i have a question my C320 01' is listed as 215BHP correct me if i am wrong but that means that 215 is going to the back wheels. so a car like the TL is listed at around 270 and it is front wheel drive is all the 270 being used or what. i know that there is hp lost while it makes its way to the back so if that is true those that mean that me C-class has more hp.

 

BHP: Brake horsepower
WHP: Wheel horsepower, power to the wheels as seen on a dynonameter

Brake horsepower is the equivalent to flywheel horsepower, or the typical usage of the term 'horsepower' which generally describes inherent power produced by an engine before it is transferred to the driveshafts, or halfshafts. Rarely (never) do car companies use WHP figures to describe their engines' horsepower rating.

 

MY '01 320 has that amount of HP to the crank, not the wheels.

 

Brake horse power is simply measured at different areas of the car. For example, regular horsepower is measured straight from the engine, brake horsepower is measured at the flywheel, and wheel horsepower is measured at the drive wheels.

Theoretically, brake horsepower is more important than the normal engine horsepower.

Kilowatts is actually the standard measurement for all cars world wide. It's just in the US, we have normal horsepower. In the UK, they use brake horsepower.

Most cars will have a higher engine horsepower than their brake horsepower. And naturally, the wheel horsepower is also a bit lower than the brake horsepower.

 

thx i have a better understanding

 

Also, the conversion of KW to BHP

1 KW = 1.34 BHP

Engine HP> BHP> WHP

 

True, but lets no forget that there also is a conversion between EURO and US hp. For some odd reasons there are different interpretations of that.

 

REALLY? I never knew that. Wow!

Which one is worth more? I'll bet that the Euro hp is worth more.

 

Euro measurment is called DIN the number calculated from this method usually yields in larger numbers.

i.e. C32 AMG DIN rated 354bhp while the US SAE rating comes out to 349hp. M3 DIN rated 343bhp while SAE rated 333hp.

 

Oh, I've seen that before. I wonder why there is a difference though.

Thank you very much for the clarification and the education.

 

Big Horse Power = bhp
Horsepower = hp