Car magazine question

[wannabe]

I've been ravenously reading car magazines for the last few months and I've noticed that a lot of them (like Road & Track) say that a car has, for instance, 320 bhp instead of 320 hp. What does the "b" stand for?

Also, what gives with the different test times? I saw one car (a Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart) that, depending on which mag you read, could run anywhere from a 15.0 to a 15.7 in the 1/4. That's a huge difference!

[Jayy]

the b stands for brake

[97chevycamaro]

boombastic

[3.4 [deployed]]

b(ombastic blissfully bodacious), just teasin. it's brake horsepower.

As for results, some mags have drivers that drive them like they were rentals, others print manufacturers data.

[wannabe]

Brake horsepower? What does that mean?

[KBeezy]

It also varies (the track times) on elevation. Some do their testing up north others out west some down in the dirty south near the coast..That changes times quite a bit!

[3.4 [deployed]]

Originally posted by wannabe:
Brake horsepower? What does that mean?

I think it's how much horsepower the engine makes before the brakes are overpowered, but then I didn't research before posting [img]graemlins/slap.gif[/img] [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[12secondv6]

1/4 mile et differences:

Elevation
Temperature
Humidity
D/A
Traction
Track prep
Driver

I could go on for a while

[MustangEater8251]

Originally posted by 12secondv6:
1/4 mile et differences:

Elevation
Temperature
Humidity
D/A
Traction
Track prep
Driver

I could go on for a while

Biggest thing is the driver on that one too..

[wannabe]

I knew that stuff could make a difference, I guess I just didn't realize that it could make a .7 second (or more) difference.

[speedy-v6-camaro]

There are different types of dynos that will give slightly different numbers....that one happened to be on a brake dyno and not a mustang dyno.