190hp engine? (Re: Fall Tour & DeLoreans Magazine)

["twinenginedmc12" <twinenginedmc12@xxxx>]

Subject: 190hp engine? (Re: Fall Tour & DeLoreans Magazine)

--- In dmcnews@xxxx, "James LaLonde" <deloreandmcxii@xxxx> wrote:
...
> Houston has added 60 horsepower the car. 
...

Though it may be true that the DMCH improved engine produces 197hp at 
the flywheel, as they claim, this doesn't necessarily mean that it's 
67hp more powerful than the 130hp stock engine. Unfortunately it's 
not that simple. At the risk of sounding like a commercial for DMCH, 
I have no doubt at all that their engine is better, on account of its 
less restrictive exhaust, different camshaft, and whatever else 
they've done. The comparison to the stock engine may be apples and 
oranges, though.

It's unrealistic to compare horsepower ratings that don't specify the 
conditions under which horsepower was measured. The DeLorean stock 
engine horsepower was specified 130 net, which by Society of 
Automotive Engineers (SAE) definition means that the measurement was 
taken with all normally attached accessories, like alternator, AC 
compressor, and waterpump installed. Unless the DMCH figures were 
taken under the same circumstances, it's not possible to 
intelligently compare the numbers. 

For real horsepower information, we are indebted to Bob Brandys, who 
performed a very sensible dynamometer test of DeLorean horsepower on 
a bunch of actual real life cars, which is the only truly believable 
way to test horsepower. The results are at:

http://www.dmcnews.com/Resource/horsepower.html

For a stock DeLorean with 5speed, the power at the wheels was 96hp. 
(Apparently, 34hp was lost to friction in the drivetrain and tires)

Until someone publishes a dynamometer run of a car with an enhanced 
DMCH engine that produces 145.44 (197/130*96hp-at-wheels)or more 
horsepower at the wheels, we'll never know how the DMCH engine really 
compares to stock. It seems reasonable to interpret DMCH's 
horsepower rating of 197hp as more of a "gross" power rating, than 
a "net" powerrating. I'm very interested in the actual difference 
between the stock and the DMCH engine.

Rick Gendreau 
VIN 11472, 535hp