Useful RWHP on the street?

[Lethalchem]

I just finished reading the Dyno results for Nitrous Pete and his Kenne Bell SC. He's making a ton of power, and after reading his accounts of his first drive with it, it made me wonder: How much RWHP can actually be useful on the street? So give me your thoughts. For a daily driven street car, how much RWHP do you guys think can actually be useful in a consistantly reliable way? Wel all kow there's 1000HP+ cars out there, but at what point does traction, fuel delivery etc. become unrealistic for the street?

 

[Hunter]

I think that 550hp is pushing the limits for a "real" street(daily) driven car. IMO.

 

[philip]

I think 350-400 is more than enough for everyday driving.....But when it comes to racing there is no limit.

 

[shweggy 03snake]

I'm running 470 RWHP SAE, and 490 RWTQ without any real major mods. I think the car is perfect now. I think if you can run high 11s on radials and still drive to the shore with AC on, then thats all you need or could ask for.

 

[NastyWS6]

I think 500 is the limit for regular street driving, racing on the other hand no limit.

 

[SoCalBlk03]

I voted 500 as well. I haven't quite gotten there yet but my car lets me know it's at or near the daily driver limit. Traction in 1st-3rd is always an issue but can be managed. The weakest link IMO it the clutch/tranny. It apparently can't handle this much power for long esp if you frequent the 405. Gas mileage doesn't change noticably with the increase in HP though.

 

[F8LBITE]

The more the merrier. More is the best and you'll figure out the rest!!!!

 

[03SoCalCobra]

At 460rwhp, i can swing the back end around on command in the first two gears. That means when racing without slicks or really sticky street tires, I cannot give it full throttle in first or second and I'm granny-shifting the first few gears. At 550 it would be insane, BUT, there's always a time when you'll want more power, so...

A boost-controller would be perfect. Set it at 8-12psi around town and 18-20 psi on the weekends.

 

[Lethalchem]

Originally posted by 03SoCalCobra
At 460rwhp, i can swing the back end around on command in the first two gears. That means when racing without slicks or really sticky street tires, I cannot give it full throttle in first or second and I'm granny-shifting the first few gears. At 550 it would be insane, BUT, there's always a time when you'll want more power, so...

A boost-controller would be perfect. Set it at 8-12psi around town and 18-20 psi on the weekends.

That's right along the line I was thinking. If it gets to the point where you can't get into it without leaving a smokey trail behind you (unless you WANT to), is it really doing you any good? Kinda like the story where the guy in the right lane loses to the guy in the left lane, even though the right lane has 200 more hp, simply because he can't get the power to the ground. I want a fast street car, not a car that I can't use because I can't get any useful traction.

It sounds like your 460rwhp is right around the area I want to stop modding, give or take. Of course, when I actually GET that much, will I be able to stop?:shrug: I doubt it

Now a boost-control..that would change everything:coolman:

 

[beabout]

IMO 400RWHP is more than enough for daily driver....

racing on the otherhand is unlimited....

 

[magnum4000]

depends on personal preference, 400-500 seems right. Too much over 500 and you'll loose drivability / comfort.
:burnout:

 

[Intercooled98]

No limit for me!!!!

 

[Sonic03]

hopefully my next round of mods will put me in the 500hp range....thats really the goal I want to reach...along with streetable low 11's...right now 430hp is sometimes a little more to handle than people realize...sometimes I am thankful that the car is a pig...

 

[ShelbyKid]

Not a 03, but...

My car's been through several stages of modifications from 400 to 700 rwhp and IMHO anything over 500rwhp is pretty much unusable if you plan on racing from a stop. If you do alot of highway/top speed racing, then you can get away with the high hp figures. But in my application which is twin turbo'd anything above 550 rwhp and my car was a slug during city driving (too much turbo lag). I am "detuning" it (switching to smaller turbos) as we speak to get back down to 500rwhp because I plan on daily driving it again. I would think that in a 03 Cobra anything above 500rwhp will pretty much be useless with the amount of torque you would be putting to the wheels.

Rob

 

[totaled]

Never enough for me

 

[Honest Mike]

Shweggy, very nice car! I like the color and that different rear wing really adds a nice look to an already nice car. Mike :beer:

 

[BlownCobra]

The T56 nor the IRS will not handle much more then 500rwhp/500rwtq. , and even that is pushing the envelope. 500rwtq = 588 flywheel tq. (aprox.) The T-56 is rated to 450 flywheel tq. As for the IRS, there are several posts of folks snaping 1/2 shafts.

 

[Blue03Cobra]

Originally posted by Hunter
I think that 550hp is pushing the limits for a "real" street(daily) driven car. IMO.

Ditto

 

[03DOHC]

I'll let you know when I get there.

 

[Randee of the Redwoods]

I agree with BlownCobra. The question is valid "how much hp is too much for a street car(daily type driver)". I agree that 500 is a good number. Any more and you'll need serious traction to use it. BUT, the question must also reflect the car in which that horsepower resides. How much usable rwhp before drivetrain parts must be upgraded to handle it??? Even the mighty 03 is having problems with that one.