I saw a Top Gear the other day that had a saab being tested on it. After the test Clarkson said that a saab tech told him that the maximum bhp out of a FWD vehicle was 250. He didnt say what he meant by it (presumably he meant 'maximum useful bhp'), but didnt seem to dispute this fact :S. Im no engine or performance tech, but this sounded wrong to me. It just seems strange that some FWD cars are 250+ as standard.:confused: Youd think that someone in a position as Clarkson would test the theory.

I saw a Top Gear the other day that had a saab being tested on it. After the test Clarkson said that a saab tech told him that the maximum bhp out of a FWD vehicle was 250. He didnt say what he meant by it (presumably he meant 'maximum useful bhp'), but didnt seem to dispute this fact :S. Im no engine or performance tech, but this sounded wrong to me. It just seems strange that some FWD cars are 250+ as standard.:confused: Youd think that someone in a position as Clarkson would test the theory.

They say one thing and do another on Top Gear.

When they (tried) tuned the Aventine it showed what they know about cars........not a lot

for production models, perhaps. But you can push for loads more and have it controllable, if you do the right mods.

Rgds, Jason - with a 260hp fwd car that gets plenty of grip... usually.

I think the Saab tech told him that a good few years back though. Before all the trick diffs etc were widely available.

found the clip on you tube

YouTube - Saab 9-5 Aero 2.0T Turbo - Review By Top Gear

The Saab was a 53 plate (must have been on Dave)

Its about 10 seconds after the end when its back in the studio he says it

Hopefully I'll be getting an Estate version of that early next year. Mmm POWER!!!

I remember back in the early 90's when BTCC touring cars went to its 2 litre format

(post Sierra Cosworth)

Back then they said that around 200 BHP was the max useable power for a FWD car

Saabs are renowned for handling badly with laggy turbo engines... comes from being built on the old model vectra platform with crap GM/Fiat engines...... they dont work with 150hp never mind 250hp...

Saabs are renowned for handling badly with laggy turbo engines... comes from being built on the old model vectra platform with crap GM/Fiat engines...... they dont work with 150hp never mind 250hp...

I'm not too fussed about it being particularly sharp handling-wise. I do drive a Fabia vRS

I just want a fast load lugger really. I've had a go in one and didn't find the handling too bad really, although I was glad of the ESP because I had a bit of a moment when I got a weird weight transfer from going over a hump back bridge into a left hand corner. It's a big car at the end of the day, so you can't expect it to handle like an Elise. And I quite like turbo lag. Had a go in an Impreza STI at the Birmingham motor show a couple of years back and I was rolling on idle in 2nd gear and the guy told me to put my foot down. My thoughts went "Boring, boring, boring, thought it would be faster than this, boring 3500rpm, oooohhhh ffuuuuuuc...." lol

Saab themselves did say that yes, but as pointed out before all the tricky diffs had been made. Saabs also use equal length driveshafts which is why they don't torque steer at all. My Dad had Saabs for years, the GM bought them and made a new one and it just wasn't really a Saab anymore.

And when they brought out the 156BHP Astra GTE16V in 1988 - Quintin Wilson (sp) said that was the limit for a front wd car!

new focus RS has over 300 horses, but then its got a fancy diff thingy.

Cr@p handling Saab.

Cr@p Diff.

Cr@p review.

From an old Evo magazine (issue 115) page 130

This thing has around 1450 bhp with FWD - Gardella Racing

photo's on flikr.com - Drag Racing Gary Gardella - a set on Flickr

vid on youtube - YouTube - Gary Gardella's New Pro FWD Red Bull Chevy Cobalt

Still won't go round corners though.

For normal driving i reckon that 200bhp in FWD is more than enough.

The torque figure is important as well as BHP.

Only a fool would have more than 250bhp going through the front wheels.

Only a fool would have more than 250bhp going through the front wheels.

and only a damm fool would use it on a wet track with semi slick toyos on too;)

and only a damm fool would use it on a wet track with semi slick toyos on too;)

What a plank!

There's a couple of guys on the Corrado Forum with Tubo'd VR6s. Have driven my friend's, which is running low boost and putting out 300bhp, and it runs like a dream. No trick dif, just good suspension and uprated brakes.

There's a couple more which are up around 400bhp. These have difs etc and are awesome. Not scrabble machines at all. It can be done...

Depends on who's driving TBH if you ask the scooby boys then the limit is about 120bhp as they see the accelerator as an on/off switch

Like anything else if its done correctly then you can put alot through the front wheels as some silly sod on here as done

And when they brought out the 156BHP Astra GTE16V in 1988 - Quintin Wilson (sp) said that was the limit for a front wd car!

Not suprising driving a MK2 Astra, the 16v GTE always felt like it was about to fly apart, half the fun!

I used to have a Volvo S80 T6 with the 2.9 twin-turbo engine and I had it remapped to about 325bhp and that was FWD.

I wasn't very good at accelerating out of corners it would just try to melt the inside tyre. Was good on the motorway though, 100mph was just 3,000rpm...

As electronics and hardware become faster, more integrated, the limits will rise.

A loose LSD and some braking electrickery would reduce the likelihood of spinning up the tyres. IMO part of the problem is the current liking for manufacturers to produce "safe" handling cars. Prop up the back end properly and the front tyres will stick to the ground properly. Problem is varying degrees of lift-off oversteer.

It's the torque that makes fwd cars difficult to handle... not bhp....

Not suprising driving a MK2 Astra, the 16v GTE always felt like it was about to fly apart, half the fun!

The 6 month old one I had in 1990/1 was pretty solid, but it was certainly a bit wild handling wise and only 150ish bhp by then, and although really just nippy, it felt scary fast.

It's the torque that makes fwd cars difficult to handle... not bhp....

Well spotted. This is why it's called "torque steer" not BHP steer

Also hasn't tyre technology moved on since Saab claimed this fact?