Who Cares About Power Anymore?

I need to get this off my chest. Maybe I’m getting old, or perhaps I’m just a boring person, but I can’t hide from it any longer. Honestly, the only numbers that I find relevant these days are miles per gallon as at least shaving a few mpg will have real-world, exponential benefits.

I fully expect to be shot down in the comments section, so I feel like I should preface this with the fact that I still think power is cool. Yes, stuff like the new Fezza F12berlinetta with its 730hp 6.3-litre V12 are wonderful examples of pushing the technological envelope. They are poster cars for the kids of today to sketch in the margins of their maths book. And I want one. Badly.

But then there’s the Hennesey Venom GT. You'll have read earlier in the week why Ollie hates it, and the anti Venom is about to strike again, though for different reasons. 1500hp. One thousand five hundred horse power. Really. As if the original was underpowered. And all that goes through the rear wheels? There’s the 12 year old inside me that feels like I should get excited but realistically that thing is not going to be a fun thing to drive unless you're a driving God, and even then is there really going to be a valuable progression in performance?

Now I’m not trying to say that this kind of car shouldn’t exist. The ‘just because we can’ attitude is the cornerstone of progression. So I kind of get it, but the main problem I have with all this power-based willy waving is that the roads today just don’t allow you to use it. It is completely irrelevant. Our roads are badly maintained and traffic is horrendous, so all that power goes to waste. It's like bringing a machine gun to a scissor fight.

And anyway, I feel like we’ve reached a point where we can say okay, we know that huge power is possible and relatively easy to achieve, so how about we grow up and concentrate on something else? In the epic 458 vs. MP4 battle, nobody really cares about their power outputs, it's all about emotional connections or the incredible tech pulling you through the apex. Big boy talk.

In conclusion let us look at the GT 86 as the perfect example of a car that doesn’t impress with numbers. It impresses with realistic, useable performance that doesn't need more power. And it is a wonderful machine. And I most certainly wouldn’t enjoy it if I was a boring old man.

So next time you see an excited chav shouting about mega power just take a step back and think: so what?