Like a Ford Crown Victoria vs a Honda Civic.
In: Engineering
The second generation Crown Vic we all know and love weighed 4,057 lbs, and made a maximum of 250 hp in 2004 for the Police Interceptor model. That’s a power to weight ratio of 123.2 hp per ton.
The 10th generation Honda Civic weighs 3,003 lbs at most, and the Type R makes 306 hp. It has a power to weight ratio of 203.8 hp per ton.
Of course, these are peak numbers, the worst weight figures and the best engine figures I could find per generation. Peak numbers don’t mean much, but the power to weight ratio highlights how we’re comparing apples to oranges here. Other things one would want to take into account is the torque curve, aerodynamics, suspension, traction, throttle response, gearing, power bands, volumetric efficiency, etc.
You’re comparing a light car with a powerful, tuned engine to a very large and heavy car with a big, heavy, older engine that was designed in it’s era to meet different target requirements, and high power output wasn’t one of them. The principle motivator for Ford was they had been heavily invested in their production lines for a long time, and management in that era wasn’t willing to change in the face of a market that was willing to tolerate their dated practices. Now days, large and inefficient engines that weren’t even built that well are not tolerated and the car was discontinued. They’ve been forced to innovate as a last resort. And also appreciate Ford is not a domestic brand, they’re international. They make most of their money selling overseas, so that the international market is no longer buying their dated garbage is what is forcing them to innovate. It’s really a complex problem of how these cars existed and for so long. You can buy Ford parts anywhere in the world and you can get your car running. If you start changing your supply chains, you disrupt your markets that are heavily invested in your product for that reason. But now that countries are coming out of poverty the world around, and many more resources are becoming more accessible, they can demand more, and own more luxury brands.
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