Horse Power - is there such a thing as too much?

You can't just look at it as horsepower

I think you miss the point that these machines just offer a new platform for innovation and development. You have people spending lots of time and money making every kind of car / bike run better / faster. I big part of increasing HP is better engine management which can benefit all.

Every form of racing has offered innovation that has be taken to production vehicles, Even Polaris has started to adopt some of the improvements developed by SS owners.

So to that I have to say put in as much HP as you feel comfortable handling. You can always dial it back if needed. If you don't try you don't know!

I have been a big proponent of "usable" HP for awhile. I think this is all subjective. I went with the Hahn turbo kit and am only running 6-ish lbs and I think it's a really good fit for the Slingshot, especially being at +/- 7,000ft above sea level every day. People don't understand just how bad altitude will kill naturally aspirated HP at this elevation. Going forced induction was a must. I know people that have done more power than me, and I have yet to see just how much difference there really is. I think from a dead stop it would be a stalemate, but on a roll, they would pull away from me. Sitting around 300HP, I think the Slingshot is almost at a point where it might be just a little too much power, but once again, it's subjective. I love being able to slam the gas and pull away from most things on the road. lol

Yup, subjective, though you make a very good point, Br4hm4, about those who are riding at higher altitudes wanting to maybe boost their horsepower a bit, (coming from a pilot.) Down here at basically sea level one already needs a very light foot at times, especially on wet/frosty roads or if there is gravel/dirt involved. So far everybody who have taken our SlingShot for a spin have commented that adding any more horsepower would just wear out the rear tire faster than it already does...............

Yup.........subjective!

Bill

Quote from wjfyfe

Yup, subjective, though you make a very good point, Br4hm4, about those who are riding at higher altitudes wanting to maybe boost their horsepower a bit, (coming from a pilot.) Down here at basically sea level one already needs a very light foot at times, especially on wet/frosty roads or if there is gravel/dirt involved. So far everybody who have taken our SlingShot for a spin have commented that adding any more horsepower would just wear out the rear tire faster than it already does...............

Yup.........subjective!

Bill

I think @slingking said it right a long while back. When you have something that looks as fast as the slingshot and are constantly getting passed by turbo Hyundai's in mountain passes, it's time to look for a power upgrade.

Just this morning I had the Grasshopper out "playing" on one of our local twisties where later in the summer we'll be able to "open it up" but with still a touch of frost and all of the winter gravel still on the highway the rear reminded me more than once I had better be cutting back on the throttle..............

Oh, reminding me, we had the rare opportunity a year or so back to go nose to nose with another SlingShot which happened to be passing through town. It was all modded up, HP and all, and he wanted to play, where I beat him off the line 4 out of 4 lights, and he wound up in the other lane apposing traffic on the last one, oops!

So far our SlingShot has yet to fail in getting us up to the speed limit of our public roadways in a spirited manner and serves our purpose just fine the way it is, though, if we had accesses to a race track, I may very well be talking very differently!

Bill

I don't believe there is such a thing as "Too Much" for those that are in constant search of more. I've experienced it with motorcycles and now the sling. Grant it, from a dead stop (and now even a 20-30 mph roll) you can't really use excess power with these machines. It's in the upper realm (100+ mph) where the extra horses come into play with our machines. A wise man on this forum once told me "doesn't matter how much power you have. Eventually, you get used to it and keep wanting more". I've fallen into that trap several times with several vehicles. Some may not feel the need for speed.... I'm NOT one of those .
More Power to you!!!!

Quote from edwardaneal

I totally understand your point and I am grateful that people like you are out there innovating and pushing the limits, but not everyone has the means to be one of the people that can push limits. So I ask you, because you have done as much as anyone to know what the limits are - If you knew a person who wanted the maximum power "that was practical" for a Slingshot that would be street driven only and that person didnt want to invest any more that what it took to hit that point - where would you advise them that enough is enough?

I would say this is a personal preference but a short answer would be DDM supercharger nice linier power across the board. Their base set up is great and I have yet to see anyone unhappy with it. Personally I prefer a turbo and even with lower boost you can still have a pant load of fun. But all above would be a second choice to some handling improvements, sway bar / shocks and tires. If you have more power you need better handling so why not start there.

Quote from MACAWS

I would say this is a personal preference but a short answer would be DDM supercharger nice linier power across the board. Their base set up is great and I have yet to see anyone unhappy with it. Personally I prefer a turbo and even with lower boost you can still have a pant load of fun. But all above would be a second choice to some handling improvements, sway bar / shocks and tires. If you have more power you need better handling so why not start there.

I'm A turbo Guy as well, but....

second that.jpg

Quote from jorgebri60

I'm A turbo Guy as well, but....
second that.jpg

Funny I never hear that from my wife!

And you never will

Quote from KayTwo

Look over your shoulder - and check your manhood - something is seriously wrong

Horsepower is one thing... But, in my opinion, you gotta have "big meat" in the rear! You just can't get enough traction during acceleration...

Big meat in the rear...

Quote from gearhead

Horsepower is one thing... But, in my opinion, you gotta have "big meat" in the rear! You just can't get enough traction during acceleration...

I run a 345 tire on the back, but I'd NEVER want big meat in the rear. But hey, who am I to say what two consenting adults wanna do

Maggie Valley 2016

Quote from dangerdarrell

Yeah, and I think he gets about 8 mpg on that.

There is no such thing as too much HP!

Regardless of how much HP you have the rear tire is only going to hold traction up to a certain amount of torque.

1st and 2nd gear a stock sling can pretty much bust that threshold all the way through the rpm range but when you shift into 3rd gear you are done. That's when those with more hp "should" start to walk away. The key word here is "should"! If you are boosted and like myself have a hard time controlling your excitement to go then you'll just find yourself constantly breaking loose and having to feather the throttle to regain traction.

Once you get to 4th in your stock sling you are in your best cruising gear because in 4th gear you can climb a decent incline without gearing down and as far as speed goes you can go faster in 4th than you can 5th. For the modestly boosted folks the part about going as fast or faster in 4th as 5th is still true.

5th gear is also where there is a ton of difference. For the stock sling the only thing 5th gear is good for is out on the highway. Yes you can put it in 5th gear on some curvy two lane back road but you better hope there isn't anyone living on that road by the last name of Hill or you'll have to drop all the way back to 3rd just to get past their mail box. The boosted guys, they putt around in 5th gear and when the hit a steep incline they just mash the gas and go right on over. If you really enjoy drinking beer and ridding around in your slingshot then you owe it to yourself to get it boosted, that way your not having to constantly sit the beer down in between your legs to shift and she's going to get tired of holding it for you.

Now let's talk of those who are beyond modestly boosted. Lets talk about folks like @rabtech , @MACAWS and @WingShot. Rab is well versed at giving it just enough throttle to take advantage of all the torque the back tire can handle without completely loosing traction,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,most of the time. I did see him haze white smoke off the tire at around half track at Ocala on one pass so even the professionals have their limits. I have not personally met MACAWS or Wingshot so I cannot vouch for their skill. I can bet that none of them would turn down another 100hp if #1 it was free. #2 it would not affect reliability. Too much hp is like too much money, a woman that is too pretty, or a vehicle that is too fast, it just doesn't exist!