“There is an old hot rodder adage that says you can never have too much horsepower.”
Those are the words penned by Cam Benty within one of the earliest surviving copies of Power & Performance, dated October 2011.
He continues: “But in reality, ‘too much’ horsepower is probably just about right… No matter how much power the dyno reads out, there is this crazy desire to make even more.”
It wasn’t too long ago that making 500 horsepower put a car on the cover of a magazine. Seemingly overnight that figure was replaced with lust-for-power numbers that require a comma.
The performance industry is capable of delivering those astonishing figures to anyone willing to write the check, but the power escalation seen over the last decade tells us our modified cars need the drivetrain and suspension components to support it. You can bolt on nitrous, drop in a turbo, or add a supercharger, but nobody is talking about how to manage all that power or how to use it.
With the theme of monster engines and wretched excess horsepower playing a constant loop in everybody’s head, we love the concept of not being intimidated by a different path.
Past, Present, and Future
From its inception in 2010, Power & Performance has always supported the growth of the high-performance aftermarket industry and has always aimed to create technical content that is realistic and repeatable.
In 2014, Power & Performance strived to become a beautiful magazine that was enjoyable to read, yet still capable of intimately educating its readers with interesting, informative, and satisfying stories.
With an updated look that reflects our focus on late model performance vehicles, Power & Performance will continue to preserve and honor the legacy that has been built over the last decade as we continue to evolve, grow, and expand with the performance industry.
Throughout this magazine, there are car owners, builders, and writers who love what they do. From the late model CTS-V supercharged Cadillac to the drift ready Mustang, these cars are labors of love, each part selected and installed with the simple goal of achieving more pleasure when behind the wheel and managing all the power we want.
We believe interest comes when the unexpected is possible. Our goal is to help our readers be part of a scene, to touch a culture and create something inspiring. Stir in the added benefits of automotive instruction and information that can help you better enjoy your vehicle or the vehicle you hope to build someday, and you have what this magazine is all about.
Limitless Performance
There are many ways to go fast these days. Performance vehicles are no longer limited to the usual suspects such as Mustang, Camaro, and Challenger. There are a host of other vehicle choices with smaller displacement, higher-winding engines that are often boosted by power-adders such as turbos and superchargers.
No matter how high the horsepower numbers may go, there is a need for features to harness and use that power, while keeping the average driver from destroying their vehicle because they didn’t know what to do when the tires turned into smoke machines.
Performance is no longer limited to mechanical upgrades, we can now truly tune for drivability.
The Innovative spirit
Today’s automotive industry moves rapidly and performance trends within our industry are transitioning.
Enormous engine power is complemented by chassis parts that increase cornering and braking efficiency as well as safety. For those applications where the “support system” is not up to the task, innovation will rise.
Programmers and tuning software have allowed us to do things to our vehicles that were previously impossible, but have removed many of the easy mods that we could make ourselves. To be fair, much of that change was necessitated to meet emissions requirements.
Of course, we will forever love classic cars due to the nostalgia and simplicity of a bygone era, and there will be those who seek to get us ride-sharing to and from our work, but we all know – going fast is addictive.
It is an exciting time for us all. We will continue to romanticize the fun of car building and take our lovingly created machines to the track to see what they can do.
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