I figured this would be an interesting thread to offset the horsepower thread discussions. Post your favorite car to drive that has a low Power-to-Weight Ratio. That is, the horsepower divided by the curb weight. I'll start the thread with my 2015 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon. I love this car. It is a snow tank. It gets lots of attention wherever it goes. It is Hydro Blue which is an electric blue type of color. Horsepower is 285 from a 3.6 liter V6 PentaStar engine. Curb weight is 4340 lbs. Power to weight ratio is 0.0657. For comparison purposes, a Ferrari 488 GTB has 661 hp and weighs 3252 lbs with a power-to-weight ratio of 0.2033. That is 309% better than the Jeep Rubicon's power-to-weight ratio. Yes, that's a LOT! . Image Unavailable, Please Login
[not mine pictured] I think the US-spec 1300 had a power/weight ratio of around 0.030 hp/lb. Image Unavailable, Please Login
4,817 lb for my E38 @ 322 hp: 0.0668 (Still love driving her! With the correct gearing its very peppy.) or 3042 lb for my daily prelude @ 200 hp: 0.0657
2011 GL 350 Bluetec with the sport package. It has the same wheels, trim and suspension as the gl550. 5500 lbs and 210 hp. It's slow off the line but the 400 pounds of torque pulls like a turbine at speed. .0381
Nice Metro! Here's my entry: 68 HP / 1765 lbs = 0.039. A bonus: It fits in my garden shed! Image Unavailable, Please Login
My old F250 6.8 V10. Outside the states these cars are quite rare, especially with the V10. Way too big, bad mileage, pretty loud with a different exhaust. Fantastic. I moved from Africa so it's gone now, but want another one. Or Excursion V10.
(these are not photos of my real cars but they were the same model, year, and colors) Probably my 1991 Alfa Spider. 2500 lbs (well, so said Alfa but you know how that goes), 110 HP. Ratio of 0.044 (at best). But it was a lot of fun to drive. 2nd place a 1978 Fiat X 1/9. Weight about 2,000 lbs, 75 hp (really Fiat?) making a ratio of 0.038. You treated the gas pedal like an on/ off switch. There was no point to anything else. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I truly learned to appreciate the value of momentum racing a 1.6L Miata. On its best day it put down 114 hp at 2300 lbs
I picked up a 71 karmann ghia coupe, don't know how much it weighed, barely had more then 65 hp. Maybe not super fun to drive. But it did get the most attention for a non exotic I've owned. Girls loved this car.
1909 OAKLAND 20B Touring, 20HP, 152ci, 2cylinders, 1600lbs: 0.0125 Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Instead of dividing the horsepower by the weight and ending-up with a fraction of 1, why not divide the weight by the horsepower and end up with numbers more useful for comparison? Using Ron's Jeep stats and my suggestion, each "horse" pushes 15.22 pounds. My Shadow weighs approx 4800 pounds and it's 6.25L engine puts out something like 220 hp. That calculates to 21.81 pounds per horsepower. Chad's Defender 110 is even worse, pushing 26.64 pounds per HP. Isn't this a lot easier to compare numbers than comparing fractions of one?? KevFla
1995 Ford Escort @ 18.5 lbs/hp: twas my first car & a gift to myself for a major work promotion! Reliable for 180K miles & 18 yrs; donated it to a local charity....T
1952 MG TD 54.4 horsepower (That last .4 was apparently very important, you see) 1931 lbs 35.5 lbs/hp Image Unavailable, Please Login
2011 Porsche Boxster S. Mt 3300 lbs 300 hp 0-60 5.0 secs Lbs/hp = 11 Hp/lbs = .09 Fun to drive in the twisties with the top down.
I can't remember the horsepower rating however it felt 25 % less than advertised in every one of them. Difficult to remember the weight also as it was constantly dieting (typical French rustproofing), but what a delightful way to experience low power to weight. 'Owned' three of them, can't wait for my fourth one day... Enjoyed Leno's take on his, spot on comments. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzW_ERSgFRY Image Unavailable, Please Login
I like my cars to feel like toys and get more thrills whipping around curves with tires squealing than getting pinned back in the seat so this thread was made for me. favs: Smart Roadster Coupe 1800lbs, 82hp. In another 12 years when these can be imported to the US I'd love to ship a couple over. Terrific fun on the 'ring. Beetle cabrio diesel 2800lbs, 105hp. Even more fun on the 'ring, but in a different way now back in the states a '86 CRX Si (2000lbs, 95hp) gives me smiles. BTW why'd you calculate hp per pound? Pounds per hp is much easier to visualize/compare. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
For most of the laps one passenger was a semi-lightweight girl [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVAK6-275XA[/ame] Unfortunately we didn't meet Clarkson on track (same weekend as his sub-10 minute Jag challenge), but the 911 driver we passed between Aremburg and Fuchsrohre might still be in therapy :/