OT: talking cars Tuesday - Max Power

Submitted by JeepinBen on
We've gone large and small, how about the most ponies? No, not a thread to talk about when Homer bankrupted a car company... Just about the most horsepower you've ever driven. Let's hear what it was, when, and how much trouble you were able to get in

JeepinBen

July 11th, 2017 at 10:56 AM ^

So unnecessary. So fun. Went through a quarter tank of gas in an hour. I totally understand how the first person to buy one totalled it. Ripped quite a few merge ramps. It was fun.

RapidTransit

July 11th, 2017 at 4:48 PM ^

Drove both the Charger and Challenger Hellcat at the Portland International Raceway during a Dodge event for press/journalists. 707 Horsepower.  it was big fun but, honestly, a little scary because it had rained and the track was wet. 

I used to own a Magnum RT AWD.  Loved that car except when the rear hatch leaked and fried the wiring harness.  Moved on to a waterproof Charger RT.

@TheBigHouse - have you visited LXForums dot com? My site (sorry for shameless promotion)  w lots of Magnum owners.  

 

 

Trebor

July 11th, 2017 at 11:15 AM ^

I have never actually driven a car with more than 300 hp. The highest was probably when I test drove a Mazdaspeed 6 for a friend who didn't know how to drive stick yet, pretty sure that was listed at 274. I'm generally a fan of smaller, lighter cars that don't need the big horsepower figures to be fun to drive, but that's not saying I wouldn't drive one given the opportunity. Maybe now that I'm finally back on a 9/80 schedule I can use my off Fridays to go test drive some neat cars.

DMill2782

July 11th, 2017 at 11:17 AM ^

Had it on an 8 mile oval in Uvalde, TX. I worked for Continental Automotive Systems and I was at the test facility in Uvalde. We had to put 500 miles on the cars before customers showed up. I drove that thing like I was in the Indy 500. Some of our techs knew how to turn off the 155 MPH speed limiter they had at the time. Got that baby up to 175. Felt like the tires were off the ground. Most fun I've ever had driving. 

In case your curious as to what an 8 mile oval looks like

Mr Miggle

July 11th, 2017 at 11:29 AM ^

But my dad is. He used to drag race our family car when I was little. I started driving with my mother's Plymouth Roadrunner 440. He had an Imperial with their most powerful engine. That car was dangerous for me to drive. It was so quiet, I'd find myself going a lot faster than I realized.

BlueMan80

July 11th, 2017 at 11:52 AM ^

But I imagine the most powerful thing I drove was a detuned stock car at the Richard Petty Driving Experience at Joliet Speedway.  You basically got the sucker in 4th gear and just put the pedal down.  I got clocked around 140mph.  Probably could have done better, but it took all the laps to get the hang of drving around the tri-oval layout.  Lots of fun.  Definitely recommend it.  Thoughtful wife got this for my birthday.  Think it was for my 45th.

mGrowOld

July 11th, 2017 at 12:17 PM ^

Supercharged pearl white with black interior and a chip installed in the fuse pannel to unlock even more horsepower than the 556 listed from GM.  The absolute most killer power band at a 50 roll (you had to hang on to something) to 150.  Fastest I saw on the speedo was around 160 and it clearly had a LOT more to give if my balls were bigger than my brain.  Allegedly top end north of 220 but there's no way in hell I'd have taken it there unless I was on the Bonneville Salt flats or something.

Loved when Challengers rolled up and wanted to race.  A gentleman's race car that thing was.  And FWIW valet's loved it.  

Image result for 2009 pearl white cadillac cts-v

elpigeon

July 11th, 2017 at 12:17 PM ^

Recently acquired a BMW M240ix. It's no Hellcat or even a Camaro, but it's got ~350 hp and ~370 ft-lb torque. 0-60 in 4.2, tops out at 161 mph. It's the biggest tease to gun it and reach the legal limit after only a couple seconds. Talk about a first world problem. Lesson learned: get a slightly slower car that I don't need to track to truly enjoy.

