hi everybody,,,

this may not be the right section to put this page but here goes anyway...

I am a professional motor racing photographer and cover all sorts of racing and rallying all over the country and also abroad and spend more time surrounded by fast cars and engines and more than most people dream of so my question for you lot is this one..........

what is the obsession about gaining more and more BHP when the chances are that the majority of you cannot handle the full potential of the cars power anyway.I see a lot of things like full spec GT cars( McLaren,porsche,ferrari) which will make your souped up cars look like toys and they not only know how to drive them to the max they also know when to use the power and when you consider what they have under there feet etc they need to.To get a lap record around a circuit it isn't just about how much power and BHP you have it is all about hitting the racing line.Yes huge BHP may be quick in a straight line but around a corner unless you know how to use it it is a waste of time and how many of you have ever done racing on a track as again racing is totally different than a track day....

I will not go into the full details but I know 1 british championship where they publish all of the engine power at the wheels and the guy who has won it 2 years out of the last 3 years hasn't got the most BHP at the wheels it is the guy who knows how to race...

just my observation and I would be interested to hear all of your opinions.


djb

 

Have you ever covered Time Attack or Ten of the Best?

There's "souped up" as you put it, cars and capable drivers that will put some of the exotica that you mention in their place.

 

One needn't be a racing driver to enjoy some power

 

unfortunately you have missed the point I am trying to ask....................all you see on forums is I have xxxxBHP and I have done this etc etc......

yes some of your cars may put the exotica cars to shame but the exotica cars win races all over the world do you....I remember a few seasons ago at castle combe in the gt's where a guy had a silver Scooby hardly ever finished a race and even caught fire and he had lots of power.....don't you think if the car was designed to have so much power etc Subaru would have done it and raced them all over the world and not just on the world rally stage.....this is what ferrari,,McLaren,,Porsche do consistently well

i have seen drift cars at there best and yes it is clever and i admire them but how many laps would they do or how far before they went POP

 

Horses for courses as they say.
I think that a rally stage puts a lot more stress on a car that say a few laps of a track especially if it's a proper rough off road stage.

 

I'll answer your question in a way you may understand.

I use my Iphone 4 to take most of my pictures. I do this as I have my phone on me at all times, to text, call and when needed to take pictures. Of course if I wanted to take a better quality picture I would buy an expensive camera.
But I couldn't text on that camera. Just as a Ferrari is not going to be any use if it snows, or on the school run/shopping trip.

Also not many of us can afford a Ferrari/Mclaren/Porsche

 

again not really getting the point I am making....the exotica cars have lots of power and they use it as such...............you are telling me you need 400bhp to take a kid to school or shopping eh

 

we don't need it going to the school but on the way back

 

I would imagine 99% of exotica on the roads use the car to 10% of it's potential.

On another note, whack up some of your pictures

 

if I become a full member I will put up some pics...

 

I get the feeling we are being baited

 

Not very well....

 

I am 100% genuine....

what do I get out of becoming a full member

 

How many other car forums have you made this post on ?

 

no, we take our Ferrari/Mclaren/Porsche

 

only on this forum as I do actually drive an 09 wrx hatchback

 

How many bhp?

 

just the normal standard car that it left the factory with as I use it everyday so 227

 

What made you buy a Subsru?
Is your camera as you bought it or have you added to it to make it perform different functions?

 

the quality and build of the car....reliable and comfortable and even with the power that has it is sufficient for my needs...

in my work I have driven and been in the exotica cars so I do know what I am on about.....lets also be honest with too much BHP you cannot even use it or you will lose your licence as well

 

what a stupid comment....how can I do anything to a SLR camera to make it perform any different

 

Try the full fat 400bhp version of what you have then you will understand.

 

I know where you are coming from but everyone to their own, Mine runs 400bhp, is used everyday, it is tracked, I do hill climbs and sprints and I know that I can floor it coming out of a bend and I am in control unlike some of the more powerful cars. The car often beats other scoobys running 600bhp and with a lot of those stripped out. The son in law (main driver) has just tried out with the Ginettas for the first time and was only 0.3 secs a lap off one of the regular drivers.

 

I have been in cars with double that BHP but again you are missing the point I was asking right from the start.....

 

wow somebody can actually understand the thing I was asking which was what is the obsession with BHP

 

I think it's more of an ego thing with people that have the dosh to spend but I could be wrong

 

Power is a requirement in motorsport if you want to win, it is not an obsession, handling, brakes etc are also essential. I agree with power getting the better of some drivers skills, I have seen many examples over the years where the driver runs out of talent and can't really understand why a lot of people have so much power for ordinary roads but I suppose that is the way it is.

 

Ok then,for me its a natural progression,I started age 10 with shonky tip bikes then got bigger better and faster,same with cars. As for your point on using the power...no you cant often...but there are times you can...that makes it worthwhile...I will also refer you back to post 3

 

I think you'll find that a lot of the big power boys are coming back in the opposite direction and going for close to standard power as they have now realised "power is nothing without control"

Personally I think the best performance upgrade is improving ones ability behind the wheel, far too many people chase numbers but can't drive for toffee, a fast car doesn't make a fast driver, in fact more power generally means it's more difficult to drive quickly.

I re-counted a tale of a ferrari being unable to get past me in a Rover 214 on a sweeping country road, he had 4x the power but no idea how to use it, once we were up to national limit speeds he struggled to stay with me, I think it was because he has a powerful twitchy beast and can't drive it and he met someone who knows all about lines from years of biking and carrying speed from years of carting and doing a thousand ish miles a week for 20yrs in company cars around lincolnshire, derbyshire and nottinghamshire and really enjoys finding the limits of a car, but apparently i'm talking bull ****.

And one other thing, just because someone has the money and is passionate about cars, it does not make them a good driver, they may be slightly better than joe average through experience with "fast cars" but I quite often think they are crap on the limit, ***** is one thing, skill is something totally different.

 

Skills and ***** go hand in hand or is that hand on ***** SJ.