The Horsepower Race

You’ve heard me talk about how the Obama administration’s recent change to the Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards (CAFE) will impact the collision-repair industry. In case you need to jog your memory: In late 2009, President Obama announced an aggressive mandate requiring all new cars and trucks to achieve 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016 (an average of 39 mpg for cars and 30 mpg for trucks), cutting four years from the previous regulation timetable. Although this change will vastly affect vehicle construction—particularly vehicle size—it snuck under the radar and went unnoticed by many.

There’s another major change that also needs to be brought to the forefront, as it too will no doubt have a far-reaching effect on the industry—the cutthroat horsepower race between vehicles on U.S. roads. Horsepower has come a long way in a fairly short amount of time. When I worked at a detailing shop in high school (ok, so maybe not such a short timeframe), I had the privilege of detailing several exotic cars. I have always been a James Bond fan (what car buff isn’t), so when an Aston Martin DB5 came into the shop, I loudly raised my hand to be the first to volunteer to work on this beauty.