if a car only has like 90 hp, can it go past 100 mph??

Answer 1

Something small and aerodynamic, say 15 square feet frontal area and a Cd of .25 would only need 25 hp for aerodynamic losses at 100 mph.

If it weighed 2000 pounds, it would need about 8 hp for rolling resistence. 16 hp for 4000 pounds.

At 2000 pounds and Cd=0.25, an optimized vehicle could hit about 145 mph on 100 hp.

Rule of thumb equations:

Aero drag HP = 0.0000067 x Cd x Area x speed cubed.

Rolling HP = 0.00004 x weight x speed.

Weight is in pounds, speed in MPH, area in square feet, Cd ranges from 0.2 for research cars to 0.7 for a Hummer with ski racks.

Answer 2

It depends on a number of factors, including gearing, wind resistence (drag), and the weight of the car. A 90 horsepower engine is actually more powerful than one thinks in these days of wildly overpowered cars. I had a 1980 VW Rabbit, carbureted version, with only 64 horse that would do slightly over 100 mph.

A 90 horsepower motorcycle can reasonably be expected to do somewhere near 130 mph and motorcycles ae not particularly aerodynamic, owing to the considerable turbulence they generate.

Answer 3

Horsepower to weight ratio will determine this.

A car with a 90hp engine will go say 100mph.
A motorycycle with 90hp engine will go say 140mph.

Why the difference? Weight to horsepower ratio. The ratio of weight on the bike to the horsepower is lower than the car so in turn the bike goes faster.



When younger I had a 1985 Honda CRX. It had 92 hp and I have had it up to 134mph with the help of a friend and a speedo that went to 160mph.

Answer 4

If your VW only has 90HP then you must have an early Mk4 Turbo-Diesel (TDI) Jetta or Golf (Late Mk4 TDI's have 100hp)

Yes, It can reach speeds over 100 but not much more... I had a 2.0 MK4 Golf and I only reached 114MPH (I don't know where the person in the last post got his facts about reaching over 180MPH with a TDI ??? Not even some Porsches go that fast LOL)
Not to mention your TDI is SUPER HEAVY!! And acceleration is horrible! HOWEVER... Most of us envy your car on the great MPG milage and diesel fuel prices!

Answer 5

yes if your legs dont even make 10 horse power and you can do about 30 mph on a bike with the right gears a car with 90 and the right gears might even be able to do 120-130

Answer 6

The answer is yes. Since you're in the VW questioning, you are most likely talking about their 1.9L diesel engine. It will go approximately 187 MPH. No sweat on the 100 MPH barrier.

Happy dieseling.

Answer 7

Mikey:
It all has to do with Power to Weight.
a 1500 Lb car with 90Hp has a Power to weight ratio of 16.66 to1
a 3500 lb car with 200hp has a Power to weight ratio of 17.5 to 1
1hp has to move 16.66lbs
1hp has to move 17.5 lbs
If i am racing I want the low number (16.66)

You probably wouldn't doubt that a 200hp car could go 100mph.
However, In this case The 90hp car is actually faster given other variables are the same.

I raced Midgets and Shifter Karts when I was younger, Neither had 90hp, more like 30hp for the Karts and they would easily go 100Mph, on a bad night.

Yours: Grumpy

Answer 8

Yes. Because a car with that low of horsepower will be light.

Power isn't everything to do with top speed. Weight & wind resistance play a big role too.

Answer 9

Depends upon the gearing

Answer 10

Yes SIR