bhp?

[naplesZ]

What the conversion for bhp to hp? this car is said to have 980bhp.

http://www.globalcar.com/showroom/eleanor/154803.htm

[COZY Z COLE]

Just my guess but after looking at some UK sites they seem to refer to rear wheel horse power (rwhp) on a dyno as backwheel hp or bhp. Here's an example....

 

http://www.dynamometer.fsnet.co.uk/what-is-a-dynamometer.htm

 

Therefore there's no conversion needed.....

 

LARRY

[JMortensen]

bhp is "brake" horsepower. From another site:

 

Definition: The measure of an engine's horsepower without the loss in power caused by the gearbox, generator, differential, water pump and other auxiliaries. The actual horsepower delivered to the driving wheels is less.

[COZY Z COLE]

Thanks, had me a little confused.....

 

 

LARRY

[auxilary]

basically, it's how the 240z cars were rated: in SAE gross hp, not counting anything attached to pulleys.

 

now cars in the US are rated in net, with all smog accessories, and auxilliary accessories installed

[johnc]

Horsepower in the US

 

Brake Horsepower (bhp)

 

"Brake Horsepower" was a term commonly used before the 1970s and is sometimes also referred to as "Gross Horsepower." It used an old SAE standard (J245) to perform the measuring. That standard just focused on the measurement side, not the process itself. The term indicates the brake, the device for measuring the true power of the engine. Stating power in 'bhp' gives some indication this is a true reading, rather than a calculated or predicted one. However, several OEMs started to strip their engines of essential ancilliaries for the purposes of getting a high horsepower figure to use in marketing the car.

 

SAE Horsepower (net)

 

As part of the passage of the Clean Air Act in 1972 (and also in preparation for it) SAE developed a new engine horsepower testing standard as part of its efforts to meet the new EPA testing regime. That standard was SAE J1349 "Engine Power Test Code – Spark Ignition and Compression Ignition – Net Power Rating Standard" and is pretty much in current use as SAE J1995 as revised. The standard specifies a basis for net engine power rating, and a method for determining net full load engine power with a dynamometer. A dynamometer places a load on the engine and measures the amount of power that the engine can produce against the load.

 

Wheel Horsepower

 

Since the release of low cost in floor dynamometers a new way of measuring horsepower has gained favor, "Wheel Horsepower." Its based on measuring a vehicle driveline's ability to accelerate a mass with a horsepower number calculated from the mass acceleration measurement. At this point SAE has not released any horsepower rating standards regarding the process, measurement, or calibration of floor dynamometers so the numbers published are not verifiable.

 

What's Coming

 

(from a press release on the SAE web site)

 

"The current test, which originated in the early '70s and was last reviewed in 1995, allows automakers to claim horsepower and torque figures higher than what most owners will actually experience. The SAE Power Test Code Committee – chaired by David Landcaster, General Motors Corp. engineering group manager – is revising its standard for measuring horsepower and may suggest that automakers have an independent observer verify the numbers they claim for horsepower and torque. The standard will also set a procedure for how to test torque, which is also heavily advertised by car manufacturers."