How much is too much? But enough?

[Shelbycobra827]

I'm finally to a point to pick an engine. My question is how much is too much? But how much is enough? I'm a very experience driver of fast car just never one of these yet. I'm thinking of a 408w build that may make 400ish rwhp. Is that sufficient for an mk4?

[Raceral]

A stock motor is enough. 350hp is about perfect. 500hp gets the wow factor. A real big block makes the girls cry and the boys grin.
Dependability makes me smile

[Ray]

I'm running a 302 putting just over 300hp to the ground. Weight is 51/49 and the car handles like it's a slot-car. Unless you really want a big-block, stay with a Windsor based motor. The 408 is popular and (depending on the builder) very well made. A few guys run a 351 block based 427 but that brings in another set of problems ($$$$$$.) Check with the vendors here (Mike Forte, Richard Oben, Gordon Levy etc.) and see what they can do for you.

Ray

[Bob Cowan]

My question is how much is too much? But how much is enough?

You'll get a lot of opinions on this. IMO, there's no such thing as too much power, only not enough control.

How much is enough? Again, tough question with no real answer - only opinions. IMO, you should shoot for at least 350hp, and about 350 ft/lbs of torque. Torque should come on really fast, like just above idle, and should stay pretty flat to at least 5K rpm's.

But, that's just my opinion, I could be wrong.

[1fastsedan]

IMO, there's no such thing as too much power, only not enough control.
Amen.

[Mike N]

Along the same lines as Bob's comment. You should strive to build a motor with a nice broad power band that is responsive and easy to drive at part throttle and not one that has too much cam, carb, intake, or heads. If you achieve that then even as much as 500 RWHP isn't too much power on street tires because you can nicely modulate the power without upsetting the car. By the way not sure what your high powered car experience is but these cars are a heck of a lot different to a Vette, Porsche or similar vehicle even with a lot more power. 400 RWHP is a solid 11 second 1/4 mile FFR, that's supercar territory. 500 RWHP has potential for 10's and is an insanely quick street car.

[AJuergens]

I have a 393 producing 449hp and 462 ft-lbs at the crank, not sure what is making it to the road but its more then you could reasonably justify needing.

[Wayne Presley]

So far I have built a 300 RWHP roadster and its fun. A 380 RWHP Roadster which was much better. Three 408W cars making 460 RWHP and thats really fun. A 460 car making 468 RWHP and a ton of torque which really was the best power for the buck. And my current car has 705 RWHP and is fun but not for most people as it starts spinning the rear tires at 90 mph. So far after a year of driving it I have not been able to hold full throttle to redline in third gear because it goes so sideways at over 90mph on 315 Nitto NT05R drag radials.

[charles roybal]

408W is enough.....can get you in trouble very fast...you don't need deep gears...very streetable.

[Ronsson1]

I have a MKIII with a D351R purchased from Mike Forte. The motor is rated at 385 HP and recently produced 347 RWHP and
342 ft/lb torque on a dyno. I agree with RacerAl. 350 HP seems about right for the weight of this vehicle. If you're all about
speed you will want more HP, but if you are a street driver 350 HP in this vehicle will surprise you. By-the-way, the dyno
speed with a tremec 5 spd in 4th gear was over 151 mph - obviously more than you would ever use on the street.

[riptide motorsport]

437.68

[3kcarbon]

It also depends on how you plan to use the car. Is it a gee whiz toy or a dependable driver? There is a point when performance starts to effect the daily driver in terms only you will have the final say on. Fo example my engine has a roller cam with aluminum rockers. If I had a easy redo on that I would probably give up a few HP for less valve train noise. It not a big deal but no harder than I run it I hear the noise more than I need the power.
If money isn't a concern and you just want a really bad boy to play with then....waaay too much is just right.

[jimgood]

What?? Apart from being buried in Ray's sig, I can't believe on one brought out the Mark Donahue quote.

[Raceral]

My stock 302 with a cam... no head work.. yielded 8.482 @ 84.47 in the 1/8, with a 1.833 60 ft. with 15" T/A's on the rear.
About 1500 bucks for the motor and trans...It just all depends on how much money you want to loose at resale time.. I didn't want to loose to much , so I spent my meager amount of money on appearence stuff. Therefor after 9 years of ownership.. I sold my car and made about 4 grand. That has been my win win.

[ThreePointTwo]

Hmmm, lots of good comments here. I have a 427W with 576 FWHP and it makes the hair on my arms stand up just thinking about it. It is amazingly fun but I look at these guys who have 700, 800, and 900 HP and think that would be even more fun. You can get yourself into trouble with 300 HP and you can drive 576 HP easily and comfortably - just don't get on it as hard. Like what has been said above - what do you want out of it? Do you want a grocery getter or a monster? You can have either - it just depends on your wallet and cajones.

[CraigS]

When you have enough HP that you can never actually give it full throttle that would seem to be too much.There is something very satisfying about the gas being all the way down. My experiences says that somewhere in the 450-500 at the engine would be just perfect. I have 400 and would like just a little more.

[Movieman]

There's also the point that (almost) whatever you buld that scares you silly doesn't 6 months later..
Your mind and reactions get in tune with what the car will do..
(Ok, with the exception of Wayne Presleys monster!
JEEZ, lighting the tires at 90MPH and going sideways??????)..:D

[Howard]

When you have enough HP that you can never actually give it full throttle that would seem to be too much.There is something very satisfying about the gas being all the way down. My experiences says that somewhere in the 450-500 at the engine would be just perfect. I have 400 and would like just a little more.

I beg to differ - if you can give it full throttle, then you're ready for more!