The freedom to drive fast in a powerful car is fundamental to the mystique that auto makers use to sell cars. Now, as if the auto industry didn't have enough trouble, come more signs of a looming war on horsepower and speed.
The average horsepower for new cars has risen steadily since 1985, both in absolute terms and in terms of horsepower per 100 pounds of vehicle weight. A 1981 Honda Accord had a base engine with just 75 horsepower. A base model 2008 Accord has a 177 horsepower four-cylinder engine, and you can buy a six-cylinder model with 275 horsepower. As recently as the mid-1990s, that would have made the current Accord more powerful than a Cadillac Eldorado.
Meanwhile, motorists are stepping on the gas, especially since the demise of the national 55 mile-per-hour speed limit in 1995. the average vehicle speed exceeded the posted limit on freeways in eight urban areas monitored by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. (The cities were Albuquerque, Atlanta, Boston, Denver, Los Angeles, Omaha, Tampa and Washington, D.C. The Institute didn't visit Detroit, evidently. No need. We Motowners tend to view speed-limit signs as reminders of the minimum speed required to justify taking up space on the freeway.)