There is a general consencus that BMW under-rates the horsepower ratings that they publish on their vehicles. Side by side tests with other vehicles almost always show that drivetrain loss is 9 to 12% (even on auto) compared to other cars with 15% loss on (manual transmision) and 20% on automatic. Performance numbers durings quantitative tests supports this too.

Do you think the HP in the MCS is under-rated too?

 

HP is underrated in most vehicles. Mass produced engines are all not the exact same and produce a range of power fron unit to unit. Most companies tend to report the bottom end of the range.

 

European car manufacturers overall tend to underrate the hp in their cars, while the Japanese get pretty liberal and sometimes even outright lie (Mazda RX-8, Miata a few years ago) about it. This is a general observation, but there are exceptions to both.

 

Do a search on MINI2. Someone claims gen one cars getting widely LESS bhp. Gen 2 cars seem to have MORE bhp.

 

BHP is tough to tell by the old pants dyno-torque is what you feel off the line,mid range passing, etc. A dyno is really needed to be sure but what ever it is the MCS seems to have more than enough!

 

On a british tv car programe they tested a 2006 ford mustang GT 500 i think it was, on a rolling road and it only produced 450 bhp.
Is the 500 in the GT500 it's horse power.

 

Are you talking about top gear? If, so they were being kind of stupid there considering they were using a wheel dyno. I would expect 15% loss from rwd drive train and certainly at least 10%. so 450 is good and rating is if anything underrated.

 

 

I believe on a stock SC car (02-04 at least) the claimed HP is 163. But every mini from this era i've seen do a stock dyno run barley broke 150 at the wheels. I might be able to find some dyno sheets.

 

This is from Promini http://www.promini.com/images/mini_intake_dyno.jpg

 

 

What I have seen dyno's of 2005-2006 MCS' is that they make 160ish to the wheels. Definately underrated I would say.