Just for a good story about HP. The L88 engine option for a C3 listed HP as 430 HP. Folklore was that the engine produced about 550 flywheel HP! Not too many people would notice that the advertised 430 HP was listed for a low engine rpm.

 

and here is the real reason for what is posted for engine hp. they weren't ALLOWED to build and sell 500+ hp engines-so they didn't! they wrote down the number the EPA or NTSB or insurance industry or whoever they were wanted to hear! same with cars and engines all across the board. if you retard the spark far enough, and stop revving the engine at a given rpm, you can make that L88 show not much more power than your riding mower. and there is nothing stopping the owner from retiming it correctly...

 

Horsepower ratings are meaningless. Elapsed time is what counts.

 

haha. I did, but that number fudging (or de-fudging in this case) is well known within the community.

 

Well, they're KIND OF important, and it depends on what 'elapsed time' you are referring to - track time, 1/4 mile, 0-60, 1 mile run,etc etc. You need torque for just about everything (especially if we're talking 0-60 and 1/4 mile, or stoplight to stoplight). I know I know.... HP and TQ are directly related to each other....I'm only making a generalized statement to make a point.

The ratings are not meaningless, unless you're talking about a leisurely trip to the grocery store where the elapsed time to get there and back doesn't mean much... Then just drive a model A (in stock form), or the contemporary equivalent.

Good HP/TQ numbers and the right driver is what makes the difference. Can't expect noteworthy results with 148 Net HP, even with a great driver if you have another great driver competing against you in a car with twice or three times the HP/TQ...

The truth is that numbers/ratings mean a whole lot to a whole lot of folks here and elsewhere. Deny it all you want, but go through the countless posts on HP on this forum/site alone.... not to mention other forums/sites. Denying that is like denying that wind exists just because you can't see it. The reason this very thread exists (and mountains of other threads like it) proves the point.

I'll go out on a limb here and guess that you knew exactly how much advertised HP and TQ your model year Corvette had before YOU bought it.

 

Yes knew the HP and all that other stuff. But none of that mattered to me. All I wanted was a 80 to 82 that would run in the 14's.

 

I will say this - I'm sure the OP would be flattered that his thread was revived after 11.5 years. Considering the mammoth amount of posts/threads (10 total) from OP since 2011, the last one being all the way back in June 2012.