“Horsepower is Dumb” is the straightforward headline on a recent episode of Mac’s Motor City Garage, which we think is one of the best places to turn for a quick update on auto industry gossip, history, and much more.
Recently, Mac (aka Bill McGuire), posted a YouTube video in which Jason Fenske of Engineering Explained explains how horsepower is figured and why it shouldn’t be — but is — the way we rate vehicle performance.
We suggest you watch, learn, and enjoy:
Does Bill McGuire even know what a horse is? Does he know what horses were used for? How horses were the power behind all kinds of machinery. Just because the amount of work that one horse could do was put into a mathematical equation does not make it a “dumb” unit. It became a unit so that people could relate to what they could expect from an engine or motor. before the horseless carriage, the carriages were pulled by a horse or horses. How much the wagon or carriage weighed would determine how many horses or time it took. Many stage coaches used 4 & 6 horse teams. There was even a 20 Mule team that hauled borax out of Death Valley. The only thing dumb is that people don’t know what came before their i-pad.