<VV> Actual vs. advertised hp

[Bill Elliott]

>Would one of those electronic gadgets like Ned was using be accurate enough?


No, because the gadget calculates HP using acceleration and the formulas used at best could only calculate average HP, not true peak HP. They do not 
accurately calculate hp on turbocharged engines nor any engine with a really sharp hp peak. They are best used to compare modifications on a single engine 
given a starting baseline, not to really compare engines to each other. However, it would give us a good idea of "real world" performance.... does a lower and 
wider torque curve mean more than a high sharp curve? And to what speeds? This is the sort of thing that allows a 140 to outrun  180 to certain speeds.

Even using chassis hp as a comparison is also somewhat suspect becuase of the ptential for different levels of parasitic loss between cars, but would indeed 
be a better way of doing it.

Bill Elliott