What does it mean?

[missprim]

I've had the same car for years but couldn't tell you much about it as I don't know.
It has got me from A to B and that's all I was concerned about.

However, I am going to change it this year and feel I should know more about certain things for instance,

What does Brake Horsepower mean? Of the cars I am looking at, one has 123 and the other 96.

Also CO2 (g/km)? one has 165 and the other is 154.

If you can explain to me please pretend you are telling an elderly lady ;-)

[Old_Geezer]

All I know is you want as much power as you can get and as few emissions as possible.

[bednobs]

bhp is the power "grunt" your car has - the equivalent of 123 horses or 96 horses in this case
co2 is the carbon emissions - lower is better

[chrissa1]

Higher brake horsepower means guzzling more petrol.

[missprim]

Sorry you will have to explain better than this.
Are you saying the car with 123 will make loud grunting noises and use a lot of petrol so 96 is quieter and uses less petrol?
I think I get the carbon emissions but lower is better for what?

[bednobs]

better for your carbon footprint, better for the world, better for your conscience, better for your road tax bracket
no i do not mean grunting noises, just that 123 BHP will be more powerful than 96 BHP

[kawakiri]

What car do you have at the moment?

[missprim]

Ford Fusion.Am looking at perhaps a Kia Venga or Nissan Note.

[lunaraine]

Www.whatcar.co.uk or 'Which?' if you have a subscription, are both very helpful. The lower the emissions figure generally equal lower fuel consumption. Also diesels tend to be more efficient than petrol.

[missprim]

I think I'm sort of getting the hang of it but would still like it explained more.
In the figures that I've quoted, would there be a huge difference?
If 123 BHP is more powerful than 96 then I would go for the more powerful but if the emissions are more in the more powerful of the two then would it be really bad of me to go for that one?

[Graham-W]

Both cars are in the same road tax band for emissions so road tax would be £165.00 per year.
The 123 bhp car would have better acceleration (and possibly top speed) than the 96 bhp one. Actual fuel consumption will depend how hard you drive them.

[Prudie]

Having just had a bad time myself I'd say as long as the emissions are low enough to comply with the MoT limits I wouldn't care what they are, certainly not as a reason to choose between cars.

[sunny-dave]

The link between power (bhp) and emissions is by no means a simple one.

A more 'powerful' car that is driven sensibly and well within its capabilities can often return more miles per gallon (and thus have lower emissions) than a smaller engined car which is having to work hard to maintain acceptable road speeds.

[Andyvon]

Hi Missprim,

BHP is simply a measure of the power of the engine. A car with 123 bhp is more powerful than one of 96bhp. That might be important if you want to drive hard or are cruising long distances on the motorway but not if you just want a car to potter around town and cruise along at 56mph on the A roads. However, the more powerful a car is (the larger the engine size which is generally reflected in the bhp) the more expensive it is to own - road tax will be higher as will the insurance.

The CO2 levels are a measure of the pollution emissions coming from your exhaust. Vehicle engines must be in sufficiently good condition that they burn fuel to acceptable environmental standards. The lower the CO2 figure, the cleaner burning and better serviced is your engine. The higher the figure the more the engine is worn or poorly serviced. It's only something to consider at MoT time as the car will fail if the emissions are too high.

The CO2 figures you give are quite good. At the end of the day every fossil-fuelled car pumps out very nasty poisons from the tail pipe. If you run a hose pipe from the exhaust of any modern car to the interior you'll die just as fast as you would in a car that's fifteeen years old! It's rather meaningless when people say one car is 'cleaner' or 'greener' than another. Anyone seriously worried about the environment rather than just saying they are would walk or go around on a pushbike! The emissions levels only really matter at MoT time.

In short, the car with lower emissions and less power will be cheaper to own (fuel, tax and insurance) than a more powerful car. I hope you find the car you are happy with. Good luck.

[gingejbee]

I choose a new car on the way it drives, interior space, looks, equipment, reliability etc etc - certainly not on numerical specifications.

[missprim]

Thanks for all your answers you have all been very helpful in making my decision.

[sunny-dave]

I wouldn't touch a diesel with a very long pointy stick - they are (at last) tightening up on 'dirty diesels' and it could get very expensive to get a diesel through the MoT test in years to come.

Also the previous artificially low price of diesel is rising to its correct level *above* the price of petrol and so the cash savings from extra mpg will be cancelled out by the higher cost of fuel as well as more expensive servicing/MoT

[seadogg]

To understand bhp imagine having a horse harnessed to the car. Now add another with the same pulling power as the first and you have doubled it. Two horses eat more hay than one so it will cost more to run. How many you need depends on how many people you wish to carry and how fast you want to go.

Now you can pop into the local reference library and compare cars in the Which Motoring that they uusually have.

[Andyvon]

To add to Gingejbee's post -

I only buy a car when I'm happy with it's condition. You should know what criteria you are looking for (size, function etc) before you go to look at a vehicle. If the engine is good and there is no rust then you can't really go wrong as everything else is an easy fix (for someone who knows cars and can work on them).

For you Missprim I would advise you only buy a car that's just passed it's MoT. In general, a car has to be in very good condition to pass a modern MoT as they are now very tough and all the 'old bangers' have long gone.

[Graham-W]

seadogg. Not always true. Two ponies may pull a car faster than one shire horse and eat less hay. Also they may have less emissions ;-))

[kawakiri]

Ford Fusion 2003 1.6 has figures of 99.2 bhp and 160g/Km.
Just so you can compare, that is if that is the Fusion you have.