European HP vs. American HP ratings

[Weapon_R]

Is anyone familiar with the European measure for engine power ratings?

When I was in Europe, a 1992 Mercedes 300E 4matic was rating as having 31 Horsepower.

Everyone knows that this isn't the case, according to North American standards, where even a firefly has more horsepower than that.

I remember driving a V12 Mercedes 600 and checking it's registration, which only read 46 ponies...

What's the deal with their methods of measurement?

[DSM Power]

You must be taking about BHP (brake horsepower)... eh, but I have no idea what the difference is.

[buh_buh]

I thought brake horsepower = flywheel horsepower?

[persid]

PS/HP/BHP/whatever are more or less the same thing. What you most likely saw was a rating in KW (kilowatts) which is just another way to measure power. But none of those cars make anything close to 31KW...closer to 350KW for the S600. So, in short, I don't know what you saw.

[littledan]

1 HP = 0.746 kW...

ha ... that's the only thing i took away from my electric motor course..

[FiveFreshFish]

Originally posted by buh_buh
I thought brake horsepower = flywheel horsepower?

I thought it meant horsepower at the brake (wheel)?

[4wheeldrift]

Originally posted by FiveFreshFish


I thought it meant horsepower at the brake (wheel)?

Brake horsepower is measured at the flywheel.

[szw]

Maybe it was the gas tank capacity. haha

[Silencer]

That's weird - I don't know what that is. But brakehorse power is measured at the flywheel by hooking up the engine to something that puts drag on the engine until it stalls.