A Lot of British Cars Ranked by Power/Weight

"472CID" (472CID)
12/03/2014 at 12:25 • Filed to: None

First of all let me stress: this is NOT a comprehensive or perfectly exact list, just a fun exercise to see how all these cars compare to one another. Some interesting thing to note:

There's not much going on in the British sportcar world from the 70s-90s

There's been a crazy amount of performance cars from British brand since the last 5 years or so (nearly half the list)

Britain sure specializes in niche/kit car-ish brands, cars of questionable "production" and road legal-ness are italicized

If you missed them, I've got similar lists for Japanese cars

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and American cars

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DISCUSSION (58)

For Sweden > 472CID
12/03/2014 at 12:30

I need units Parker! Units!

SmoresTM Has No Chill (O==[][]==O) > 472CID
12/03/2014 at 12:30

A TVR with 960 horsepower from the 90s is officially the most terrifying thing I have ever been made aware of. Whoever drove one should have been immediately put on suicide watch.

EL_ULY > 472CID
12/03/2014 at 12:30

2.20 Dayum!!!!

I wonder what an average horse weighs.

472CID > For Sweden
12/03/2014 at 12:36

What's I say about non-scientific?? but I'll leave a hint it's not in Watts and Newtons...

Davos Swinney > For Sweden
12/03/2014 at 12:43

I like to imagine it's Dynes per dram.

barreto > For Sweden
12/03/2014 at 12:46

No London Taxi on the list?

Vin > SmoresTM Has No Chill (O==[][]==O)
12/03/2014 at 12:48

They're already dead.

Ash78, voting early and often > 472CID
12/03/2014 at 12:50

A lot of lists like this just remind me that there needs to be a new metric for power. It's always peak bhp (or kw or ps). That's almost like asking for someone's net worth and they respond with how much money they made in 2003 before taxes.

Best suggestion I've heard is the total area under the tq or power curve, all the way to redline (or to a fixed point, like 6000rpm for gas engines).

Chuck Fickens > SmoresTM Has No Chill (O==[][]==O)
12/03/2014 at 12:51

It never made it to production for just that reason! it broke a 1000HP dyno and TVRs owner drove the prototype and decided it was too scary to sell.

BaltimoreGuy > 472CID
12/03/2014 at 12:53

God forbid we use column headers.

The Devil Drives a Mustang (Rotary Pending) > 472CID
12/03/2014 at 12:53

Strictly speaking, you have the cars listed by weight/power, not power/weight. If it were were power/weight the McLaren P1 would be .275 and not 3.63.

Enginerrrrrrrrr > 472CID
12/03/2014 at 12:55

Can we get some units and column headings please? My engineer ocd just made me have an aneurysm from looking at this...

fritzo > 472CID
12/03/2014 at 12:56

Yay! My Mini Cooper is near the top of the list!

Oh wait... That's a bad thing :(

Ivan's bloody nipple > 472CID
12/03/2014 at 12:58

How about using some civilized measurements next time?

Vin > 472CID
12/03/2014 at 12:58

A CHALLENGER APPROACHES, BRO'HEMIANS!

Kinja'd!!!

Make: Light Car Company

Model: Rocket

Curb Weight: 384 kg. (fuck you metric system but I'll play ball)

Power: 170 bhp

Power-Weight: 2.26

Rank: 2nd place (suck it Ariel!)

472CID > Ash78, voting early and often
12/03/2014 at 12:59

Area under the torque curve would probably be more useful, but then power rating in general aren't really of too much use. I'd be surprised if more than 20% of people know how much power their car makes beyond "a lot" or "not a lot."

SaabMcViggerton > Ash78, voting early and often
12/03/2014 at 13:01

under the torque curve is a great idea...

but at a fixed point is terrible... 6,000RPM?.. manufacturers would give us a bunch of "high power" gutless, torqueless, Vtecs... :(

Bring Back Pontiac > For Sweden
12/03/2014 at 13:06

And column titles!

I know what they are, but no titles hurts my brain.

StevenG > 472CID
12/03/2014 at 13:07

Now rank them by rate of oil leakage or electrical failures.

BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest. > 472CID
12/03/2014 at 13:08

Can you clarify the Ultima GTR? It was from the 90s, no?

Also you know it's a crazy list when the P1 is in 5th place.

Ash78, voting early and often > SaabMcViggerton
12/03/2014 at 13:15

actually my goal there was to penalize certain marques and cars (cough S2000) from gaming the system by being peaky beyond 6k. They could win just by increasing redline without a truly useful powerband. There's no good way to do it, but my personal mo is to look at the bands at 3k-4k. That's a range for spirited everday driving for most people. Not wringing it out, but not pussyfooting it.

472CID > BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest.
12/03/2014 at 13:15

Power figure from the GTR720 model which has been around since at about 2009. The weight is the only value I could find for any GTR, numbers on car like this are sketchy at best.

Sn210 > 472CID
12/03/2014 at 13:18

Kinja'd!!!

mmmmmm... Xjr15!

The Little Engine That Couldnt > 472CID
12/03/2014 at 13:18

Did anyone ever buy a Caparo? It's Top Gear lap is NSFW.

AdyLad > Chuck Fickens
12/03/2014 at 13:21

That's exactly why it should have been put on sale :)

Blondude > SmoresTM Has No Chill (O==[][]==O)
12/03/2014 at 13:22

The Cerbera Speed 12 was powered by Satan himself.

BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest. > 472CID
12/03/2014 at 13:24

Ok. Thanks. I think that's because you could put any engine you wanted in it. Like the S70/2 used in the McLaren F1.

Kinja'd!!!

