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Automotive vocabulary · Engine and Fuel Systems

Horsepower

Meaning in automotive, with examples

/ˈhɔːrsˌpaʊər/nounCore term

In automotive, horsepower means: A unit of engine power. One mechanical horsepower is about 746 watts, and the metric horsepower (PS) used in Europe is about 735 watts. Many specifications also give power in kilowatts (kW).

In Turkish: beygir gücü, HP, BG

How it is used

Used in brochures, reviews and spec sheets, often shortened to hp. People talk about how much horsepower a car makes and quote it with an engine speed, for example 150 hp at 6,000 rpm.

Example sentences

  1. The facelift model gets 20 more horsepower and a new eight-speed gearbox.

  2. On the dyno, the car made 182 horsepower at the wheels.

Common collocations

  • rated horsepower
  • brake horsepower
  • horsepower and torque
  • wheel horsepower
  • torqueTwisting force, measured in newton meters (Nm) or pound-feet. It describes how strongly an engine or motor turns, and how tightly a bolt should be tightened.
  • engineThe machine that burns fuel, usually petrol or diesel, to produce the power that moves a vehicle. It turns the energy of burning fuel into rotation of the crankshaft.
  • turbochargerA device that uses the flow of exhaust gas to spin a turbine, which drives a compressor that pushes more air into the engine. More air allows more fuel to be burned and more power to be produced.
  • fuel economyHow much fuel a vehicle uses to travel a given distance. In Europe and Turkey it is given in liters per 100 km; in the US it is given in miles per gallon (mpg).

More terms: Engine and Fuel Systems

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