Most Car magazine specs rate the Honda Civic Si at 0-60 6.8 and R56 6.2 to 6.3. That should take care of any torque vs horsepower questions.

 

Whats the old saying...

"Horsepower sells cars...tourque wins races"



Just having fun

 

Sure, but if you bought a Civic Si, "you'd be driving a Honda!"

 

Yea, who'd want all that reliability and ergonomic refinement?

 

Yuck, who'd want to drive some of the most BORING cars on the road?

I drove the SI before I ordered my MINI, and it truly was one of the lamest experiences of my life. I owned an '89 CRX SI that was actually fun to drive. I don't know what they are doing wrong these days.

 

I test drove an Acura RSX and a Honda S2000 before ordering the MINI. While I chose the MINI over them for its fun-to-drive qualities, I found the Hondas more fun than the VW GTI.

 

Torque is what is needed to acceralte off the line and to pull away. But Horsepower is needed to get you to overcome the drag.

The higher the speed the more HP you need, but torque does not help that.
Even tho both propertites are related by 5252, they are both distince properties of the motor. F1 motors for instanace produce tremendous HP but only very small torque this is desired becuase the vechile weights so little it does not need too much torque at the wheel but the total power output (hp) is what is needed to move a car with a dragcoeff of 1.30.

In Conclusion i belive that the GP should pull away from the R56S at speeds over 150 km/hl. But before that the R56s should pull away with that much torque.

So down the 1320 i say R56S, off a corner like Chapel into Stowe at Silverstone the GP will take it.

 

Does it really matter?

 

Not to hi-jack the topic, uptil couple of weeks ago, I had S2000, CRX, and R56 sharing garage. I had to get rid of a rid, the S2000 was traded in for E92 335i while CRX w/ B16A and R56 still remain as stable mate. That being sad, older car has more characteristic than most newer one.

Back to the point of the topic, let's put R56 and GP on the track and see the outcome. My R56 is probably no match for GP because it is stock and no LSD. However, I would like to see how it will do against moded R53 on the track, say Street of Willow or Buttonwillow. Any taker?

 

I don't mean to be funny, although it probably will be anyway, but, What is a GP?

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MINI_%2..._Works_GP_MINI

 

Nice Thread~ Great info on hp/torque, etc.
anyway~ why are we comparing a GP to an stock R56 MCS?
The GP is close to 40k... and the R56 MCS starts around 24k... This is like comparing a Corvette to a Porsche 911.
Let's compare GP when the R56 gets its own!

 

Not necessarily. GP's started at $31K... not bad considering what you got: full JCW kit on a limited production, end of an era collectible car. My R56S was $30,400. Granted, it's spec'd to the hilt, while the $31K GP is stripped.

I really struggled over to GP or not to GP. I've had two opportunities now to pick one up new at MSRP and passed both times. I just can't see living with that utilitarian of a car as my ONLY vehicle right now. The kids need somwhere to sit (legally) and I want leather and tunes (while still staying under $40K).

They are super-sweet cars, though. Very special IMO.