Outright power vs power delivery - what's more important to you and why?

[blueoval]

This thread is put up out of curiosity for myself and is in no way meant to undermine anybody's vehicle directed to any person or forum member in particular. Please keep this thread on topic, and within T&C's of the site. This thread will be heavily moderated so be careful of what you write. I'd like this thread to remain UNlocked.

What I'd like to know is what do you find is more important with your car in terms of power? Outright power? or power delivery?

For example, do you find having 700rwkw is a cool number to have for bragging rights as well as dyno shoot outs or would you prefer less power and it being able to put the power down at the drags/tarmac and being more usable?

Of course everyone is going to say both, but what I'd also like to know how much is too much power?

I see many build threads on this site with some amazing power outputs and generally speaking a lot of emphasis is placed by some forum watchers on what it made on the dyno. I too am guilty of this.

But if you can't put that power to the ground, the question remains, what was the purpose of all this power?

If you had to choose, what would you prefer?

[Scott]

Well, when I had my GT-P (BA MkI-5spd) I really didn't enjoy driving any of the 6M later ones, even those with bigger badges than mine. The 5spd gave a real firm shove when you spanked it, far more than I could get out of a 6spd.

I preferred the raw urgency of the 5spd over the linear smoothness of the 6spd so I guess I'm in the "delivery" team.

[prasac]

power delivery by far, though if u got 700kw and u can put it to the ground i would take that

the right gears and 300kw on the street is more than you will ever need. use the rest at the track.

[blk6t]

I'm in the delivery basket also, my old BA Mk2 Turbo delivered power really well, it was setup perfectly and gave a massive kick and surge but didn't have the highest power output, the tuners said they could have gone further with power but it would have been useless.

Even my brother inlaws Torana, currently running 10sec down the 1/4 mile, isn't producing the biggest power, but gees the thing pushes you WELL into the seat while it slides left to right in the rear well over 130km/h+....scary stuff!

The Torana's setup is if for delivery down the 1/4 more than anything else, it can't corner to well either.

[Rodge]

Real world power delivery is where its at, nice smooth and linear. Circa 300 rwkw's is plenty for any reasonable road use

[FreddyDUZ747]

As above,my car on street tires was quicker at 320rwkw compared to 350rwkw.

Torque tune all the way for me

[Mr Hardware]

low down usable torque with great throttle response is the only way to drive

[Bridgette01]

Originally Posted by Mr Hardware

low down usable torque with great throttle response is the only way to drive

Agreed

[Donny]

I prefer good useable power delivery over outright power. Case in point why I do much prefer driving my 220kw AU3 XR8 over my 302 KW GT-P.

Id like to up the antie a bit with more power, like a 250kw stroker setup for my daily when funds permit. Who dosent want more power and torque..

But what I really like about my current 5.0 setup is its abilities to work really well down low and in the midrange, and still be respectable up top.

The Boss 302 did nothing much till it hit the midrange and had all its gutts up top, which was fun when it actually woke up. But when you needed a fast holeshot, it was a tuff mission and required really well timed pedalling to acheive a quick holeshot without gross wheel spin and tramping or at the other end of the spectrum utterly bogging down..

The Boss 302 was totally stock, vs my 220 Windsor which has cool air induction, extractors and twin 2.5 inch stainless system etc. But both manual, 6 speed on the P and 5 speed in the XR8..

My XY is a weekenders car, and currently has a near stock motor which is very slow to my reconing, but still gets up and goes with that distinctive gutteral clevo growl. Pretty soon I intend to fit a decent donk to that, but even tho its a weekender, it wont be a massive powerhouse, still a 51 with big port heads and overall a bit upspecced from a Phase 2,3 or 4 spec and still very driveable.

Thats what works for me the most, they still gotta be driveable and moderatly civilised and live through big bumper to bumper traffic situations.

[Bridgette01]

Would it be true to say...Outright power suits the drags and Power delivery suits the street? Its just a thought

[blueoval]

Im suprised to see everyone has chosen the power delivery option.

I actually expected to see people opt for the outright power choice to be honest.

[svo347]

+1 for putting the power to the ground

[blueoval]

Originally Posted by Bridgette01

Would it be true to say...Outright power suits the drags and Power delivery suits the street? Its just a thought

I would say yes and no to that.

You need power delivery to be spot on to get your fastest ET at the drags. I think in high hp car like top fuelers, they shut down if they get too much tire smoke. I think its more of a balancing act with as much power as possible while still controlling how the power gets delivered to the track without breaking into wheel spin.

Power delivery is for every aspect of cars, not just for street. On the street it's harder to put down a lot of power without wheel spin on street tires and an unprepared surface. Also more dangerous.

Thats my take on it.

