- You know, every now and again I catch a comment
or fall into a conversation about,
or overhear someone talking about how the current generation
of automobiles is the worst of all time.
With all this hybrid technology on its way in,
and the internal combustion engine on its way out,
horsepower restrictions in favor of emissions,
manufacturers setting dates
that they will be going full electric by,
and overall just lowering displacement
of gasoline engines until they're well
(sighs)
gone.
But I would argue that right now
is actually gonna go down in history
as one of the greatest automobile generation of all time.
The Supra is back,
Civics come with 300 horsepower from the factory.
We have a new Z coming out that looks like all
of the old ones altogether at the same time.
A 395 horsepower STI.
Modern, naturally aspirated V8
and Mustangs and Camaros are just shy of 500 horsepower.
And the final drive in the stake,
you can not convince me
that there's a lack of enthusiast cars
when you can just go buy
a 700 horsepower Sedan for 40 grand.
Never in the history of ever
has there ever been a better deal on horsepower, ever!
And so I started thinking
what exactly is that cost of horsepower
on the cheapest used Hellcat in the USA?
And are there other cars out there
that can even get close to a, fucking Hellcat?
And certainly there's not even the slimmest chance
that there are any cars out there
that you can get for just $5,000
to compete with the Hellcat's bargain on horsepower,
let alone enough of them
to make a whole goddamn video about, right?
Well, go and grab your favorite snack
because in just a few seconds,
you're gonna have a sweet tooth.
That doesn't make any sense.
Let's get into the video.
All right, so you like your horsepower scooped up
on a plate of value because you are a price conscious
consumer who wants the most product
for your hard earned money, right?
And when that product is horsepower,
it's not subject to a price difference based on quality
because it's not actually a physical object.
And so to me, that means it is simply
and also intimately more is always better, right?
Right, okay, so now that we're on the same page
and you understand how my frigging brain works,
I'm gonna take you guys on one hell of a journey
because right now I'm gonna show you guys
my very own secret list of cars that have cheaper horsepower
than the lowest priced Hellcat in the USA.
Which just so happens to be this gray 2016 Charger Hellcat
that I found on AutoTempest.
Anyway, this bad mamajamba is gonna set you back
just shy of $45,000 throughout that COVID 10% inflation
for a $40,000 evaluation for the benefit of the doubt.
Divide that by 707 horsepower
and you end up with a cost of $56.57 cents per.
Which really isn't that bad at all.
But frankly, even the very first car we're gonna talk about
blows the Hellcat out of the water
with an $18 per horsepower price tag.
The early fourth generation F-body cars from General Motors
are such good performance for the money
that I can not believe more people don't want them.
Which is good though I guess, because that makes them cheap.
Since most people much prefer
the facelift LS-1 versions of these cars,
a 275 horsepower LT-1 Camaro Trans-Am
Firebird Formula can be found in honestly decent condition
for about $5,000.
Now I know 275 horsepower might sound like a ton
but for $5,000, you can have a really hard time finding
another 14 second car in this price range
with the same reliability as a Chevy truck.
And with just a couple of really cheap bolt-ons,
these cars are getting deep into the 13.
But you know what doesn't have a big, huge V8
but beats out the LT-1 powered F-body
by almost two whole dollars per horsepower?
Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you
to one of the best sounding cars to ever hit the road.
The 2004 to 2007 Volvo S60 or V70, but probably not R.
The S60 V70 are with this generation
came with the 2.5 liter turbo charged five cylinder engine.
And it that made a muscle car embarrassing
at the time, 300 horsepower.
It was available with a six speed manual transmission.
It was all wheel drive.
It didn't take long to start throwing bolt-ons
and ethanol at these cars
can pick up 100 horsepower very easily
and then take down cars way above easily.
But now you can pick these things up for $5,000 all day.
It probably won't be a cool color or be manual,
but you know, they're not the easiest to find in manual,
but for $5,000,
you're only spending $16 and 60 cents per horsepower.
That's not bad for mom's sedan.
Now moving onto something a little bit less traditional.
So imagine this for a moment it's like 2005, right?
The Mustang GT is 300 horsepower.
The Camaro didn't exist yet. The S2000 had 240 horsepower.
The PT cruiser was still being built
and the Chevrolet Impala had become
a front wheel drive economy level sedan, as opposed
to the intolerance V8 rear wheel drive luxury routes.
However, the 2006 model,
you can now get that SS trim Impala
that came with a 303 horsepower,
5.3 liter Atlas or V8,
good for low fourteens in the quarter mile.
But fortunately for GM,
these cars were littered with undesirables.
