Car manufacturers are eager to let you know just how much horsepower resides within their car, truck or SUV lineup’s available engines. It's a major selling point for many models. But what does horsepower really mean?
The engineer James Watt conceived the term horsepower. He needed a way to reference the power of the steam engine in a language that could be easily understood and that could be related to a form of power that most people were familiar with at the time. Using figures he obtained from working with ponies, he surmised that an average horse could pull 1,000 pounds an acceptable 33 feet in just one minute. That's 33,000 foot-pounds per minute, which equals one horsepower.
The term stuck and has been used to describe the power of engines of all types to this day. If you're interested in a vehicle with the right amount of horsepower for you, pay us a visit at Phillips Chevrolet in the Frankfort, Lansing, and Bourbonnais, IL area today!
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