# too much horsepower?



## SVP5TEN (Apr 27, 2004)

alright alright. now how much horsepower is too much horsepower?. for road racing that is. ive searched the forums but i find more related to the 1/4 mile and auto x. now for an unlimited class for road racing, i figure one would not want to run a 1000 hp monster on a twisted track, nor run a 130 hp mouse on a long track. now how much horse power is too much?, or what is the "ideal" (xxx hp - xxx hp) amount of horse power to be used on various road race tracks?. if any one would like to share from experience.


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## MShorten (Jul 19, 2004)

SVP5TEN said:


> alright alright. now how much horsepower is too much horsepower?. for road racing that is. ive searched the forums but i find more related to the 1/4 mile and auto x. now for an unlimited class for road racing, i figure one would not want to run a 1000 hp monster on a twisted track, nor run a 130 hp mouse on a long track. now how much horse power is too much?, or what is the "ideal" (xxx hp - xxx hp) amount of horse power to be used on various road race tracks?. if any one would like to share from experience.


To be honest, I've never heard of "too much HP" - not from watching Super Lates throw themselves around a 1/3d mile oval - those monsters are getting up there in the 400 to 500s easy -- but I digress.

I think the real question is if your car is set up for the type of racing you want to do. Horsepower is like potential, it's there if you need it, but what is going to count in road racing is a good suspension, good tires and your knowledge of how to handle the car through the corners. If you have a car that is set up and modified to be quick off the blocks and that's it, then you don't have a lap making car. Vice versa, you aren't going to blow someone out of the 1/4m if you are set up for road racing.

I think if you are considering road racing, the best bet is to do what I did for oval racing - get yourself up to the track and start talking to people and find out what they are doing, how they are running, etc. 

My experience - I run a 91 Sentra at Lake Geneva WI raceway - 1/3m oval - I'm running pretty much stock right now in the "International" (ministock) class - nobody is really hauling any HP, but at the same track, we have Super Lates and Late Models that are breathing some serious horses - what matters is the ability to brake fast, take the corner well and have some good acceleration coming out into the straightaways. Our setup will be different than for you running multiple corners in different directions. But I haven't heard anyone trying to limit their HP.

Good luck! I'm looking forward to reading some of the other answers.

Regards,
Michael


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## Matt93SE (Sep 17, 2003)

on a FWD car, there's definitely a limit to useable HP on a roadcourse. Honestly, anything over about 350 or 400 and you're just wasting tires.. at that kind of power, you'll be spinning tires almost all the way down the straight.. 

a RWD is at a HUGE advantage there, and you can add several hundred more HP to that number due to weight transfer. 

it all changes per track as well, but those are some general numbers that I've come up with over the years... and the reason I'm going to stop building my car at 350 wheel HP.. at that point, you just can't put any more power on the ground without buying new tires every track event.


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## MShorten (Jul 19, 2004)

Matt93SE said:


> on a FWD car, there's definitely a limit to useable HP on a roadcourse. Honestly, anything over about 350 or 400 and you're just wasting tires.. at that kind of power, you'll be spinning tires almost all the way down the straight..


Well, now that's a good point and I didn't think of that - I think I was confusing the HP that is available to the wheels on average and the HP you'll get at the higher RPMs - those monsters that the LM boys are running are probably peaking at 8.5/9k while I'm topping off at 7.3 to 7.5

I'm not totally sure what I'm cranking right now and yanking the motor to dyno it is not an option anytime soon on my budget *g* But then I'm limited by the class rules that have me running mostly stock - tweaking is possible but not as much available as one might do just loading up the car for the 1/4m drag...



Matt93SE said:


> at that point, you just can't put any more power on the ground without buying new tires every track event.


Heh. With my current setup, I'm just about doing that - going to be seriously examining my camber once I get more info from the track... and get some garage time. Seriously rolling the right front when it's warm and the track is not slick.


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## chimmike (Oct 17, 2002)

IMO you have too much power when you can't control the car.....but i don't personally have any road racing experience.


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## Matt93SE (Sep 17, 2003)

I have to disagree with you there... You can be spinning the tires all the way down the track and still be in control. you're not going any faster than you would be if the tires were at their limit... so the HP is unusable- thus too much.


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## chimmike (Oct 17, 2002)

Matt93SE said:


> I have to disagree with you there... You can be spinning the tires all the way down the track and still be in control. you're not going any faster than you would be if the tires were at their limit... so the HP is unusable- thus too much.


ahh, but if the tires are spinning all the way down the track, you're not in complete control, are you?


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## SVP5TEN (Apr 27, 2004)

chimmike said:


> ahh, but if the tires are spinning all the way down the track, you're not in complete control, are you?


hahaha.unless your a good driver that could drift. 
well lets take 2 tracks for instance, laguna seca and the infineon raceway. now laguna seca looks as if it were a high speed track, and if you look at the infineon raceway layout it seems full of more turns and and twists.
at laguna seca it looks as if one would want to have a vehicle tuned for the use of high horsepower because of the longer strait aways. now for the infineon raceway track it seems that one would want to use a less detuned horsepowerd car to accomodate with the twists and turns of the track. wouldnt one want to have the most usable horsepower to accomplish faster times at various tracks?.
http://www.laguna-seca.com/GeneralInfo/index.cfm?FuseAction=TrackMap
http://www.internetsoccer.com/images/2003-ALMS-Map.lg.gif


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## Felonious Cat Stalker (May 1, 2002)

SVP5TEN said:


> alright alright. now how much horsepower is too much horsepower?. for road racing that is. ive searched the forums but i find more related to the 1/4 mile and auto x. now for an unlimited class for road racing, i figure one would not want to run a 1000 hp monster on a twisted track, nor run a 130 hp mouse on a long track. now how much horse power is too much?, or what is the "ideal" (xxx hp - xxx hp) amount of horse power to be used on various road race tracks?. if any one would like to share from experience.


_"When you can come out of a corner and lay black streaks until you need to brake for the next corner, then you have enough power"_ - Mark Donahue

Enough said.


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## Assembler (Sep 7, 2003)

FCS said:


> _"When you can come out of a corner and lay black streaks until you need to brake for the next corner, then you have enough power"_ - Mark Donahue
> 
> Enough said.


Who's Mark Donahue?


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## Flying Vv (Apr 10, 2003)

the best thing that you could try to do is have a motor that is easy to tune, each trak is going to require a different set up, ie a longer track is going to need more higher rpm hp , and a smaller tighter track is going to require a lower hp car than the long track. gear ratios are a good thing to play with, but no one i know has that kind of money. if you're more on a budget then tune your car to perfectly match your gear ratios, and with that you'll be able to maximize your motor/ trannies potential out on the track.

also a good suspension set up and corner weighting are good ideas along with the tire set up to match your driving style. Camber set up is another way to gain speed, thus the testing days before you should be hard at work trying different set ups. *A good power to weight ratio is key* here

the key to have a fast track car is balance, suspension set up, good brakes and weight reduction. after that you should worry about more power. Power isnt everything, it also helps if the driver is somewhat skilled also lol


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## Felonious Cat Stalker (May 1, 2002)

Assembler said:


> Who's Mark Donahue?


You'd best click this.


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