On 09/04/2016 18:40, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In ,
Roger wrote:

A colleague of mine at Rover studied this is some detail, and plotted a
graph of 0 - 30 times (admittedly not 0 - 60) against power to weight
ratio for a wide range of vehicles. He found a very strong correlation.

Well yes. Since most makers aim for the same sort of engine output curve.

Well, it seemed to apply to everything from a Fiat 500 to a V12 Jaguar.

But I'll ask you a question. Take a high revving bike engine with a
very high specific BHP per litre and put it up against a lightly
stressed but torquey V8 etc in vehicles with the same power to weight
ratio. Which one will accelerate better?


Why compare a bike engine with V8 car engine?

Because you've singled out power to weight as some sort of benchmark. And
it would be easy enough to find a small capacity high revving bike engine
with the same sort of peak BHP as a lazy V8. Put them in vehicles so the
power to weight ratio is the same, and see which one accelerates faster.
It will be the one with the flatter torque curve.

It's not a practical thing to do - and you'd *have* to do it to prove
whether or not your statement is true.
--
Cheers,
Roger
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