What Does Car Horsepower Mean?
1 Answers
Car horsepower refers to the unit of engine power, representing the engine's ability to perform work per unit of time. It is a unit used to measure the performance of a car engine and an important parameter for evaluating a vehicle's overall performance. Car horsepower is generally related to the following four factors: 1. Displacement: The volume of gas expelled by the engine in one revolution. It can roughly be understood as the cylinder volume multiplied by the number of cylinders. Generally, the larger the displacement, the higher the fuel consumption and the greater the horsepower. 2. Compression ratio: The volume at the bottom dead center of the cylinder divided by the volume at the top dead center. According to the ideal gas law, a higher compression ratio results in greater horsepower without increasing fuel consumption. However, it requires the use of gasoline with better anti-knock properties, i.e., higher-octane gasoline. While fuel consumption does not increase, the cost of fuel is higher. 3. Turbocharging: Increases the intake pressure, thereby boosting the engine's maximum power. This feature is not commonly found in most vehicles. 4. Afterburner system: Typically found in aircraft, commonly using methods like water injection or MW50 (water + methanol). For cars, it seems only NO afterburners are used, but these are only found in very high-end sports cars.
