Head Of Porsche Says 500 HP Is Enough, Changing Focus To Balance - Is That What You Want To Hear From A Performance Brand?

Some people need to brag about "the numbers." My car has more power than yours. My car can to the quarter mile quicker than yours. My car does the 'Ring faster than yours. There was even a motorcycle whose bragging point was its unusually high RPM redline (it was later learned than their claimed high RPMs were not real -- they merely showed the way-high numbers due in part to an inaccurate tach -- and had to compensate duped buyers).

I believe if you love your car, then does it matter what the specs say? If you love the way it accelerates and handles, does it matter if you have 350 hp or 550?

Most of us can't take a sporting car anywhere near its limits due primarily to our own limitations, so capping a car's horsepower at 500 isn't going to hurt that fact at all. I can't take my 300 hp car to its limits, but I need a 600 hp car, which I also can't take to its limits, because then I'll have 600 hp!

FWIW, visit YouTube for lots of examples of guys in exotic cars, with lots of horsepower, losing it on public streets in the lamest of ways. Peeling out from a red light, then loss of control. Turning a corner, then a 180 into the curb and parked cars. One can be an idiot with a lot less than 500 horses :-)

NOTE: I'm not arguing that manufacturers SHOULD limit their horsepower output. I'm just saying that for virtually all the people driving on public roads, if this cap comes to be, then it's a non-event. Unless you seek bragging rights. Then it's a crisis.

Went from a 550 hp R8 V10 Plus and a 560 hp 991 Turbo S (both with automated manual trans.) to a 340 hp Cayman GTS (with a manual trans.) and have found street driving nirvana. Don't miss the high hp one bit and gladly sacrifice the one or two second adrenalin rush from flooring one of those beasts to the nearly continuous joy I get from an incredibly well balanced car whose performance I can continually explore without continually breaking the law.

Sorry - I disagree with YOU about that one.

If we stick to what can actually be legally done with a car on the streets - then we may as well all be driving Toyota Camry Hybrids. People buying high end cars are not buying what THEY can do - but what they can BRAG about.

Why would a person spend an extra $100,000 to get a car that cannot do anything more than the cheaper one? Exclusivity would be one. Potential is another

I agree 100%. At some point we have to come to our senses and realize cars packing that much HP have no use on normal roads. If you track your car, its not a gauranteed win even if you have the bigger higher output engine. There is plenty of proof out there to show you don't need high HP to be the better performer. I used to be about 'the BHP' and would look for the next big thing in output...now that anyone can produce a car with high output... its not interesting anymore. Its also getting pretty dangerous. I just don't have faith in other people's ability to manage these machines no matter how good they think they are. I think Porsche is seeing the light that most people are seeming to ignore.

'Head Of Porsche Says $25,000 Is Enough, Changing Focus To Drive Prices Down'
- Is What I Want To Hear From A Performance Brand.

Performance cars have become death traps. 600+ HP is way too much danger in the hands of unskilled drivers.

I'm with Porsche...I've driven overpowered cars, there is a such thing as too much power. Like the Steve said most of us (myself ncluded) cannot handle our 300 hp cars. The numbers race is aboutover.
T

Balance is what keeps the Miata underpowered. Porsches are pretty balanced for dynamics as is.

So what does that make the Dodge Challenger Hellcat?

as long as the cars dont get bigger and heavier each generation then yes, 500hp is plenty.

Eventually makers of exotic cars will come around to this philosophy. However, power is a great hook for justifying paying the exorbitant prices these vehicles command. When you have vehicle with 1000 HP it is much easier to ask a million dollars or more then when you have a vehicle with 500 HP. So Power is both a marketing and profitability tool for automakers. So while they have to upgrade suspension and brakes to support all this power automakers can usually make it up in the asking price.

Seems that the problem isn't with the cars (and too much HP), but unskilled drivers. Why not let cars continue with their power surge and require tougher driver's license tests (like the Germans). There, both problems solved.