Horsepower Wars!
We are in the middle of a horsepower war, and the players are very surprising. Even more surprising is the king of the horsepower race. American muscle cars have always had plenty of fire under the hood, but the big three seem like small potatoes compared to the king. Ford, Chrysler and GM all have cars in the 500hp club. 1 each to be exact (as long as you do not count the Ford GT, out of production) Ford has the Mustang Shelby GT500 with 500hp, GM has the Vette with 505, and Chrysler has the Viper with 510. But that is it.

So, is the king from Japan? Well, no. The Japanese have some big muscle too, but non really post big numbers. The Subaru Impreza STI with around 300, And the Mitsubishi Evo with just a tad less.
So Europe then. We all know the Italians make some very fast cars, but i am really talking about more mainstream products, so lets leave exotic super car makes out for now. BMW has the very impressive M3 and M5. Both with some power, the M3 with around 333 and the mighty M5 with 500. But the real king of power is good old Mercedes Benz. Yes Mercedes Benz, the maker of classic if not exiting luxo sedans is the current undisputed horsepower king.

Mercedes sells 43 cars in its line up in the U.S. Out of this a whopping 37 make more then 250HP. That is more then the Vette had when i was in high school. 250 today may not seem like much, but how about a solid 15 models with over 400hp. Yes, those luxury cars are really muscle cars in a tux. Thats not all. 13 models have over 500hp. How many teenagers in Mustangs know that the E-Class sedan sitting next to them at the stop light might be carrying a 500hp stick!

To top it all, Mercedes also produces 4 cars with over 600hp. The SLR, S65, SL65, and the CL65. That really makes Mercedes Benz the horsepower king. For now.

Learn more about this author, Vincent Tramontana.
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