Everyone that's purchased - or thought about purchasing - a car in their lifetime has been told to look into the horsepower. What not everyone knows, however, is what horsepower is to begin with -- we're often just told to go for a car with higher horsepower, and often go from there. So, what exactly is horsepower, and why is it so important?
Horsepower first came to being when James Watt, the engineer that penned the term back in the 18th century, was working in a coal mine and using horses to pull up coal to the mines -- finding that, on average, the usual pony could complete roughly 22,000 foot-pounds on work, on average, a minute. Watt raised the rate by 50 percent -- 33,000 foot-pounds of work in a minute - and pegged the term of horsepower.
Should you have any more questions, stop by Dolan Auto Group in Reno!