Weight saving wonders!
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Honda-Tech Member
Joined: Aug 2000
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From: Phoenix, AZ, USA
Weight saving wonders!
A buddy of mine pointed out recently the fact of HP per LB of vehicle weight -
I never imagined it has such an impact.
Lets take my car for example - 160 WHP and 2366(no driver) track weight.
Thats equal 14.78 LBS per 1 HP.
Lets say I drop 100 LBS of the car's weight. This changes the weight/hp ratio to 14.16 LBS per HP.
PLus that back into the 2366 LB car..and it would be like having ~167.5 HP instead of 160!
Drop 200 LBS..and the ratio becomes 13.53:1 which would equal ~175 WHP!
So for my car it seems safe to assume that every 100 LBS equals ~7.5 WHP!
Amazing!
I never imagined it has such an impact.
Lets take my car for example - 160 WHP and 2366(no driver) track weight.
Thats equal 14.78 LBS per 1 HP.
Lets say I drop 100 LBS of the car's weight. This changes the weight/hp ratio to 14.16 LBS per HP.
PLus that back into the 2366 LB car..and it would be like having ~167.5 HP instead of 160!
Drop 200 LBS..and the ratio becomes 13.53:1 which would equal ~175 WHP!
So for my car it seems safe to assume that every 100 LBS equals ~7.5 WHP!
Amazing!
Honda-Tech Member
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 3,795
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From: San Antonio, TX
Re: Weight saving wonders! (HX_Guy)
yup...weight is key in our cars...
people laugh when i take out my passenger seat...but it does make a difference
i remember one night when i was stock, i was running consistent 15.8's...put a 100lb person in the car for two runs and ran two 16.0's
100lb=~.2 sec
[Modified by 01GSR, 3:24 PM 8/15/2001]
people laugh when i take out my passenger seat...but it does make a difference
i remember one night when i was stock, i was running consistent 15.8's...put a 100lb person in the car for two runs and ran two 16.0's
100lb=~.2 sec
[Modified by 01GSR, 3:24 PM 8/15/2001]
Honda-Tech Member
Joined: Jan 2000
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From: Sacramento, CA
Re: Weight saving wonders! (HX_Guy)
The relationship between horsepower and weight is not linear like that, unfortunately.
You would be better off using torque at a given RPM to do your calculations, since horsepower has a provision for time (force over time) which has no counterpart when measuring weight. Since torque is just twisting force, the acceleration of the vehicle will be almost entirely dependent on torque and vehicle weight (there are other factors, like aerodynamics, but this should be pretty accurate).
Dustin
You would be better off using torque at a given RPM to do your calculations, since horsepower has a provision for time (force over time) which has no counterpart when measuring weight. Since torque is just twisting force, the acceleration of the vehicle will be almost entirely dependent on torque and vehicle weight (there are other factors, like aerodynamics, but this should be pretty accurate).
Dustin
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Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 1,549
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From: houston, tx, usa
Re: Weight saving wonders! (dustin)
The relationship between horsepower and weight is not linear like that, unfortunately.
You would be better off using torque at a given RPM to do your calculations, since horsepower has a provision for time (force over time) which has no counterpart when measuring weight. Since torque is just twisting force, the acceleration of the vehicle will be almost entirely dependent on torque and vehicle weight (there are other factors, like aerodynamics, but this should be pretty accurate).
Dustin
You would be better off using torque at a given RPM to do your calculations, since horsepower has a provision for time (force over time) which has no counterpart when measuring weight. Since torque is just twisting force, the acceleration of the vehicle will be almost entirely dependent on torque and vehicle weight (there are other factors, like aerodynamics, but this should be pretty accurate).
Dustin
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Joined: May 2000
Posts: 387
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From: Sacramento, CA, USA
Re: Weight saving wonders! (HX_Guy)
Some of my (lesser knowledgeable) friends throught it was a waste when I took my stereo out when I went to the track, yet before I did, my best was a 16.12 and the first run afterwards was a 15.75 with a crappy launch.
Now, whenever I compare my car to other people's, I look up the weights and do a little math first. One of my friends throught he would whoop my *** with his 190hp 3100lb truck. When I explained the math, he saw that I'd probably still beat him (~16.3hp/lb for him, ~15.3hp/lb for me).
[Modified by SeaDawg, 4:22 PM 8/15/2001]
Now, whenever I compare my car to other people's, I look up the weights and do a little math first. One of my friends throught he would whoop my *** with his 190hp 3100lb truck. When I explained the math, he saw that I'd probably still beat him (~16.3hp/lb for him, ~15.3hp/lb for me).
[Modified by SeaDawg, 4:22 PM 8/15/2001]
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