Thursday, January 01, 2004


Horsepower Wars

I wanted to briefly revisit my "automotive prediction #1" for 2004: For better or worse, the automotive horsepower race will continue unabated. To see how far we've come, I herein contrast the horsepower and performance of my mid-tier sedan ('04 Infiniti G35) with luxury and performance models from 15 years ago (note: If you have any quibbles about my figures, please contact the editors of Performance Car magazine regarding the accuracy of their November, 1987 issue).

Year Make/Model 0-60 HP
2004 Infiniti G35 Coupe 5.5 280 <==
1988 Porsche 911 Turbo 5.6 300
2004 Infiniti G35 Sedan 5.7 260 <==
1988 Ferrari Testarossa 6.0 390
1988 Porsche 911 Targa 6.1 231
1988 Porsche 944 Turbo 6.5 220
1988 Ferrari 328 GTB 6.8 270
1988 Nissan 300ZX Turbo 7.0 228
1988 BMW 325i 7.2 171
1988 Mercedes 500 SEC 7.3 245
1988 BMW 735i 7.6 220
1988 Toyota Supra 7.7 201
1988 Mercedes 190E 2.3-16 8.0 185
1988 BMW 528i 8.3 183
1988 Saab 900 Turbo 16V 8.5 175
1988 Mazda RX-7 8.5 150
1988 Honda Accord 2.0 8.6 137
1988 Acura Legend 9.5 172

A few caveats: the 1988 figures are from Euro-spec cars, which are generally quicker and possess more HP than equivalent, US-bound models. If we compared US vehicles to the '04 Infiniti, the performance disparity would be even greater!

Now... can you imagine what 2018 will bring? 400 HP sports sedans? 600 HP sports cars? 0-60 in 2.9 seconds? My neck is hurting just thinking about it.

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