Does the % difference from engine flywheel to rear wheel hp change with hp level?
Does 500rear wheel hp mean nearly 600 engine hp?
Is there a scale?
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some things take a fixed amount of power to drive, like the water pump. some vary by the load placed on them, like the alternator or power steering. some do absorb more power as input power rises, like a transmission or differential, for various reasons, like internal friction, heat, pumping losses, etc, and again, this is not necessarily linear. things like flywheels, driveshafts, and axles take rotational energy to move, and the amount will depend on the inertia of momentum of the rotating part and the rate of rotational acceleration. even the engine itself has internal losses.
so, it's not a simple answer. the percentage is an easier way to guess at it, as is some people stating "this trans or driveline absorbs x amount of power."
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newtons equation is pretty linear. F=ma. angular acceleration takes a similar form. power is pretty linear, too. power = force x (distance/time).
but, that doesn't really relate to power/weight and quarter mile time, the reason being (i would imagine) that the total forces on the car aren't constant during a run. force to the wheels changes during a run due to gearing, torque curve, parasitic loss (which can increase with speed and rpm as well as horsepower, depending on the component contributing to the loss), and acting against the car as well you have areodynamic drag, rolling resistance of the tires, etc.
looking at graphs of mph and ET's vs power/weight from data sets taken from a lot of different cars, you never see a line. it's always a curve that falls off the faster the cars go.
Probably said the same thing you just said.











