HP... when is enough, enough?

[JUSTIFIED]

As the title says, when is enough HP, enough? Like many things in life, it's easy to get trapped in the never ending quest for more.

In 2010 I bought a 2010 Mustang GT w/ 315 HP (and similar torque, I think...). I'd been driving a Mazda 6 w/ 220 HP. Thus, 315 was a sig step up. I then stepped up to a Boss 302 w/ 444 HP (w/ 380 lb-ft torque). It was a "wow" moment, but 1 year later I felt it didn't have enough oomph. Then I bought ZL1 w/ 580 HP (556 ft-lb torque) and it felt crazy fast, but soon after I began considering upgrades.

Every now and then I yearn for more power in the Z/28, but realize it would only be a matter of time before I'd want more. Plus, unless I'm modding for racing purposes, what can I do w/ 650 HP that I can't do w/ 505 HP?

So, for those of you who've been on the quest for more, when did you finally realize you had enough? Or did you just continue wanting more?

For those of you felt the Z/28 needed more and modded your cars, are you now wishing for more? Also, how has it affected fuel consumption? As a daily driver, I can live w/ 12 MPG (average), but not 8-9 MPG. However, I've read in some threads that mods do not necessarily significantly decrease MPG (seems dependent on the tune..).

[frogwo]

A man can never have enough HORSEPOWER.
Enough TVs or a large enough TV .

[jrhagen]

Set a goal, get there, done.

[BagSS]

never enough lol... its a never ending story when you get to what you set your goal too you want more... imo just keep it street legal or sorta street legal to drive it not just track...

[Stephen12ZL1]

I'd say for track use with reliability in mind, a max of 800ish hp. 505hp is kind of "meh" on a long straightaway.

[Olddudesrule]

I've chased that bug quite a bit in the last 20 years.....I agree that for a street driven car, even one that's tracked pretty regularly, 800rwhp seems to be the point for me. Hell, you can barely use 400whp on the street without being one of the idiots we love to chat about....

[hollywdv]

went with the whole gamut of mods on my cad V2. suspension, cooling and eventually a forged long block. raced it on the road course as well as DD. got it to ~800 hp and i thought that was good.

in the span of 5-6 yrs, got tired of having to replace parts so i got the Z. no plans for the Z except maybe getting the heads done after warranty.

the mpg on my V didn't change much except when i got happy with the go-pedal.


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[rebelyell22]

Whatever my car can handle at WOT, I guess. My car feels stupid slow

[rcandiloro]

I'm gonna get ripped apart for saying this, but I have a different perspective about HP. Coming from a C6 ZR1 Corvette, which I thought had too much HP for the street, I'm perfectly happy with the 505 horses resident in the Z/28's LS7. Now, I've only had the car for a few months, so it's reasonable to think that down the road I'll want more, but I love the fact that I feel I can use ALL of that HP for my particular driving. If I was a track junkie, I'm sure I'd want more, but my driving is limited to 8/10s spirited mountain driving. With my ZR1 I never ever felt in 1st or 2nd gear that I could floor it, even with traction control on, because I'd spin the tires......in my opinion, that's the definition of too much power for the street, but that's just me. Not so with the Z/28.....I really like that I can floor it in 1st gear and all I get, even with traction control completely off, is acceleration (swapped the stock Trofeos for 305 front and 325 Michelin Pilot Super Sport rears). So I guess my answer is whatever HP causes the rears to go up in smoke in 1st gear is too much (I'm talking about from a slow roll). You might say, "Well, as the tires wear out you'll eventually smoke them in 1st gear." I guess at that point I'd need new tires. I never, ever thought I would think this, until I had my ZR1.....I just felt that in lower gears I could never really use all the power available, and it kinda bugged me (what really bugged me was that I NEVER felt fully comfortable driving the car with traction control fully off, I was always worried about spinning out).....again, this is just me.......I like the fact that I can drive the Z with everything off and not really worry about spinning out because of too much HP going to the rear tires.....that to me is the definition of having a blast with a car with the right amount of HP. Fully admit I am not a trained race car driver so I am not some highly skilled dude that can just hang it out.....the Z/28 is more capable than I am and I absolutely love it!

[stratman2SSRS]

I'm not driving a Z/28, but a 2010SS that puts 636hp to the wheels.
At that hp, I'm now happy with the car.
Adding more hp to the car will not make it any faster now, so I have turned to wheels and tires.
I now have a set for road course days with Toyo R888's.
A set for the street with the f1 Supercars.
And a set of 18's with drag radials for the 1/4 mile.
And already getting ready for some full slicks after the drag radials are done.

Adding traction will make the car faster for me now.

[MarkSS]

I don't know... haven't driven anything with more than 700 hp.

[STUNNAH]

I think I'm finished with the quest for more HP...I kind of took this thought process to arrive at my decision...Having a shit load of HP is like being married and having a bed full of %$^^!, what can you do with all that???When you really want it, it's there but when you have no desire it's still there...

[JUSTIFIED]

Thanks for all of the comments. Lots of interesting insight. Stevenson Motorsports dominated the 2015 IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge in the Z/28.R. Other than reinforced suspension bushings and a few other mandated mods (incl. 6200 RPM red line restriction and sans CCBs) there isn't much that separates the R from our cars. Thus, the Z/28, as is, is pretty damn stout.

However, I still get why people want more because I'd like more.... something 600 HP at the crank. I would like a bit more lope as well. Just don't know if I could ever bring myself to mess with the greatness of the LS7.

[Ir0nM4n]

Based on my current skill level and the work I have done to my 1LE I think its all depending on the driver. At my current state at the flywheel the car has close to 500 hp (based on a dyno run -- there will be more to confirm numbers) I feel I have to grow into it. I took the SCCA Autocross novice course and man do I have allot to learn. The instructor had never driven a 1LE and thought it was well sorted out. If I add more power it will only be when I am ready. I think purchasing a car say ZL1 @ 650 HP is a bad idea for a novice because you can get yourself in trouble real fast. My car will probably end up at 600 or less as a NA car.