ThermalWake

y the hell do i have to have the year Z with the least hp

Bleach

Some 240Z owner told you that and they don't understand the difference between net and gross horsepower.

Don't trust the engine ID tag. 1979-80 Z-cars have the same exact engine as the 1975-78 280Z. 170hp on their engine tag. The 1981-83 has about 10 more hp than that.
BAM!

ThermalWake

yeah my my tag says like 137 and i even read in a victoria british magazine that they had to reduce the power due to emissions. so do i have the 170 like the other Z's or do i have like 135-140...??

Fast240Z

so if my 240Z says 150hp, then it has more than that?

lww

Prior to 1979 all car manufacturers reported their HP ratings based on the 'GROSS' horsepower with no accessories attached to the motor. This gave an artificially elevated HP rating.

In 1979, the SAE 'NET' standard was adopted by all the auto manufacturers. Net HP is calculated with a fully configured motor including all accessories, AC, power steering, water pump, etc.

Suddenly, all those elevated HP ratings dropped significantly.

The 240z has closer to 120 HP based on the 'NET' calculation method.

The 1979 and 1980 have exactly the same 'REAL' horsepower as the 1975 to 1978 Z cars.

The 1981 to 1983 have a claimed 10 hp more, although some sources indicate that this was actually a result of Nissan loosing a legal battle with some governments for understating their HP to avoid higher tax brackets.

Some governments tax vehicle registrations based on the cars HP rating and the claim is that Nissan was trying to make their cars more marketable by making them cheaper to register with a lower HP rating.

So, the argument goes that the 10hp increase is not real and there was no actual change.

The 280ZX motor is the apex of the L6 series engine design and the most powerful, efficient and desireable of all the L6's, specifically the F54 block and P90(a) head.

81 Black L28E

Thats It I Have To Fined Out........ Iam Going To The Dyno

ThermalWake

so if they are all the same, then how much hp does my 280zx 2+2 really have. if its a 79.. if they're all teh same its 170 correct?

81 Black L28E

I was thinking more about the HP ...and ...........the 2000 tibby that my girl friend
owns.... Is rated at 150 on its little plate on the firewall .....the zx plate says 145 at least mine does ...When i raced her she droped to 3rd at 45 mph..... I kicked it down about two seconds later.... I could here her.... I did this to see if i could catch her... Also i really wasnt thinking she would try to step to me like that crazy *** girl ...I still over took her passed her .....There was NO WAY the tibby could pull as hard as the Z ..When driving the tibby this week as z godess was being painted ...I could really tell ..The pull just wasnt there ..It pulls just not as much ...This leads me to belive that the HP rateings are much more than factory stated ....I would go with what Bleach stated 170hp .....Mabe not to the wheels... But mabe to the flywheel

lww

It's not a matter of how much does it 'really' have. It's a matter of how much 'practical' hp does it have. Or, how much does it have left when it gets to the rear wheels.

You can't compare the Tiburon because of the difference in weight.

Acceleration is based on power/weight.

A 50 hp motorcycle that weighs 300lbs will smoke a 150 hp Honda that weighs 3000 lbs. Just because the Honda has 3 times the hp, it has 10 times as much weight to accelerate. Some of this can be mitigated by gearing in the tranny and rear end, but the weight discrepancy will still be too much for the Honda to overcome.

Even though the 1978 280z has the same engine and HP as the 1979 280zx, the '78 is faster because it has less weight. The ZX was heavier than the earlier Z's.

When Red goes to the Dyno, he'll probably be shocked to find that he barely has more than 100hp to the rear wheels.

The drivetrain, wheels, brake rotors and axels all create parasitic drag and reduce the amount of HP that actually gets used at the wheels.

Actually, it's torque that's important. HP is just a mathematical representation of torque applied over time.

81 Black L28E

I SAID IT BEFOR AND I WILL SAY IT AGAIN IWW your a pimp

Fast240Z

so...the question is this: I don't have any accessories on my motor, just my anti-backfire valve, my alternator, my water pump, and that's about it, so what is my hp?

lww

Your gross hp rating is 170. Your Net hp rating is either 135 or 145 depending. Your Rear Wheel Horse Power (rwhp) can only be accurately determined on a chassis dyno and will vary depending on what is installed on the car and the engine's current operating condition but it's probably pretty close to 110 rwhp.

But don't be disheartened by this. The 240z only weighs about 2250 to 2350 lbs!

This gives the 240z a great power to weight ratio. The new Honda Civic EX with 127 net hp (100 to 105) rwhp and 2600 lbs is the underdog to a 35 year old sports coupe with 40 year old engine and suspension technology!

Dorifto

Also, figuring that ol' Black Goddess has an automatic, which doesn't completely lock in, even more of a loss will be found.

Remember, bench racers, numbers can be deceiving.

assimilated420

i thought hondas were only like 12-1500 lbs... and in that fact that they are FWD.. -ptooey!
i eat hondas for breakfast

81 Black L28E

I have found that poping of the line can be SLOW, LAME and down right boaring....Get her about 2800 rpm then... stomp her down and hang on thats only way i can run with a 5 speed last time i raced i got taken by a acura it had a 5 speed ...i could see him pull away with each grear ...it mad me feel the AT lag even more .......... i think thoughs were the looks on my face

Bleach

Hahaha! funny... ya, stupid 4 bangers.
Don't you have the 5-speed yet?

assimilated420

interesting cuz i can take them acuras.. what kind was it? i only have an automatic but the turbo helps immensely

Bleach

Ya, no kidding. Turbo!
I can take most of those Honda boyz too in my non-turbo 5-speed. I got taken down by a late model Prelude though... after he caught up. I've got the torque advantage but in 3rd, and 4th gear his top end horsepower pulls through.

lww

There hasn't been a 12-1500lb car manufactured in over 20 years. There's just no way a car that light can pass the DOT collision standards.

If I'm not mistaken, the 1976 Volkswagon GTi came in at 1830 lbs with 110 net hp.

That was probably the lightest 'modern' car on American roads which would still only have had about 85 to 90 rwhp and would have been a strong competitor for the Z.