[Venomous1]

Reason why the old Ford 302 V8 is awesome is it's Power delivery and ease of driving in the low revs just torque all the time.

[blueoval]

It would be interesting to hear more from the 6T guys and their thoughts. I see plenty of these guys get some insane amounts of power. How do they feel about it when used on the street? Is it usable? Just for show? or is that higher hp tune purely for the drags?

[Windsor342ci]

Well this is interesting topic and had to read your original thread to see exactly what you where referring to...

For me I opt Output. Though the delivery is vital and there’s no denying that, I'd rather have a 700rwkw beast that is sheer menus then a humbled 300rwkw which is tame.
Im confident to say that something holding 700rwkws would eventually catch the more conservative car even whilst wheel spinning past.

What can I say... I love numbers!!!

[burnz]

no point haveing a bucket load of power if you cant use it!
sort of defeats the purpose, power is nothing without control..

[XR6_661]

Outright, because F practicality. Just under drive it haha

[Road Games]

A certain brand of extractors makes X on the dyno but Y wins the drag race time and time again...

Horsepower sells engines but Torque wins races

[SSD-85]

Outright power is of little use to me. Since 99.9% of my driving is on public roads. Fat power bands ftw.

[XR6_661]

Originally Posted by XR6menace

A certain brand of extractors makes X on the dyno but Y wins the drag race time and time again...

Horsepower sells engines but Torque wins races

Or unless you are in the majority of AFF members, TALK wins races. Supposedly.

[smally289]

Power delivery for me. No point having a massive peak power figure if you've got none in the mid range. I like the Engine Masters competition where they measure average power over a certain rev range. That is useable and practical power, rather than just a big number off the dyno for bragging rights at the pub.

[grandpa_spec_F6]

Originally Posted by Mr Hardware

low down usable torque with great throttle response is the only way to drive

What he said, I know I'd rather have lots of pull from 2000rpm onwards than a dyno queen

[grandpa_spec_F6]

Originally Posted by blueoval

It would be interesting to hear more from the 6T guys and their thoughts. I see plenty of these guys get some insane amounts of power. How do they feel about it when used on the street? Is it usable? Just for show? or is that higher hp tune purely for the drags?

Mashing the throttle on even the stock f6 makes it break traction like the tyres were made of pvc.

[martinijosh]

Power delivery...

Driving dad's c4 corvette. Less power than my BA 6, same amount of gears in the slushbox, same amount of torque... but with an injected 350chev

The power delivery feels MUCH better.


My supermoto... 0.4L engine, about 30-32 kilowatts. Feels faster than both of the previously mentioned cars... and is.

[prasac]

dyno queens aren't as popular as they used to be, 99 times out of 100 a tuned standard XR6T will beat a big turboed XR6 dyno queen on the street. by the time the turbo spools up the standard XR6 is already gone whats the point of having 900rwkw when a 300rwkw can can munch u. unless u find the perfect mix or know how to pedal your car right, then ur gonna struggle.

if torque won races then we'd see alot more diesel engines out on the drag strip without both you're not going to win races.

[FreddyDUZ747]

Originally Posted by blueoval

It would be interesting to hear more from the 6T guys and their thoughts. I see plenty of these guys get some insane amounts of power. How do they feel about it when used on the street? Is it usable? Just for show? or is that higher hp tune purely for the drags?

Refer to my other post bloke

I have a 333.7 tune and a 346 tune now,the 333(17-18psi down low,15 up top)is the more down low tune and would still pip the 346(16 down low,16 up top)tune on the 1/4 imo.

Like I agreed before,a torquey 300-320rwkw tune is more than enough for the street.I run 265 KU31's also that are 90% so not going by crappy street tire experiences

[Ben73]

Delivery, that is where the fun is at.
But for internet forums its best to have outright power, because that all that matters on the internet.

[SteveJH]

Originally Posted by prasac

dyno queens aren't as popular as they used to be, 99 times out of 100 a tuned standard XR6T will beat a big turboed XR6 dyno queen on the street. by the time the turbo spools up the standard XR6 is already gone whats the point of having 900rwkw when a 300rwkw can can munch u. unless u find the perfect mix or know how to pedal your car right, then ur gonna struggle.

Plus if the more powerful car tries to actually utilise the extra power they'll just spin the wheels, at least at lower speeds.

if torque won races then we'd see alot more diesel engines out on the drag strip without both you're not going to win races.

Tell that to Audi and Peugeot.

[2011G6E]

The ancient saying goes:
"Horsepower makes a car quick, but torque makes it pleasant to drive..."

What's the point of 450kw when you're stuck in traffic or just cruising along camera-infested country roads? Give me a sweet chassis, pleasant handling manners, and an engaging drive rather than taking notice of what the little sticker on the back says...