DOES THE HDK SUSPENSION K-MEMBER HANDLE BETTER THAN A T-BAR SUSPENSION?

racerjoe said
I know the taxi has been used for reference many times about how it beat BMWs. I never actually paid attention or watched the video. Now that I have some autocross laps under my belt, I've learned that some courses cater to high HP cars while others cater to the more nimble small cars. So as this topic was brought up again, I immediately wonder what engine it had so I watched the video. Then the "pro" driver even commented on the power. What would make him make such a statement if HP and Torque don't matter? So where's the proof that HP and torque make a difference on an autocross? Here's my proof. There's nearly 5 years of results from my local SCCA where I would be say within the top 10-15 on a HP course, then on the more technical without long straights or quick acceleration sections where I'm usually around 20th position. Clearly those saying HP and Torque doesn't matter on an autocross either doesn't autocross at all, or regularly to learn this. Another piece of proof, and likely more relevant. Justin Peachy is an incredible driver winning or at least on the podium of nearly every autocross he does. He's been running a corvette with a 700HPish LS all year. He hurt the motor so he threw in a 5.3 to run the King of the Mountain race this past weekend. He finished 16th in his class and didn't qualify for the shootout. He was mentioning not enough HP all weekend on his social media. HP and Torque 100% matters on the autocross.

To be clear, I wasn't saying I though HP didn't matter. My question was, on a tight course like that would it make up a second in time?

Running in a group where tenths and hundredths matter, absolutely it will have a huge effect. On a smaller course, certainly more HP is still better unless you can't put the power down. But is HP alone enough to shave a second off the lap time on a ~30 second lap?

And you have to admit, even if the comment about the BMW is hard to quantify, the comment in the article that the Taxi put down similar lap times to Woody's race prepped S2000 is pretty impressive.

The best thing about the Taxi vs. BMW test is that it was the same driver. Completely removes the question of driver skill. And yes he was impressed with ~500 HP after driving a ~240 HP BMW. But he was also impressed with the handling. He even commented on that before he said anything about the power.