I care about horsepower because my family has a long history of auto racing. Nothings better than taking a 5.0 liter, supercharged V8 out on the curvy country roads.
The older I get the more I care about longevity and reliability. My favorite engine is the old Toyota 22R and 22RE engines that Toyota made from 1981-to-1995. Just the opposite of powerful HP machines. Plus I've always been more into off roading and steep rocky hill climbing where speed and extreme HP were unnecessary and low gearing, body and suspension lift , and tall blocky treaded tires means more. I did beef up my 22R engine in my Toyota 4wd truck for a little more HP though. I took off the piss-poor stock carb and replaced it with a Weber Carb, and put it on top of an Offenhauser Intake Manifold. I had a custom made performance distributor by D.U.I. put on it and a Pace Setter header and Dynomax muffler. Also had the fresh engine bored .30 over before it was put in. Last thing I done to it was replaced the factory clutch with a CenterForce Heavy Duty clutch. It's not a power speed machine by any count, but all the do-dads I added increased the HP from the sad 96 HP it had to just a hair over 130 Horse Power. With 31" mud grip tires I can still get it up to 100 mph on the Interstate and that ain't going down hill either Before I had a fresh engine in it and without the performance parts I couldn't even get it up to 75 mph. As long as I can keep up with the normal flow of traffic then I'm happy, and I have no problem keeping up with regular traffic. I'd rather be on dirt trails than paved streets anyway, but I do see why HP does make a difference in every vehicle. When my 22R engine gets high mileage and loses a lot of power, I'll probably have a mild cam put in it and have the head ported and polished to restore the lost power. But I do love my Toyota 4wd truck , it has enough get up and go for me.
I drive a 1994 Lumina 3.4l. 225hp. It's perfect for daily driving. It has a combination of speed (130, limited) and mpg (27). I'm building my 1992 S10 to be a monster though.
because it makes the car fast and fast cars are fun. having a car with a turbo in it makes driving fun everyday, i love pushin almost 300hp
Because people that are into thier cars like to go fast..or atleast try.Its a taste thing people are different and like different thing's,some people will have a fully built car fast car that will be rattle canned 9 diff colors,but its because they want a sick ass car that goes fast...also a lot of people have thier project/race cars or w.e you wanna call em..but they also have thier daily driver...A lot of people like to race on the street's...i kno not too smart,but thats just what people do. IDK man PEOPLE LIKE TO HAVE POWER/FAST CARS...nothin wroung with that man and its only a handful of D-bags that think thier the shit cause thier putting out high power...but for the rest of us its a hobbie,and even more of a lifestyle.
Fuck yeah buddy, my friends got a 22r toyota pickup with 31's, thing is a beast off road, I was surprised what we could get through/over in that truck.
Racing is a huge industry. F1, NASCAR(gay), GT1, GT3, Le Mans, and all the others are fun for many people to watch. Modifying their own cars is a way to get to be like a race car driver but easier. Its a big chance trying to get into pro racing, too much of a chance of not getting in so most people dont even try.Driving around in your own fast modified car is the closest some racing fans can be to being a race car driver.