Here's How Much Horsepower You Really Need

It turns out a lot of people disagree on just how much horsepower one actually needs. Last week, we asked readers; some want hypercar levels of power. Others seem to be fine with horsepower levels so low, they haven't been seen since the 1980s on compact cars. No matter the amount, its safe to say there's no right amount for anyone person.

These were our readers answers.

The obvious answer is that it entirely depends on the car. 200hp K20/24? Pretty enough in the right sized car.

550 in an E-Class AMG? Also a good number.

HP with purpose is so much better than HP as a dick extension.

Suggested by: ExtraDas

Personally I'd rather see more 2,400 lb cars making 160 hp, than 3,800 lb cars making 300. The car I daily drive weighs a little under 2,000 lbs and makes around 90 hp and it's perfectly adequate to drive. I'd like to see smaller cars come back in fashion and less 500+ hp land yachts.

Suggested by: Jerama Stuart via Facebook

Ideally, I can make anything with 120+ work, but it's dependent on weight, and what I've found in a modern car that weighs two tons is about 520. Hear me out, feel free to judge me anyway.

1. I am forced to drive on lots of small tight roads with small passing areas and dramatically slow people keen on taking in the sights. We are talking sometimes more than 10 under the limit with no enforcement, delaying for over half an hour over the duration of about 25 miles.

2. These slow people are often petty, taking their mustangs and such and accelerating them if someone tries to pass.

3. The strategy that has worked for the least amount of risk to everyone is to accelerate to passing speed before anyone has a chance to do anything else about it, and then come back to regular speed as soon as reasonably possible.

4. I carry a "I'm sorry" electronic sign for unreasonably angry reactions.

5. On the Interstate, of which is dozens of miles away from home, I do flow of traffic.

6. 1-3 need about 450 hp, so the 520 is for good measure, and of course you need brakes and setup to slow down appropriately. All I want is the burst of speed necessary to make it without allowing other people to risk that activity. You can say I should just stay behind them, and 85% of the time, I do, since I only pass when it is absolutely clear and I don't muck with double lanes.

But I have encountered enough sports cars with 300 hp or so trying to make my life difficult by blocking intentionally, or literally driving between lanes, and I want to be able to be in front of that, instead of being exposed to more danger behind that.

Accelerating on extremely short onramps into 80 mph traffic also comes into play, but is a separate situation entirely.

Suggested by: VajazzleMcDildertits – read carefully, respond politely

I'm living in Europe right now and I daily drive an Audi A3 with a 1.9 TDI making 90 hp. It's hilarious fun to drive.

In the U.S. I have a Lincoln MKX with a modded 2.7 TT and a Volvo XC90 T6 with the twin-charged 2.0. The 90 hp Audi is plenty.

Suggested by: Aaron Lien via Facebook

Having had my fair share of cars around the 100-150hp range, and my current daily driver being just shy of 400, I would say at least 350hp or it would feel too slow. I can't imagine whatever my next daily driver will be will have any less than 400!

Suggested by: StalePhish

I'm pretty good with 250 hp in a 3,200 lb car. I've had 350 in a 3,400 lb car, and it was fun. I didn't use it much after the first year passing a line of cars on a two lane at 130 mph.

Submitted by: Busta Armov via Facebook

My Honda Prologue only makes 288hp, which seems pretty low when you look at the power/weight ratio (about 17lb/hp), but it feels quick enough to be both fun and safe. I did just order a pedal commander just for fun because there's definitely a bit of lag off of the line, but if you're already moving at traffic/highway speed it has plenty of guts to get from cruising to passing speed in a reasonable amount of time.

Given that this is a 5,000 lb vehicle, I would say 250-300hp in a vehicle properly geared for its intended type of driving should be more than enough on public roads. If a vehicle is too heavy for that amount of power to be sufficient, maybe it shouldn't BE on public roads. (Looking at you, Hummer and Silverado EVs)

Suggested by: rustbucket

In my experience, 200 horsepower is adequate for most things, 300 is plenty for virtually anything, and everything above 300 is just excessive for the street.

Didn't keep me from modifying a few Mustangs beyond that 300 horsepower number, but I noticed they became a bit less enjoyable right around that mark. The most powerful car I've driven was a 2013 Mustang Shelby GT500... standing on the loud pedal in 3rd at 20 miles an hour and still wagging the tail was an eye-opener.

Suggested by: Mustang2Matt

My 2003 Tundra with a well-maintained, stock motor generates 285hp. That's enough to pull trailers, carry a payload-max load, get into interesting off-road places, and accelerate safely onto a highway.

Would it be more fun with 400+ hp? Sure. Would I use it enough to say I need it? Nope.

Suggested by: JohnnyWasASchoolBoy

There's a relationship between HP, weight and drivetrain configurations. Porsche is a good example of this, their GT3's are light weight (for modern cars), with very good drivetrains to where they can accelerate like an EV with only 500hp. In general I believe 500hp being the max is a nice balanced power.

In terms of wants vs needs, you should need enough power to accelerate to highway speeds from the On-ramp. However I would argue, a good drivetrain that's able to put as much power as possible to the ground > overall power. The Evos and STI's of the world were quick with less than 300hp (gentleman's agreement).

Submitted by: darthspartan117

It depends on the situation. I find the 260 hp of the Outback XT plenty for Seattle area traffic (I work for a Subaru dealership). But I have driven cars up to 500+ hp, the most was a Giulia Quadrifoglio.

Submitted by: Romero Turner via Facebook