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Chris Bacon wrote:
Nick Maclaren wrote:
A long time ago, the legislators defined it in a way that
made no engineering sense, and it created chaos in the UK car
industry for many decades. Yes, 'real' BHP is a clear unit

Erm, are you saying that "the legislators" defined the "BHP"
as a different size to an "ordinary" HP?

They defined an "RAC HP" which was specified by the shape and size of the
engine (cylinders), thus car makers in this country tended to develop
long stroke, low-revving engines. The "Austin 7" was 7 of these funny
HP, not 7BHP.


The French used to have an idiosyncratic, non BHP, 'horsepower', too, hence
the Citroen 2CV (deux chevaux, I think) and the Renault 4CV, both of which
had slightly more BHP than their names might imply (but not much!).