I have been wondering about this for awhile cause I dont have the slightest clue and my apologies if this seems like a dumb question to anybody but here it is...

Why do car magazines, companies etc. mislead(or seems to mislead) buyers about stock HP and torque?

For example: Evo X 291hp 300lbs tq stock in magazines but its not to the wheels. Are the X's really 291hp 300lbs tq or 250hp(or around) and 245lbs tq(or around)?

Example 2: Pontiac G8 GXP=415hp 415lbs tq 0-60 4.5 QM 13.0 but thats not to the wheels right? So does that make it not accurate?

Now thats stock and comparing wouldn't that make it seem faster than the Evo X or even the 9?

Also (and not in terms of street racing, for you moderators) does that make it almost even in a QM with a tuned X?

Exmaple 3: Mustang Roush ED Supercharged Stage 3: 427hp 419lbs tq in the magazines and car reviews but thats not what it really is right? Its actually less than that right? But by comparing those magazine numbers it seems like that would make it faster than a Tuned Evo X doing 320hp and 315lbs of tq to the wheels(on a mustang dyno) right?

I apologise if I caused any confusion but I just want a little help clearing up the whole Stock hp and tq, Hp Tq to the wheels, and which one it really is and which one really matters.

 

all number reported by car manufacturers and magazines are bhp, brake horse power, not wheel horse power.

ex 1. they are not misleading anyone, you just don't know what they are talking about lol. . . .

ex 2. if you read different magazines you will notice different qm number's. it's not like joe schmoe can go buy a g8 and run 13's, unless it's auto which would not take much technique.

ex 3. just because a car has more hp will not make it faster, it depends on what aspect you are talking about. i.e. qm the x might win because of the awd launch, but on a top speed race the mustang might win because of the higher displacement, longer gears, more tq etc. you can't just compare numbers.

wheel horse power is what matters, not too many magazines will report whp unless it's some sort of performance magazine. hope this clears things up

 

both numbers (crank hp/tq and wheel hp/tq) are right. Think of it this way:

The advertised HP/TQ numbers for most cars (stock) are at the crank which tells you how much power the engine makes.

The wheel HP/TQ numbers from a dyno factor in drivetrain loss of power as it is transferred from the engine to the wheels. So that describes how much power a particular car is actually putting down to the pavement.

IMO, the amount of power that makes it to the pavement is more important than the number produced at the motor. But the remember that wheel HP/TQ will always be less than power at the crank, which is why you will see the higher number advertised more. To compare those numbers fairly, you'd have to factor in a certain % of drivetrain loss (usually between 15-18% depending on setup).

Hope this helps

 

Clear as crystal. Thanks but how exactly is brake horsepower and torque measured? Or what does it mean? Sry for being so ignorant?

 

Sheesh...

 

Ya learn something everyday!!!

 

there is a certain percentage of drivetrain loss with all cars, awd usually lose the most maybe 20-25% compared to 15% for rwd, i'm sure there is a formula they use

 

Brake horsepower is the same as crank horsepower. The brake/crank horsepower and torque are measured on an engine dyno, which uses a type of brake to load the engine, hence why it's sometimes referred to as brake horsepower.

So when you see either BHP or WHP, it basically just specifies where the HP was measured

 

They're right. Just different units of measurements. Don't do the old trick of telling your friends about how much BHP your modified car makes. We all measure in WHP.

And for the really thorough, we measure power with trap speeds.