS), as well.

that's what makes it fun to be a performance car buyer :clap:

you'll see this even in the economy sedans - the Corolla's, Mazda 3's and Civics keep bumping up their HP ratings, and so do the Accord and Camry. what you're seeing is just a byproduct of each car company trying to beat the other in the world market. enjoy the ride

[pup2]

Ah. Taxes and Size/Weight. Got it. Sabagay napansin ko newer cars are less tagtag nowadays.

Pero gas might have something to do with it din di ba? Parang nung nag-shift to unleaded may HP spurt din right before eh.