Relationship between hp and acceleration?

Factual Questions
1

I was looking at Cadillac’s new concept car, the Cadillac Sixteen, which boasts a 1000-hp V16 engine. :drool:

Anyway, they don’t give a time for it to accelerate from 0 to 60. How could I figure this out? It’s been a long time since I took physics, so I can’t remember the equations or units of measurement.

2

I don’t believe you can figure it out directly. Gear ratios, torque curves, tire technology, RPM limitations, all sorts of things come together to determine exactly how fast a car can go.

3

Well, how many gears? How much does it weigh? Tire dimensions? Final drive ratio and gear ratios?

All these things play huge rolls in acceleration.

Chances are, even if it’s a pig, has long conservative gearing and big tires, it’ll accelerate to 60 in under 5 seconds, as some 500-600 HP cars weighing 5000 lbs are getting to 60mph in the 5.5 sec range, and the 1/4 mile at 14-15 ticks.

This smells like a 5,000 lb car, with HP numbers that will come down, and will probably get the job done in around 4 secs.

4

You cannot get the answer from the OP. The HP are only for a narrow range of RPM and you would need to know much more. The way you get to know the 0 - 60 acceleration is but doing it.

5

OK, I’ll chalk this up as a learning experience.

6

http://www.prestage.com/carmath/

This site gives various estimates of acceleration given various inputs such as bhp and weight.

One that you can take to the bank: top speed varies directly with aerodynamics but to the 1/3 rd power with horsepower. So, improve aerodynamics by 2% and get a 2% increase in top speed, whereas an 8% increase in horsepower gets you the same 2% increase in top speed.

7

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Philster *

All these things play huge rolls in acceleration.
QUOTE]
Was that an unintended pun or what…