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When motor manufacturers publish the facts and figures on a new car, they should be accurate, surely? Yet a growing number of car-makers are claiming bhp ratings which simply aren’t true.
The thing is, when a new model is launched, engine power is often given in the metric unit of PS. Confusingly, PS is sometimes called HP; or horsepower. But never brake horsepower (bhp) – the unit used in the UK. Most motoring journalists know to convert PS to bhp by dividing by 1.014. Okay, so there’s not a huge difference (200PS equals 197bhp) but it would be sloppy to say the car had 200bhp, just because you can’t be bothered to reach for a calculator.
But now I see a number of manufacturers doing just this. In recent months I’ve come across an Italian, a French, and a German manufacturer, all quoting the PS figure for their new car and merrily claiming it as bhp. Incompetence or conspiracy? Hard to tell.
I think the same thing is happening with the 0-60 mph v 0-100 kph times. I reckon it’s mostly laziness that’s to blame.
By the way, does anyone know what PS stands for?
Gerry Pollard | 29 Jan 07 - 12:25What’s all the jazz about the 0-62 and 0-60mph times, too?
Joshua Goodwin | 30 Jan 07 - 21:10Gerry
PS stands for Pferde Starke, or, more correctly, Pferdestarke - it’s the German word for horsepower.
It is important to differentiate between 0-60 and 0-62 mph times. Owing to wind resistance (which varies with the square of the difference in speed), the two times can be substantially different - as much as 500 milliseconds, in the right hands. I frequently accuse manufacturers of fudging the figures: quoting one and hoping people will think it’s the other. Jaguar and Vauxhall spring to mind.
Graham Whyte | 06 Feb 07 - 12:26For those not familiar with conversion rates, a useful conversion table can be found here….
www.citroen.co.uk/conversion/c_converter_rates.asp?pagetype=c_converter_rates
AlfaMartini | 14 Feb 07 - 14:16