What's the difference between bhp and whp? Why do you lose more horsepower to the wheels?

ive never heard of the term "bhp" but im assuming you mean the hp at the crank... the difference b/w hp at the crank and whp is that when you measure hp at the crank, your measuring it straight from the motor (factory hp specs are rated by this measure)... while measuring it at the wheels is just that, measuring the HP put out by the wheels... well hp ratings are lower when measured at the wheels because the power has to go through the transmission and then out to the wheels... you lose hp in the process... lemme think of a metaphor... okay well pretend im punching a wall... if i punch the wall bare hand, it'll hit harder because the power came straight from my hand (kinda like measuring power from the crank) whereas i punch the wall with a pillow inbetween my hand and the wall, the punch wont hit as hard because the punch lost some of its energy when going through the pillow, (just like the hp coming from the engine, through the transmission and into the wheels)you get what i mean? i know this probably didnt make much sense... haha i kinda had a hard time wording this and explaining it through words... ah well i hope this helped you in a way...

Crazy analogy. but it really does make sense. Thanks for the explanation. I see the term bhp in magazines like Car and Driver and Sport Compact Car a lot. It stands for "base horsepower." It's the same thing as horsepower to the crank, but it's just quicker to say bhp :biggrin:

ahhhh bhp... i see now... haha... and im glad the analogy made sense it took me like 5 mins to think of one hahaha... :tongue:

so we're using the wall as the dyno, and then the fist as the crank? and then the pillow would be the rest of the internal structure of the car that power passes through to get to the dyno?... if that's true then bravo on the analogy

How much hp did ypu lose in the pillow? Just kidding man:bigthumb: