Is 600 HP enough??

[Jibber]

This discussion comes up on SVT performance forum. So, looking for some of you guys to weigh in on this.

Is 600 HP good enough these days?? (Especially when You can buy cars off of the lot with much more than that.)

[ToplessPony94]

Well I don't have a car with anywhere near that much power, but I would say it depends on what you want to do with it. If you're drag racing, more is pretty much always better. On the other hand, if you're more interested in road course handling then too much power can be your enemy unless you spend the time learning how to control it without spinning out every time you try to accelerate out of a turn. Personally I'm very happy with half that amount of power and expect I'd just get myself in trouble with 600 or more. But to each his or her own!

[whtmare]

What does enough look like I've seemed to have a hard time with that most of my life lol.... No probably not

[TorchredSVT]

If you are trying to keep up with the joneses...then no, 600 is not enough. That was quite evident at the last dyno day where 600 hp seem to be the low man on the totem pole.

However, in my opinion, anymore more than 600 - 650 on the street is just dumb and dangerous. A dedicated drag car like Jake ( badass03cobra ) is a totally different story though.

There are ton's of guys out there with wild and crazy set ups that all end up with endless tire smoke or selling their cars. What's the point of having a huge dyno sheet, only to get destroyed on the streets by cars with 1/2 the power. A lot goes into building a well rounded FAST street car! What fun is dropping 4th on the highway and having endless tire smoke cause you can't hook up? Yea its cool at a car show to have a dyno sheet that reads 1000 hp, but it's not cool getting crushed on the street by a well built car making half the power.

I haven't even touched the whole on the whole reliability OR cost of ownership subject.

There have been many days I have thought about porting my blower, adding injectors and getting to the 500/500 mark or putting a whipple or TVS on....but at what cost? The kid at the NHMC dyno day with the MMR stroker motor who put down 685hp said he did the motor LAST YEAR and hasn't gotten the car to run right since, among other issues.........no thank you, I have zero interest in that. Seeing all those cars with small issues pretty much sealed it for me.........

[rhoidahl]

I agree with Ian -- it's nice to have the power for when you want it. But eventually you get to that point of diminishing returns where the cost to buy, maintain and repair (much less drive) the car is not worth what it's going to get you. If you have a ton of money and only care what the dyno sheet shows, then go for it if that's what you want. But for a driveable, streetable car, you don't need any more power than what you already have. With the Whipple on your car, you must be close to 600 hp anyway.

[LILBLKSNAKE]

Ask anyone with a significant number of mods on their Terminator. The car is usually a time bomb, a basket case, it's lost it's fun factor, and it's a chore to control it if you lay into it.

Randy, Jim C, and Ian have the right idea by just disciplining themselves to leave the car alone, enjoy it on a regular basis, and not have to worry about what's going to fail or break next.

Like Ian said, a dedicated race car like jake's is another story, but he knows full well what he is getting into.
My convertible on a far smaller scale is going to blow the rear end and transmission all over NED and I expect it and already started to prepare for it. Luckily I have the 2013 that is reliable for every day use.

[mr03mach1]

Also agree with Kevin, Ian & Randy.. Though is is very hard to stop modding, crossing the
500wheel hp starts to get exponentially more expensive. This is what has kind held me where I'm at...

[SVT10th]

I gotta go with a pretty definitive, "no, you don't need 600 hp". First, these semi-mythical new-from-the-dealer cars that put out 600+ hp are
A) measuring from the crank,
b) usually selling at MANY times the cost of a Mustang. (Lamborghini, or MB SL65 AMG Black, anyone? Only $300-400K), or
C) they're ridiculous special models like the Shelby 1000, Corvette ZR-1, etc.)

I can quite easily put myself in bowel-emptying situations quite well with "only" 400rwhp.
And really, once you reach a certain level of fast, no one even tries to run you anymore. It's very rare that someone "serious" tries to start something with me on the highway or at the lights. More often than not it's a kid in Mom's Camry who just wants to see me leave rubber in a couple of gears, or a young buck in a WRX who hasn't learned to tell the difference between a GT and a Cobra.

And like Ian said -- there's something to be said for being able to start my car and drive off for a 100 mile cruise without worrying if it'll make it.

[whtmare]

Damn kids in those hopped up fast gt's

[J]

There is always a faster car.

Is having 4 mustangs averaging 300 HP each equalling 1200 HP the same or better as having 1 with 600?

