Im not a technical guru when it comes to cars, but I understand that where performance is concerned weight=bad and bhp=good!

Therefore a cars power to weight ratio seems more sensible than just looking at bhp.

I know there are a number of other issues here such as dare I say it - torque, and gearing etc, but I always thought that bhp/tonne was a simplistic way of comparing performance.

The RX8 accoding to 'Evo' is 1300kg and 237 bhp. That is 182bhp/tonne by my reconing.

That seems to be a seriously good figure as my 1470kg 261bhp Impreza is only 177bhp/tonne.

Other cars in the region of 180bhp/tonne are (in the gospel according to Evo):

Focus RS 169
Civic TypeR 166
TT 225 164
Alfa 156GTA 180
Audi S4 178
BMW 330i 153
S2000 191
Boxster 182

This implies that the RX8 is more than a match (in straight line performance anyway) for most of the cars listed above all things being equal. Am I mssing something or is this the case?

I think you're right or at least I hope you are!

Cheers
Oilman:D

This implies that the RX8 is more than a match (in straight line performance anyway) for most of the cars listed above all things being equal. Am I mssing something or is this the case?

well if they were all geared the same then you would be correct.

Originally posted by MarkW
The RX8 accoding to 'Evo' is 1300kg and 237 bhp. That is 182bhp/tonne by my reconing.

That seems to be a seriously good figure as my 1470kg 261bhp Impreza is only 177bhp/tonne.
...
This implies that the RX8 is more than a match (in straight line performance anyway) for most of the cars listed above all things being equal. Am I mssing something or is this the case?

Well, it's 182 bhp per tonne *at 8500rpm* and you need to get there first. :)

Assuming you gear the two cars so that they're both at their power peak at the same speed, then yes, the RX-8 will pull harder *at that speed*. You'd need to look at power curves to work out how they compare at other speeds.

I think its become an accepted notion that the RX8 needs to be driven with revs fairly high to get best performance. However considering how easily this engine should rev compared to a 4 pot this should not be a major problem.

rael.