J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Will we be looking at the glory days of 500 bhp saloons, 200 plus bhp hatches or will there be better and quicker stuff out ?

NotoriousREV

We'll be too busy getting our electric motors rewound for more performance to care

davyboy

The trouble is the 500 bhp saloons weighs 1800kg, and the "little" hot hatch weighs 1400kg!

Brendan Hughes

Goalposts should move. I remember everyone chasing top speed in the 70s and 80s, this does 183, this does 186, this does 192... then along came (I think) the F40 (or was it the F50 so much later?) and the critics said the top speed was slower but actually the car was so much more fun to drive that it was still better. With cameras etc around, nuts to the power and all the electronic gizmos, they should put effort into a decent chassis, switchable map, suspension and exhaust volume for cruise/sport, etc.

Most people now are realising that you can have more fun in a 205 than an Impreza. Manufacturers should listen.

sgcooby

Switchable maps. Now thats a good idea. If these became common place you could have the best of both worlds economy and performance. The one in the M5 isnt the best mind as it only switches down to 400bhp. If you could get one that halved the power so you could cruise on the motorway getting plenty mpg's and then at flick of a switch get the full monty for some fun or for overtaking. Ive no doubt bhp figures will continue to increase but so will weight so i think Brendan Hughes in spot on.

brickboy

All good points .... I reckon we WILL look back at 500bhp saloons etc with nostalgia, because the cars of the future will be hybrids of some sort and there simply will not be cars with conventional engines of that output.

Mind you, they said that at the launch of the Lotus Carlton 15 years ago

But as battery tech advances, batteries will get lighter and more packagable, so the hybrid cars can be made lighter, better packaged for more space and more fun too. Electric cars could be fun -- max torque instantly available at any speed.

Dare I say, they'd be great in REAL-WORLD driving conditions

jonc

Your all wrong, by then the Gulf stream will have changed its course, global warming will have accellerated causing extreme weather patterns and the whole northern hemisphere will be an ice cap. Therefore no cars, no roads and we'll all be living in igloo's and travelling by sledges and dog power. Unless of course you live in the south, in which case the southern hemisphere will be an arid desert covered by sand dunes and bathed in high solar radiation.

Alas

Not worth buying Optimax then?

TopBanana

I think we'll see active suspension and drivetrain stuff by then. Hopefully there'll be a focus on weight reduction