In the UK I've seen PS, BHP and kW.
I know PS and BHP to be different in value but to be honest about 90% of
figures show BHP.
Non BHP might get used in a "company car" type company where the car is not
really part of the "enthusiast type".
So typically you'll get MGs, Jags, Caterhams, Lotus's etc in BHP.
You'll also get foreign cars like the BMW M3 in BHP.
BTW - I didn't know until recently that PS is the German version of hp.
From: "Terry Simpson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]>
Subject: [USMA:33011] Re: Figuring horsepower a confusing process by Graeme
Fletcher Times Colonist (Victoria, British Columbia) May 20, 2005 Friday
Date: Tue, 31 May 2005 15:04:29 +0100
> Of Stephen Humphreys
>To be honest, I'm not sure how a brake horse power is measured,
>although I'm sure a quick search on the internet could yield me both
>the imperial and metric version.
There were different methods of measuring engine power but it is largely
harmonised now. If you look at the kilowatt value for a particular vehicle,
you will see it numerically the same in most countries including the US.
The horsepower (or the local translation of the word) value, will be the
same in most non-US countries. Local terms include: 'bhp' in the UK, 'ps'
in
Germany, 'pk' in the Netherlands, 'cv' in France. These terms no longer
imply a different method of measurement. The US sometimes uses that
horsepower figure and sometimes uses a different one.
The horsepower figure is particularly unreliable in the US. The same car
can
be quoted as having two different values in hp. For example, when a non-US
vehicle is launched on the world market, the pack given to the
international
press will quote it as x kW and y hp. So that is how it appears in the
media
around the world, even on the manufacturer's own US website.
At the time of sale, the same 'y hp' value persists outside the US.
However,
US websites may then start to quote 'z hp', or they may not.
In summary: the horsepower figure is unreliable and the kilowatt figure is
reliable.
Lovely isn't it?
