how much power does a car lose due to aging

Dragoon · Aug 24, 2009

usually as the car gets old the engine produces less power, but exactly how much horsepower is lost after, say, 10 years or 100k miles?

Gas-n-Grease · Aug 24, 2009

WAAAY too many variables involved. how well was it maintained? was it abused? was it left outside often? etc.
You're basically asking how many licks does it takes to get to the center of a tootsie pop.

ikhaffaji · Aug 24, 2009

MUFASA · Aug 24, 2009

well the owl said 2 licks,

but yeah every engine will age differently.

06CivicSi · Aug 25, 2009

Wrong owl said 3 remember "1..2...3 CRAK! 3"

Klint · Aug 24, 2009

Good question .. so many variables but id like to know too.

cookci · Aug 24, 2009

dont see why it would lose any if it has been maintained 100%

Gas-n-Grease · Aug 24, 2009

^ piston rings wear over time causing blow-by (lower compression), carbon deposits, etc happens inside the engine no matter how well you maintain it. you're almost guaranteed to lose SOME power, regardless if your car has gone through all scheduled maintenance.

GSBoek · Aug 24, 2009

There's no clearcut answer to that. I guess it can be anywhere between 1-5% for a properly maintained car and between 5-25% for a poorly maintained one.

00toyogts · Aug 24, 2009

i am sure my 2000 GT-S probably lost 15HP.

Dragoon · Aug 25, 2009

that's what got me thinking. a 2000 GT has 140hp originally, even with regular maintenance and garage kept now it'll only produce what, 100hp? 120hp? with these numbers it's pointless to put any performance modifications on it, even with a turbo and whatever it's still easier to just get a new car.

Gas-n-Grease · Aug 25, 2009

You're all thinking about two different hp numbers. the 140/180hp that toyota states is hp from the flywheel. GT's should be around 120whp and GTS's around 160whp. 15whp is a huge drop from any of those numbers.

cookci · Aug 25, 2009

well mine still keeps up with equivalent (civic type r, leon FSI, golf GTI) low milleage newer cars with 100,000 miles on the clock

i dont think this would be possible with a 15whp loss

MUFASA · Aug 25, 2009

only way to really tell man is if you want to dish out 50-75 dollars every year to do a quick dyno run just to see how much power your losing,

but even a dyno result wont be very accurate, like my car will keep pulling and gaining more HP after every run until it starts to really heat up then drops and drops until im right back where i started which in all was a good 10 runs to reach max WHP and another 4 to see the same results from the very first run,

to many conditions man but 15 whp loss in 9 years could or could not happen, their are people who will blow an engine in 6 months man just ask my cousin.

GSBoek · Aug 25, 2009

10 runs on a dyno? There's no need to make that many runs.

cookci · Aug 25, 2009

a dyno run wouldnt prove anything either.

you would need to run it on the same dyno in the same condition before and after the 100,000 miles

At least a compression test before and after the 100K's might at least prove if any compression is actually lost

Antithesis · Aug 25, 2009

The silver lining would be this is a universal rule for all vehicles, not just Celicas. So all cars will depreciate in power over time.

Dragoon · Aug 25, 2009

that many dynos doesn't wear out the engine?

MUFASA · Aug 25, 2009

well it could but its a fresh engine from jdm land and its all for imformative purposes,

like people say just keep it moderate and dont stomp on it all day long only race when need be and you'll be fin dont worry about power loss

farhanali89 · Aug 26, 2009

not sure but i have heard its not that much obviously as components see more wear the engine gets weaker but not by much. Good products and regular inspections and services will pro long the life of the engine no doubt.

Overall its not a huge ammount but that just means its time for new components!!!!! when you do lose power woooo!

how much power does a car lose due to aging

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