Horsepower Wars

After considering the performance cars of the day it is amazing to me how far along they have come. Only a few years ago, like 1995-1998 ERA, 250 hp was considered good and fast. Corvettes had 300 with the LT1 engine, Porsche had 296 with their inline six, Ferrari had 355 in the F355. Now its gone to a whole new level. The stock corvette has 400hp, the 2002 Camaro SS had 325 (in a car that cost 25Grand brand new. The Nissan Maxima has 280 HP and the Toyota Avalon has 280HP. The level of performance has been raised to the highest standard ever in automotive history. Cars are now fast, safer and more practical than ever before. One of my personal favorite in this area is the Subaru WRX STi. It has a 2.5L 300hp turbocharged 4-cyl. I have driven the base WRX and was unimpressed. The engine was whiny, and needed tons of revvs to get the turbo spooled. The STi that my cousin just got is a whole new ball game. THe bigger engine has loads more low end tourqe. The car hits 60mph in 4.7 seconds. That is the same as the Ferrari F355 of a decade ago. Unreal. The car cost 32G, has four doors, all-wheel drive, and is blazingly fast. One can only wonder what the future will hold for cars. Already 500 and 600 hp+ is common on supercars. The future is here, with power and poise in many of today's entry level sports cars.