Automakers Have Lost Their Minds. 400-Plus Horsepower?

In 1964, NASCAR legend Richard Petty won the Daytona 500 in a Plymouth powered by the legendary 426 Hemi V8. It produced a little over 400 horsepower in race trim. Today, it’s possible to buy a Dodge with a Hemi V8 as well. The Hellcat produces over 700 horsepower, as a production engine, and does it on pump gasoline, with a factory warranty and full emission control compliance. That’s a tremendous engineering achievement, but is there any point in producing engines that powerful for street use? The same technology that produced high levels of volumetric efficiency and low friction in today’s high-performance engines could be used to produce a smaller displacement, powerful and economical engines suited to everyday driving. But consumers insist on hundreds of horsepower for street use. Why? Jim Anderton comments.

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