Ideal power for a road car?
 

I think my Bug was at its most enjoyable when it achieved 400bhp for the first time. Now it's well beyond that it has no trouble blowing off 911s and the like but at obvious risk to life and licence. Anyone else feel they may have gone too far in the power stakes?

450 seems to be a commonly mentioned max power for a useable road subaru, beyond that traction even with awd is too much of an issue.

I think about 250 bhp per tonne. It's enough to be entertaining without too much of a threat to life. Plus, given my abilities as a driver I'm not sure I'd cope well with much more.

It’s gear blasting at best on the road a couple of gears and on the brakes

I would say it's not about numbers... it's about drivability.

Pointless having 500bhp if it only gets interesting between 5k and 7.5k... that's a drivable window of 2.5k rpm.. under 5k... pretty much nothing... after all hell breaks lose, but then you have to grab another gear... almost immediately, personally that would get pretty old, pretty fast.

Much better to have a car that picks up from 2.3k and goes all the way to 7.5k, well 6.5k really because you've most probably gone past peak torque by then and not actually going any faster... but your window of drivability is significantly longer and you're not constantly thrashing your engine.

Sometimes less is more. ;)

For fun on the road I find my blob STI with PPP to have plenty of power and I enjoy the delivery.

My local roads are quite narrow and winding though.

340 on my bug sti is a lot of fun for me. vf35 spools fairly quick and holds power well through the rev range and into licence losing territory. as others have said acceleration is where its at. any time ive had a bit of fun or had someone goad me into the traffic light derby its a few pulls through the gears and then back to being sensible or sometimes a blast round some local b roads when the mood takes. dont get me wrong im sure 500 bhp in a road car is fun but the chances to use it these days gets less and less with cops and speed cameras.

ive had 3 imprezas

blob wrx with 354bhp vf35 turbo and a version 6 sti 5 speed box

blob sti with forged 2.5/gt30 440bhp

current hawkeye sti with forged 2.5/billet vf43 351bhp

out of those 3 the wrx and hawkeye are/were the best for drivability. the wrx went like a stabbed rat and my current hawk spools its tits off, the forged blob was a beast but spooled up no way near the other 2.

My hawk T20 350/350 JDM had so little lag, on Country A roads the change of speed was just awesome ��

My forged T25 420/450 much quicker on an empty road but would struggle to keep up with the nippy T20

Regards

Tony

My V4 Type R has around 370bhp and spoils quickly. Useable power band is from 3500(ish) and pulls well until 7500.

It's not just about the power delivery though. Shedding weight has the same affect. So, get down the gym and put the car on a diet and you'll appreciate what you've got even more.

so many powerfull car out there now , I like having my 530bhp on tap just in case its needed lol

Whatever works for you is the best power to have on the road.600+bhp Is fine for me;).It should be the driver in control of the car and not the other way round Lol:lol1:...Experience is the key:thumb:.SJ.

For me it’s a perfect blend of power, brakes and suspension. No point having all that power if you can’t atop or get round the corners.

It also depends on the type of roads around where you live. My Evo is perfect for the roads around here but I’ve been on a few stretches of road where it’s maybe a tad too much, but 90% of the time it’s perfect.

I think anything from 350-450 will be awesome and plenty fun.

I have 2 maps one at 485bhp/495ftlb full boost by 3000rpm @ 2bar in a classic and find it's a little bit unusable on roads.

2nd map is about 430bhp @ 1.6 bar and is still a handful but more enjoyable :)

Well 300-350 is enough for rally drivers, for You lot 200 is to much :hjtwofing
No one on this forum could even dream to handle 300, if You think Your car is underpowered flat it out than:norty:

Id spec the car with supporting mods for 500 with switchable maps, making peak power as soon as you can a priority in the powerband

you can then run it with less boost and then when you feel your getting bored switch to full boost to scare yourself on a weekend

dont forget good tyres, suspension and brakes.

I have RACEROM on mine, and either 290 or 350 with all the bells and whistles on my forged 2.5 Hawkeye STI.

That I almost never take it out of the lower map tells you all you need to know. It's more about the chuckability and braking where I live, and very few long straights where you would use the power.... Mountain Mile excepted. There's always another car in the way normally though. It's not those I worry about, but the ones coming the other way...

You hope for sparkling wit but instead get nitwit!

My 450/450 spec c hawk with short ratio box (lm450) is very rapid on the road but very easy to drive :) my classic with 700+ would eat it for breakfast, but on the road with cool tyres you have to be awake lol

Within reason I dont think you can have too much power. On the twisty bits your cars tyres, brakes and handling setup will dictate how fast you can go , not how much power you have on tap. if you have 300 or 600 bhp you will be having to feather the throttle and once your able to go flat out then the more power the better, traction is only going to be an issue at lower speeds.

I live on a network of large open dual carriageways, anything less than 400 bhp in a newage and you get swallowed up by the mass of german saloons on the roads.