2 Wheels awesome! > For Sweden
12/03/2014 at 13:25

Seconded... SHIT PARKER< YOU HAD ONE JOB!

Kevin Rhodes > 472CID
12/03/2014 at 13:25

The Triumph Spitfire horsepower is only correct for early-mid cars with the 1296cc engine. The earlier smaller 1147cc engine has less power than that, but is lighter, while early 1500s have about that much hp but are quite a bit heavier. Late rubber-bumper Spitfires with catalytic converters are pathetic, over 2000lbs, and ultimately *49* hp in 1980 California spec. 49-staters had a whopping 50hp.

My '74 with breathed on 1296 with dual carbs has about 75hp without headers, 80hp with them. Weighs just a tick under a ton, at 1975lbs with a full 8 gallon tank of gas. You can still measure the 0-60 time with a sundial.

Also, the Defender 90s and 110s sold in the US have ~195-200hp V8s in them.

Frankenbike666 > 472CID
12/03/2014 at 13:26

Wow, the McLaren MP4-12C has a lower power to weight ratio than a C6 ZR1 Corvette. And a C7 will be even better. That's something to ponder.

Kelly Wittenauer > 472CID
12/03/2014 at 13:28

Your Mk1 Mini figure seems rather low. My husband's 1964 Cooper S vintage racer scales right at 1500 lbs. It does have a full cage, fire system, fuel cell and retains the front & rear glass windows. But there's no door glass, no interior & that figure is with just one seat.

Wampa > 472CID
12/03/2014 at 13:28

Dang, if I somehow manage to shed 100lbs off of my Exige I'll be close to Ariel Atom territory. Oh and I am pushing out a lot more than that 257 figure.

OneRotor > 472CID
12/03/2014 at 13:29

Everyone is shitting themselves over the P1. TVR Speed 12 was WAY ahead of the silly power game.

2 Wheels awesome! > 472CID
12/03/2014 at 13:31

I had to go all the way to Lotus Elise before I found one I could afford....

vrdsgb > 472CID
12/03/2014 at 13:34

Start working at home with Google! It's by-far the best job I've had. Last Wednesday I got a brand new BMW since getting a check for $6474 this - 4 weeks past. I began this 8-months ago and immediately was bringing home at least $77 per hour. I work through this link, go to tech tab for work detail

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QQXQXL123 > For Sweden
12/03/2014 at 13:49

Horsepower and pounds.

StalePhish > 472CID
12/03/2014 at 13:53

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#corrections

Mr Ordinary > Blondude
12/03/2014 at 13:55

The speed 12 was an utterly bonkers car!

Malforus > For Sweden
12/03/2014 at 14:03

Kinja'd!!!

Did someone say units?

For Sweden > Malforus
12/03/2014 at 14:03

You can embed images you know

Dream Theater of the Absurd > Vin
12/03/2014 at 14:11

I like it! It reminds me of Formula One cars before they got wings.

Plus this particular one is painted in the same shade of orange that McLaren used on their race cars in the '60s and '70s.

Malforus > For Sweden
12/03/2014 at 14:13

Sorry the auto embed feature died...it should be embedded now.

Malforus > SaabMcViggerton
12/03/2014 at 14:14

Yeah and it would kill the market for motorcycle engines and others that wind past that point.

Brede > StalePhish
12/03/2014 at 14:16

I came here to post this.

StalePhish > Brede
12/03/2014 at 14:21

I glanced at the chart quickly and I was like "How is an 80s Land Rover beating out the Ariel Atom?"

Bret > 472CID
12/03/2014 at 14:26

The Austin Healey 3000 weighs less than 2500 lbs. Perhaps the ungainly, tarted up Mark 3 cars do. My elegant, lighter, faster, prettier, 3000 Mark 1 is closer to 2330 or so.

Brede > StalePhish
12/03/2014 at 14:39

Yup. High numbers are good with Power/Weight ratios. Low numbers are good with Weight/Power ratios.

Vintage1982Benz > 472CID
12/03/2014 at 14:45

The surprise on this list for me is the Wraith - 8.62 for a lux coupe with suicide doors. Have to love British engineering!

StalePhish > Brede
12/03/2014 at 14:54

I've never seen anyone talk about weight:power ratios before which is why this is so odd.

Brede > StalePhish
12/03/2014 at 15:05

I recall seeing it somewhere. Not sure where though. Maybe in a video game.

prettybored > For Sweden
12/03/2014 at 15:14

Its in tons

majster > 472CID
12/03/2014 at 15:30

Hmm looking at the numbers, its Weight/Power figures, not Power/Weight!

Ninja-GUY > 472CID
12/03/2014 at 23:56

FUCK YES.! Speed 12 in 3rd!

Front Diffuser Downpounds > For Sweden
12/04/2014 at 10:10

TVR Speed 12! TVR Speed 12! Why the hell did they not go through with that...

William Byrd > 472CID
12/05/2014 at 10:16

These are great! Any interest in taking this a step further with some sort of online/sortable version? Maybe with some accompanying articles?

Shoot me an email: will AT rightfootdown.com if you're interested, we're always looking for new writers and interesting content.

472CID > William Byrd
12/05/2014 at 10:52

The only way I can think to make it sortable would be setting up a public Google docs, which wouldn't be too hard. I'm going to post a list of Italian cars next week, I can send you something if you like.

William Byrd > 472CID
12/05/2014 at 11:08

Sure! It's a great data set, we would love to figure a way to make it sortable/searchable. We can host it, just need to figure the right tool/format.

awdbeast > 472CID
01/13/2015 at 03:34

Why are there no Radicals on the list?