First off, it's still felt in the drive,
which is like, I mean, I get it.
You can't just convert a front wheel drive chassis
to rear wheel drive.
I mean, you can, people do it all the time,
but you get the damn point. All right.
It just seems really weird to have front wheel drive V8,
anything it's weird.
How do you even build a solid front wheel drive trans
that can handle that kind of torque?
Well, to avoid making it way too expensive.
They just decided to ignore that exact issue
and pump these things out with glass transmission.
It's genuinely ridiculous.
Every single one has had the transmission replacement.
Literally anyone I've ever seen in my life
it's like Subaru blowing up. It always happens,
but these issues do make it one of the cheapest 300
horsepower cars you can get into,
even if the transmission does self-destruct
with no warnings.
Now, when this next car came out,
it made some big waves, 2009 high on day,
which now know for their value focused luxury
and sport oriented cars,
didn't have such a high reputation back.
I, they basically stood shitty unreliable,
hard to work on boxes and only people who finance cars,
the buy here pay for your lot drive
because you only drive a high on day.
If you have to, the brand is Korean,
which there's nothing inherently wrong with,
but Korean products just aren't normalized here
like Japanese and Canadian products are .
Remember the table you're on that high.
And they brought us the only car in the history of ever
to simultaneously make you puking your mouth onsite
and make an atrocious sound and be extremely slow.
All at the same time,
Tim Europe, it literally had nothing going for it.
But between then,
and today's more competitive version of high-end day.
They had to do something really crazy to break the stigma
and gain the trust and the us market
and crazy they did high.
And I was just like why I haven't slept their big thriving
idea right on the table with the 311 horsepower,
3.8 liter V6. You know what else it was rear wheel drive.
It had a manual transmission. It had, as I said,
right on the throats of Ford Mustang,
you know what I really think that it did the trick
as a Mustang, Connor sewer at heart,
I can genuinely and unbiasedly say that
when the Genesis coupe came out,
it was on par if not a little bit better than what
Mustang had to offer for a little bit less money.
So it was an extremely attractive alternative
to the traditional pony car
I had just entered the enthusiast car market was a banger,
but then nearly immediately after launch,
we saw a huge uptick in those horse powers
from its competition
Mustang went full sand with a 400 horsepower coyote.
The Camaro came on the block
with 400 horsepower right out of the box.
In the first years of the 370Z has appreciated
who really attractive price as well.
And thus the glory that could have been
the high-end Genesis coupe was overshadowed
by the oddly perfect timing of the muscle car comeback.
And that shadow still casts over it to this day,
which keeps prices low.
So if you're looking for a car that presents a ton of value
for just $16 and 20 cents per horsepower,
you could adopt a Genesis coupe 3.8
and give it the life that it deserves. And lastly,
straight out of left field with an absolutely insane
$15 and 80 cents per horsepower valuation,
the R 129, 1989 to 2001 generation
Mercedes-Benz 500 SL or SL 500
is a insane car for the money. For starters,
315 horsepower comes directly out of a five liter V8
and is transferred to the rear wheels
through an Uber boring,
but equally as reliable automatic transmission.
But it's not all boring.
If you just pushed both pedals at the same time,
it'll do a big old smokey burn-out to keep up
and potentially stop on much more expensive cars in itself.
Not only does this car meet and exceed my expectations
in being the best horsepower per dollar,
I could find with a $5,000 limit, but it is historically
one of the most expensive cars ever engineered.
These cars started at $99,000 in the renewed
in 1989 with inflation that's over
$180,000 in 2021.
Now you can just go buy them for five grand. What?
Sure this thing isn't going to win any autocross battles.
But if you do pull out the incredibly complicated
and unreliable hydraulic suspension,
and you can do with that BC racing, coil over treatment,
you now have yourself a slush box Mercedes-Benz
branded Corvette killer
with the most comfortable seats you've ever sat in.
And most importantly, absolutely demolishes a Hellcat
for the price of horsepower.
It's not even close and you guys thought I was crazy.
But I don't think you could find anything
to beat this for the money.
And if you think you've got something,
share it with the fricking class.
I read every single comment
and if you've got something legit,
I'll probably reply to it. Otherwise,
let us know what you guys wanna see us cover next.
Do you wanna up the price on this one a little bit
and do another one of these?
Or do you wanna do something a little different?
Let us know otherwise,
how are we supposed to know what you guys wanna see, uh?
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Thank you, guys so much for watching,
Seriously, it means the world to me.
I'm Sean, Seanb.fi on Instagram.
Thank you, guys so much.
I will see you later, peace.