MgoHillbilly

July 11th, 2017 at 12:35 PM ^

Always comes down to power/weight ratio. The wife's old range rover was supercharged and put out around 500 hp and over 400 ft/lbs of torque. It was ridiculous. My truck makes 400 hp and over 750 lb/ft torque and while it's a beast, it's hardly "fast".

I've only driven faster than 150 a few times, with a 1997 cbr f3 motorcycle and a tuned BMW 335i that was built for tracking.

Those were the most fun to drive.

Cali Wolverine

July 11th, 2017 at 12:33 PM ^

with flames on the side and a chip in the engine (which was totally unnecessary)....cars would always try to race him because of the paint job, but had no idea what was a Typhoon was or what was under the hood...they thought it was a lowered Chevy Blazer...and he would smoke everyone. This was back in high school...but back then...this car was an absolute beast.

Friend has the Tesla P100D...it goes 0 - 60 in 2.5 seconds...but it is silent...which is almost more disturbing/uncomfortable than the roar from a Hellcat.

oriental andrew

July 11th, 2017 at 12:51 PM ^

I work in your typical office building, but one day there was a Dodge test drive event in our parking lot. I registered and test drove the Challenger SRT 392. I believe it has somewhere around 485 horsepower. I took it for a loop around the streets, about 2 miles in total. on the main drag of about half a mile fortunately there were no cars during lunch time, so the dealer rep told me to hit the gas. I got it up to about 100 miles an hour in a real hurry in a 40 mile per hour zone, before shutting it down and heading back to the parking lot.

JFW

July 12th, 2017 at 11:50 AM ^

like the automotive version of a Penthouse Letter. 

"I work in your typical office building, but one day there was a Dodge test drive event in our parking lot."

 

Or, you know, so I'm told. 

DrJesseLeePhD

July 11th, 2017 at 12:53 PM ^

I currently own and love to drive a Blue 2013 Subaru STi - Last of the hatchbacks - light and powerful enough with 305HP.  Its pretty ridiculous to drive in S# mode.  The STi Replaced my former 2004 Immola Yellow Audi S4 Avant - a station wagon with 340 HP V8 and a 6-Speed Manual in bright yellow... so much fun... The most powerful I've driven was my brother's (Hemlock Philosopher) 2002 Audi RS6 - 450 HP Biturbo V8.  Thing was insane, but lacked a proper transmission.  I also had the joy of passangering in a Nissan GT-R - 580 HP, the fastest car I've been in.

MGoAero

July 11th, 2017 at 1:42 PM ^

Drove a 18MY Mustang GT350 a couple of weeks ago.  526 hp, drove it for around a half-hour.  Wild, wild engine.  Never had the opportunity to get it above 7000 rpm (8250 rpm redline) but it was already nuts at that point.  I can hardly imagine what it's like to take it all the way up.  

MGoAero

July 12th, 2017 at 3:50 PM ^

Huh?  If it's a critique that I didn't take it all the way up to redline, it's because my job depends on me not being reckless and attracting attention with how I drive our vehicles.  If you're thinking that taking a GT350 up to 7000 rpm is reckless, know that this was in first gear while merging onto a highway, so no worries.

mach42006

July 11th, 2017 at 1:45 PM ^

'16 Ford Edge Sport with the eco boost twin turbo V6, puts out 315hp and 350 lb-ft torque.  It's a fun ride, more than doubles the power of anything I've owned previously.

AdamBomb

July 11th, 2017 at 1:48 PM ^

I used to work at a Porsche/BMW/Mercedes dealership, so I had the pleasure of driving quite a few fast cars. Fastest being Porsche GT2, GT3, Acura NSX, Mercedes CL55, S55. A Carrera GT came in a few weeks after I started working there, but unforunately, they kept it under lock and key. 

I drive a VW GTI now, does anyone have experience chipping cars? Is it worth it?

