You know you need more power when. . . . .

You have to decide if you need to turn off the AC or not when merging in to traffic.

I do this. 120HP as delivered, in 1988.

In reply to dean1484:

When there is no decision, you KNOW you need to turn off the AC to merge into traffic

As far as I'm concerned, if I can still pull my head off the headrest when the pedal is to the floor, I need more power. As I've mentioned in other threads, I've broken both ankles jumping off the "driving a slow car fast is fun" bandwagon. No...no it's not...not for me anymore. When I replace my current '13 Elantra, power is going to be at the top of the list. **

And yes...I actually did turn off the A/C to merge onto the highway yesterday. Really.

** We're talking street cars here. I've driven plenty of slow cars in LeMons and have a blast, but that's an entirely different animal.

In a lot of modern-ish cars, turning off the A/C at WOT makes no difference as the compressor gets cut out at WOT anyway. It's very noticeable in my Jeep if you keep your foot on the throttle for too long. Air from the vents starts to get warmer after a couple seconds and then gets cold again when you back off.

In reply to Klayfish:

I'm there with you. Driving under-powered E36 M3 boxes in eastern PA always seems like a death sentence when trying to merge with how short the on ramps are. I like being able to pick a spot even or in front of me and power into it. There's too many people around here that don't and get rear ended on the on ramp by someone looking at the traffic flow over their shoulder.

Lack of power can definitely make a fun car not fun. Power by itself can't make a car fun for very long.

300hp is the new 120hp.

tuna55 wrote: I do this. 120HP as delivered, in 1988.

1988 I took delivery of a brand new black on black Hyundai Excel S. This was the "sport" model with the aluminum rims that took a 175/13 instead of the smaller 165/13 tyres.

All 62hp of it. While it had kickass AC, it was a good thing there was a switch on the binnacle to turn it off or on as you needed it off to accelerate

IIRC the 85 GTI had a switch that turned the AC off at WOT. I always liked that.

Tyler H wrote: 300hp is the new 120hp.

That is true--or some number near 300.

When you squirrel away $180 to send your spare cam to Isky for a moar powah re-grind. Over a period of a couple of months, so you don't have explain to SWMBO "needing" to drop $180 for a hotter cam for your Escort that was already making about 15 more horses and torques than OEM.

The0retical wrote: In reply to Klayfish: I like being able to pick a spot even or in front of me and power into it.

That's my biggest frustration right there...even more than trying to merge. I spend a ton of time on the highway, in traffic. Sometimes a hole opens up that I want to squeeze into, but I can't simply because I don't have enough power. That's a pain in the butt. And merging can be a challenge too.

I like a lot of things about the Elantra, but under 150hp is a drawback. My top candidates when it comes time to replace it would be V6 Accord (285hp) or Genesis R spec sedan (400+hp).

You can't leave black marks from one corner to the next...

/Capt Obvious

When you try to do a burnout and the only smoke you get is from the clutch

When your friends talk about your sports car and you change the subject to mpg.

When you come to a screeching halt, mid power slide, because the tires caught traction. Even though you were in first gear and WOT.

Corners are the fun part of driving. Power makes the boring parts between corners go away faster.

The 1.6 Miatas cut out the AC at full throttle. "Modern cars"

When your zero-to-sixty time is measured with a calendar (My Lada 2105 and my Mercedes 200 auto)

Man, you guys make me feel bad for wishing my 300hp daily driver wagon had more power... The problem with power is that you get used to it pretty quickly and always want more. When I first jumped from a 150hp Hyundai to a 300hp BMW, it was amazing, but then I owned a BMW M5 for a little while and that 400hp + 8 throttle bodies ruined me.

I watched a guy in a Mustang nearly lose control and wreck because he matched my speed on the interchange from the Cumberland parkway to I65 South. The 160hp 3900lbs Bravada didn't do merging very well. Carrying as much speed as possible on ramps made it easier.

dannyzabolotny wrote: Man, you guys make me feel bad for wishing my 300hp daily driver wagon had more power... The problem with power is that you get used to it pretty quickly and always want more. When I first jumped from a 150hp Hyundai to a 300hp BMW, it was amazing, but then I owned a BMW M5 for a little while and that 400hp + 8 throttle bodies ruined me.

I believe it says in the M5 owner's manual that you must reach 100+ mph on every onramp. You know you're doing it properly when you have to brake hard to merge.

2007 rav4 4 cylinder 2wd driver over here.. What do you want to know about lacking power?

The CRX of Doom™ doesn't have A/C.

Where I lived by Boise, I-84 was 80mph. Try going from 40 to 80 with a 90hp (when new), 80's econobox when you have a semi bearing down on you as fast as a Klingon bird of prey.

Poo was shot

I daily drove diesel rabbits for years, even AC equipped didn't mean anything if you had to accelerate.

I still remember, not fondly, a test drive in a smart car. My sister was driving and we were merging onto the highway, "are you going to accelerate?"

Her reply, "I've had the pedal to the floor the entire ramp." As we are only doing 45mph as we are merging. I'd blame short northeast entrance ramps but this wasn't one of them.

my current fun car was rated at 88hp from the factory, im glad i dont have highway miles too worry about. It does make me wish i had the 300 horsepower crate motor that was in my capri sometimes.