[ToplessPony94]

Is having 4 mustangs averaging 300 HP each equalling 1200 HP the same or better as having 1 with 600?

LOL! Well, for me it would be! I have no use for a 600HP Mustang.

[fredfordguy]

Thank goodness we live in a land where we each can decide how much suds to put under the hood of our individual hot rod. Last fall I went for a quick and I mean "quick" ride in a hemi powered pro street 'cuda, what a rush!!! Impressive stright line performance, but I would not want to autocross that beast.
I have also had a similar grin tattoed on my face when turned loose with Jim's Terminator while seeing a mirror smile imaged on his face while behind the wheel of our 'ole Mach. Six hundred is a number, but it is wild as to how easily it is attained in this day of electronic wizardry and boost.
Interesting thread and equally individual replies. That said, when my numbers come up some Saturday evening, it's fun to sit back and spend 5 or 10 minutes dreaming and drooling on what I would have parked next to our Grabba Green car. Again, very cool thread.

[LILBLKSNAKE]

There is always a faster car.

Is having 4 mustangs averaging 300 HP each equalling 1200 HP the same or better as having 1 with 600?

That's awesome!!!

[SVT10th]

Well I just cruised into work in the 90 'vert. Sure it's slow -- you're talking a 225hp 5.0 with the AOD trans. (I think Matt dyno'd it at 170rwhp.)

BUT -- it's still a giggle and half to drive. Top down, wind in the hair, a 5.0 thundering through a set of Flowmasters... Yeah.
Sure, I'm not gonna win any races, but I'll put it up against most 700hp dyno queens for fun factor.....

[ToplessPony94]

Thank goodness we live in a land where we each can decide how much suds to put under the hood of our individual hot rod.

That's a big +1 :)

[07 stang gt]

I am with you guys as well.Nothing wrong with "the numbers" but where are you going to use it?? As with most of us in the club, you know we all drive fast at times but always seem to "run out of road" with the power these Mustangs have. My first Mustang was a 71' Mach 1 with a 351 Cleveland and at about 100 mph the car was ready to float off the road. Sold that and bought a new 5.0 when it came out in 82' with a blazing 198 hp and I thought I died and went to heaven.That car at the time was the car to have, and after 4 more Mustangs (83'87'97') and now my present 2007 Mustang with naturally aspired 375 hp, I'm good. After last summers disaster with a blown motor (because I wanted more horsepower!!) and no driving for 6 weeks, I will stick with what I got and buy the Shelby I want next.Nothing wrong with but horsepower when it comes from the factory, but adding big aftermarket power after the fact, I'm all set. Rick and Pete are great mechanics I just don't want to see them under the hood of my car when it's 80 degrees and sunny!!!!

[Dennis O'Shea]

This has been a most interesting post thanks Kevin for bring it up. I think its what a person wants and its personal. We all know there a guys out there who build just to see what it does on the Dyno.We have seen that on more than occasion at Pete's.Some guy get off on saying when some one asks at a cruise night or a show whats the Horsepower they get off telling them its 600 or better.Its just like the other guy who is a fanatic on keeping his car clean and shinny.Or the guy who buys every mod and puts it on his car.Its what makes this Hobby so much fun.You get to see an owner's personalty in just looking at his or her car.We have all come across a car that we have said "Boy is That Ugly" but the owner thinks its a beauty.I agree with the safety factor when you start getting up there not only for the driver but for any one else who's involed in a mishap.Its cool to hear all the different views on this subject.My Motto is you can have all the HP you want But if its not BLACK it doesn't matter Just my outlook:p

[whtmare]

I think mr. Oshea stated it perfect here...well except for the last little dig in the post lol...winning with white!!

[LILBLKSNAKE]

I ran my Jeep on Pete's Dyno!!

[TorchredSVT]

Well I just cruised into work in the 90 'vert. Sure it's slow -- you're talking a 225hp 5.0 with the AOD trans. (I think Matt dyno'd it at 170rwhp.)

BUT -- it's still a giggle and half to drive. Top down, wind in the hair, a 5.0 thundering through a set of Flowmasters... Yeah.
Sure, I'm not gonna win any races, but I'll put it up against most 700hp dyno queens for fun factor.....

Convertibles are awesome aren't they :)

I got more looks, more thumbs up and more people asking about my old Fox than the cobra. I enjoyed driving it becuase I knew I wasn't going to win any races but was just out to have a fun cruise and not worry about anything.

Look forward to seeing it it this summer