CarThrottle Examines Famous Engines With Pathetic Output

By Arison Knapp - November 11, 2015

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Let’s just put it in the air: rarely do we get any automotive news outlets reporting about how bad a car or engine is while it’s in production. In past years, the automotive news has become more earnest, maybe, yet I still mostly see reports and reviews focusing on the romanticism of automobiles. Even in my work, I find myself always looking for the best in every vehicle.

But from time to time we do hear bad news directly from the manufacturer. When a new generation of a model line makes its world release, the manufacturer is able to insult themselves about past generation flaws. It’s a way of showing their advancements without being too boastful. That’s not always the case though; maybe years, or even decades later, we learn of damning news, like the airbag and diesel debacles happening in this era.

In light of this, the gang at CarThrottle have made the interesting video below, examining nine pathetic engines throughout time, including the Benz Patent Motorwagen, the world’s first car, shown above. The key comparative figure that makes this all work is the brake horsepower (BHP) per liter displacement. This figure on sportscars is usually 100 BHP per liter or higher, but as you can see in the video, all the vehicles listed are or under 50 BHP per liter.

A true definition of every car is its power. My mother once said while driving a 2003 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution GSR VIII 5-speed manual transmission, “When you have power like this, you don’t need anything else.” The 2003 Lancer EVO VIII has a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine producing 280 HP delivering approximately 140 HP per liter, which makes it a rocket.

The most surprising car covered by CarThrottle in this video is a third generation 1982 Chevrolet Camaro. Assembled with a 5.0-liter eight-cylinder engine producing 143 BHP, it garnered just 28.6 BHP per liter, resulting in a ridiculously slow 0-60 MPH time. A new Kia Accent creates that power today using half the cylinders.

Check out the video below, then let us know if there any outrageously low output automobiles CarThrottle forgot to include. Have you owned one of these cars? Share your story.