MgoHillbilly

July 11th, 2017 at 2:19 PM ^

I love tunes but wouldn't bother unless you are modifying the car. They become necessary to bypass O2 sensors for emissions purposes and clear codes after you make some mods especially if you're still under warranty. Once you use a tune though, you'll start pushing the physical limits of the car. Then you can have fun upgrading parts when they break.

potomacduc

July 11th, 2017 at 1:55 PM ^

From a total horsepower standpoint, I've driven a couple of cars with 3-350 horsepower (300C, late model Mustang V6). At the risk of being the guy who always injects a motorcycle into a car conversation, you can't beat the power-to-weight ratio and thrill per $ of a motorcycle. As an example, my motorcycle ('13 Ducati Multistrada 1200) is a sport-tourer and fills the role of what may be called a classic "GT" (grand tourer) in the car world. It is not a pure sportbike. It "only" makes 150 hp, but also only weighs ~500#s fully fueled. For comparison, in order to make the same power-weight ratio, the 4500# Hellcat would need to make 1350 hp and a 3500# Corvette would need to make 1050 hp. From an acceleration standpoint, magazine tests have it reaching 60 in under 3 seconds and running the 1/4 in under 10.5.   I've ridden a few bikes faster than mine like the 199 hp, 450# BMWS1000RR. I ride motorcycles more for how they feel going around a corner, but the acceleration they offer is breath-taking and you simply can't beat the thrill for the $. My bike was $17k brand new and for $16-17K and you can walk out of a BMW dealer with a brand new S1000RR. You have to spend an awful lot of money to buy something on 4 wheels that will offer similar performance.

 

At some point (generally single seat racing) cars are faster. The advantage that cars offer is their huge contact patches which allow major Gs and therefore very high cornering speeds and changes of direction. That and the benefits of downforce via aerodynamics are why F1 cars runs significantly faster lap times than their MotoGP equivalents. The MotoGP bikes sometimes hit higher top speeds than F1 on the same tracks, but theF1 corner speeds are just silly. MotoGP has outlawed protruding aerodynamics, but even with those it is hard to imagine similar cornering forces on two wheels.  F1 cars are also light enough and powerful enough to narrow the acceleration gap versus bikes. MotoGP bikes are generally still faster to about 120 mph, but then the superior aerodynamics of the F1 cars kicks in and the usually run quicker from 120-200.

potomacduc

July 12th, 2017 at 1:13 PM ^

Harley's can be pretty, but for me they are dynamically lacking. Raking the front wheel out and putting your feet way out front like you're on a recliner just doesn't make sense for anything other than going slow in a straight line.

South TX MFan

July 11th, 2017 at 2:22 PM ^

I had an '04 Ford Lightning. I went through the usual bolt on mods then eventually did a supercharger swap. When that wasn't enough I put in a built engine with ported heads and cams. Then I had a complete custom turbo set up built for it with a Precision 88mm turbo. On race gas it made a little over 1200hp. Totally streetable, even my wife drove it occasionally. That was a wild truck, I loved it.

JFW

July 11th, 2017 at 4:01 PM ^

392; 475 Horsepower. Putting my foot down was like lighting off a solid rocket booster. Did it on a track so I could have some fun safely. 

Manitou

July 11th, 2017 at 5:53 PM ^

The new Tesla Model S P100D is now, I believe, the fastest production car in the world.  Zero to Sixty in 2.5, which matches the Bugatti and the La Ferrari times, but neither are currently in production.  It’s insanely quick and you never shift gears since there is no transmission and therefore no shift points along the way.  Definitely worth test driving if you haven't already.

drjaws

July 11th, 2017 at 7:56 PM ^

2015 Camaro ZL1. My sister-in-laws childhood friend showed up at a bonfire out of the blue. I jokingly said she should let me take her car on a beer run. She tossed me the keys.

That was a long beer run. Left a lot of rubber on the road.

wolverinebutt

July 11th, 2017 at 8:12 PM ^

The Muscle - 1968 FIrebird with a 389 motor/headers/holly.  Muscle and power with NO posi-traction so the tires would spin.  Note - The 389 replaced the stock 350.

 

The Porshe was a 80's 911.  I only got to burn her up in the parking lot after hours at work.  Without permission of course(made it more fun).  What a neck snapping launch with NO tires spinning.  I hit the gas and the tires grabbed the road like a hot young blonde grabbing an old guys wallet - BAM it was gone!!!  

If I could have one of those cars now?  I would have to take the 911 becuase of the launch and it was easy to drive compared to the old brute muscle car.