Re: [VintageLambo] Re: Accuracy of horsepower figures.

Fred: I was not attempting a "fair" comparison, that would not be possible, but rather I was reflecting on the following: 1) Accuracy of horsepower claims by manufacturers. Assumption: BMW"s will dyno to the claimed specs, while Lambo"s (at least until past the Countach years) will not. Am I wrong in thinking so? 2) The heavier car with the least claimed hp (and an automatic to boot)runs nearly even with the presumed faster car, and is indeed noticeably faster in normal use. 3) The friction losses must have been reduced dramatically between 1974 and 1989 (the year"s of my cars) or perhaps more accurately between 1967-ish when the Espada was designed and 1987-ish when the BMW was. 20 years of progress...does that indeed account for much of what I observed? Maybe the Lambo did have closed to its claimed hp after all? 4) The amazing thing is the totally different character and interior space, sound, etc. from two cars whose paper specs as to dimensions, engine layout and general performance data is quite close. They are almost Jekyll and Hide. Driving them back-to back is like getting off a motorcycle and hopping in a car for a quick errand. That"s how different they feel. And that was kind of the observation I wanted to convey in addition to ponder the hp vs. progress issue. BTW, I think a similar comparison of Bill"s Islero and Jensen would be an interesting study. How about it Bill? Ditto anyone else who have cars that are "gentlemen"s express" type cars. I would like to hear the strong and weak points and general feel of the cars, unless I am going too far off-topic by this... Roy Los Angeles, California 74 Espada #9682 http://www.lamborghiniregistry.com/Espada/Espada3/9682.html Lamborghini Club America member _____