A long social media thread developed after I posted the fact that a Morris 1100 had around 39kw. I pointed out that everything was relative as this week, we are testing a LEXUS ES 300h.

Readers went wild.

They pointed out that a Morris weighed around 800kg, and a Mini, even less. They railed against what they said was not comparing apples with apples, and that it seemed that the power-to-weight ratio would play in to a feeling of more power than would be obvious from the specifications.

This Week: 2022 Skoda Kamiq Signature

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ABOVE: Power figures don’t always tell the full story

Our family had a 1974 Subaru 1400 DL which had between 41kw and 50kw. It felt slow even then. My 1978 HZ Sandman had a princely 125kw from its 4.2L V8, and although it made a wonderful noise, it did not feel fast. Sure, it was faster than many other things of the time, but that too, is relative.

All of those examples say little for the performance, as that is difficult to quantify when it comes to how a vehicle feels to drive. What can’t be disputed are the 0-100kph times (in seconds):

Model 0-100 in seconds
Morris 1100 18.5
1974 Subaru 1400 DL 14.7
1978 HZ Sandman 4.2 12.9
1974 Mini 1000 17.8
1974 Falcon 4.1 12.7
2022 LEXUS ES 300h 8.1
2022 Kia Picanto GT 8.8
2022 Polo 1.0L 10.8

..

In short, everything is relative, but the 0-100kph times speak for themselves, and much has changed in a hundred years of motoring.

The debate will no doubt continue, even if we are not sure what we’re debating.

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