In the British Imperial System, one horsepower equals 33,000 foot-pounds of work per minute that is, the power necessary to lift a total mass of 33,000 pounds one foot in one minute.
Another unit of power is the metric horsepower, which equals 4,500 kilogram-metres per minute (32,549 foot-pounds per minute), or 0.9863 horsepower.
Individual locomotive units provided up to 5,000 horsepower, a figure equal to all the steam-engine power in the United States in 1800.
To keep things simple, we've expressed the ratio in pounds-per-horsepower: All things equal, a car with a lower number will pack more punch.
The unit of power or rate of doing work in English-speaking countries is the horsepower (hp), which is equal to 33,000 foot-pounds per minute, so that 240 foot-pounds per minute equals 240/33,000 = 0.00727 horsepower.
Another unit of mechanical power is the horsepower (hp), which is equal to 33,000 foot-pounds per minute, or 6,600 inch-pounds per second.
Although more efficient, diesels operate at far lower engine speeds, or r.p.m., and produce much less horsepower than gasoline engines of equal size.
It is difficult to imagine the phrase "base model" applying to anything with eight cylinders, 500 horsepower and a starting price equal to nine Mini Coopers.
Instead, the new 360-horsepower Audi S8 has an equal size trunk and nearly the same cabin size.
And no amount of horsepower can enable passing when an equal crush of cars is coming toward you on a two-lane road.
