A Horsepower Limit for New Cars? That Could be a Good Idea

Recently, a new law has been added to my list, and it’s a tough one: a horsepower restriction on all cars. A strict limit on all new vehicles, anywhere in the world. Supercars, sports cars, no exception.

That might sound a bit draconian and fun-breaking, but I think it would be the opposite. A horsepower limit is precisely what the world of fast cars needs, not for ecological reasons but for driving pleasure. As we know, there is far too much horsepower sloshing around. And horsepower is heavy.

Not just the engines that generate the stuff but also the brakes and suspension that have to tame it. If you limit horsepower, manufacturers could spend their development money and brainpower on making their cars lighter and more enjoyable.

The only question is exactly what that horsepower limit should be. Given that my appointment as commander-in-chief is anything but confident at the moment, I puzzled over the exact figure for far too long. And then I remembered that there is a historical precedent here! Because from the late eighties until the mid-noughties, Japanese manufacturers had a so-called ‘gentleman’s agreement not to sell cars with more than 276 hp – at least on the domestic market.

This agreement had, at least officially, nothing to do with promoting innovation but with the car manufacturers’ great concern for road safety. It is unclear how they agreed on precisely 276 hp as the golden number when Japanese cars with 275 hp are still capable of wrecking anything they collide with.

But I think 276 hp is a good number. Fast enough for decent speed, rigorous sufficient to require admirable innovation. And if you think that’s not enough to make real power, remember: 276 hp is pretty much precisely the power of the original BAC mono.

I drove the original BAC Mono and can report that it was not what you call ‘underpowered’. And yes, the Mono was a single-seat, 560kg race car for the road. But tell me that Ferrari or McLaren, with the money they spend on research and development to squeeze more and more power out of their powertrains, could not also develop a two-seater supercar under 600 kg?

Forget the inevitable 1,200bhp, 1,600kg hyper-hybrid that will follow the SF90: How badly do you want to see what a half-tonne Ferrari supercar looks like? And how much do you want to drive it?

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