From:	jzealey@***.edu.au (James Zealey)
Subject:	Vehicle Acceleration (was: Fat Bottomed Girls)
Date:	Thu, 29 May 2003 09:37:43 +1000

> From:
> Gurth <gurth@******.nl>
>
>>What sort of
>>percentage increase is 200bhp over however many bhp the car already has?
>
>
> I would assume that if a car has 200 bhp, then adding 200 bhp is a 100%
> increase.
>

I was referring to the specific car which was mentioned -

Lone Eagle:
"A NOS can add up to 500 bhp to an engine, Top Gear (BBC Car program)
have a rust bucket Jaguar XJS which they've used for loads of fun tests,
the most recent being a full NOS kit which added about 200 bhp to the car."

So - how much of a percentage increase was 200bhp over what the Jaguar
XJS already had and how did it affect performance?

>
> Formula-1 has lots of rules to which the cars have to conform, but I don't
> know if top speed or engine power are restricted. I do know that they're
> not allowed to use slick tires anymore, though, so as to limit
> acceleration (?) by reducing the contact area between tire and asphalt.
> Still, AFAIK these cars are built with the best tech the teams can afford,
> so I woul agree with whoever it was that said they're a good model for
> what's possible in SR street cars.
>

All the regulations for F1 car construction can be found under
'technical regulations' at

http://www.fia.com/homepage/REGLE-a.HTM

While the engine's raw power isn't restricted, there are an awful lot of
restrictions placed upon the engine in general, most of which will
impact the maximum attainable power from the engine.

Incidentally - can anyone find a site which details how speeds have
increased since the introduction of the motor car? The only one I've
found anywhere covers the land speed record (which is problematic
because it includes rocket-cars...) - I can't even find one for F1 cars.