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Comment by aspyct | Hacker News Reader

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aspyct·

Funny how they complain 122hp is little.

Meanwhile in Europe, we get by just fine with a lot less than that.

America needs to stop making everything so big for no reason.

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Unfortunately, there’s no shortage of needlessly big SUVs in Europe either.

People claim to feel safer in those vehicles, but they are actually making the roads unsafer for pedestrians and cyclists.

Agreed. SUVs must die.

In general, American roads are a lot bigger and straighter than European roads, meaning in terms of consumer preference, horsepower matters more in the former, and being nimble matters more in the latter.

I agree with you that not every car needs to have a sub-6 second 0-60 time. A 9.8 second 0-60 of the Kicks is considerably faster than, say, a Fiat Panda.

In America torque matters more than horsepower and torque is what keeps you running at high speeds. In Europe horse power matters more as that is what accelerates you from a stop. What sells (and is marketed) in each country is different of course.

You have it the other way around.

No, horsepower to torque*rpm (and some other factors) is what you get at high RPMs which you normally accelerate from a stop. Once you are up to speed your transmission switches to low RPM where you get less horsepower, but better fuel efficiency.

So you're thinking we can't ride at highway speeds in Europe with "small" 120hp engines?

That's... misguided :)

122 hp = 90 kW

> Meanwhile in Europe, we get by just fine with a lot less than that

The EU average is over 100 kW [1].

[1] https://imgur.com/DcY6y6f

Yes, it has become stupid in the recent years. However I used to have a 72hp car that was totally capable of barrelling down the highway at 120km/h (~= 75 miles per hour).

So, I insist, 122hp isn't "little".

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