There have also been cases where the manufacturer, American I believe,
understated the horspower, to avoid high insurance costs and help sales.

What color is the sky in the fantasy world you live in?

Well one standard is that you have to use oil of the type recommended
for the engine.  Putting 10 weight oil in for a HP test is cheating if
the engine as sold is supposed to use 30 weight.

Also, not running any accessories, such as an alternator for example
isn't fair if you customers will need to do that to provide the juice
for their sparks.

Oh yes, and another pesky rule is that the test has to be
independently witnessed.

In the end it's 0-60 and quarter mile times and seat of the pants feel that
matter, not hp ratings. And those have changed none at all.

There was no "lying" involved. Just different interpretations of the older
procedure. The Japanese manufacturers were testing with non-standard intake
and exhaust systems. The new procedures require you to use systems as
restrictive as the ones actually used in the vehicles. You also have to use
the recommended grade of fuel and lubricants. The new procedures did not
seem to negatively affect US manufacturer's at all. The old procedure was
supposed to reflect the "installed" horsepower, but not everything was
spelled out exactly. Most American manufacturers adhered to the spirit of
the procedures. The Japanese manufacturers were adhering to the exact
wording. Nothing wrong with that, but it a typical Japanese thing. I can't
tell you how many times I have gotten in a Japanese car and found it to be
cramped, when, if you look at the interior measurements, it should be as
large or larger than American and Europeans vehicles in the same class. The
Japanese are very numbers oriented and do some weird things to make the
numbers come out right - even if the reality is something else.

This is the second time the horsepower measurement procedures have changed
in my memory. The first time was in the early 70s. Before that change,
engines were tested with all the accessories (even water pumps) driven
separately.

Ed

----- Original Message -----
From: "GLitwinski" <GLitwinski@chartermi.net>
Newsgroups: alt.autos.gm,alt.autos.ford
Sent: Wednesday, March 15, 2006 11:22 PM
Subject: Re: Toyota and some others got caught lying (inflating their
horsepower ratings)

So why do Nissan and Toyota spend so much time telling me how much power
their vehicles have? The press crapped all over the Ford 500 because it did
not have enough "power," despite actually being faster than a Camry in 0-60
tests. Numbers do matter. Horsepower might not be the primary reason someone
buys a Camry. but seeing claims that it has a more powerful engine than the
immediate competitors might give you one more reason to pick the Camry. Or
having the press dish a car because it does not have as much power as a
Camry might convince you to not even look at the competitor (even if you
really only want the 4 cylinder Camry). The inflated numbers fed the
perception that the Japanese are better at building and designing cars.
While I agree that Toyota was not "lying" about horsepower numbers, I am
also certain that they knew that they were not measuring horsepower in the
same way as most American manufacturers. They were taking advantage of a
poorly defined portion of the procedure. While this might not have fooled
you or me, it certainly was misleading for many people who assumed the
horsepower numbers reflected the actual horsepower of the engine as
installed in the car.

Ed

I think many people buy it in part based on stated HP rating.  If you
are comparing vehicles that have somewhat similar cargo area, fuel
economy or whatever the other factors are, then HP rating can be an
important distinction for some.