That's actually a very good question. cm
_____ From: John Ward [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, February 03, 2008 20:58 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: U.S. Metric Association Subject: Re: [USMA:40364] Re: No more 'horsepower' on small engines in USA In this case, then why aren't television and computer screen sizes marketed in centimeters? Carleton MacDonald wrote: It's the same reason why Canadian and UK merchants still want to promote pricing by the pound. The horsepower is smaller than the kilowatt. So if you can advertise your car in horsepower, the number is bigger. Size matters. The pound is smaller than the kilogram. So if you can advertise your apples or steak by the pound, the price is smaller. Size still matters. It's all about marketeering. Carleton -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Ziser, Jesse Sent: Sunday, February 03, 2008 16:16 To: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA:40360] Re: No more 'horsepower' on small engines in USA Hmm... poundal-acre-fortnights per gry-year, perhaps? (1 PAFPGY = 0.0489 N m) I doubt we'll see engine power in sane units in the US for a long, long time. "Horsepower" is a compound of two "manly" words, besides which automakers seem to benefit from tricking their customers into thinking that the car is literally the equivalent of so many "horses", even to the extent of advertising using that word. Too bad it's a lie (1 HP is not the power produced by one horse). --- Remek Kocz <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Judging by this article, though, it looks like they're doing the next worst thing: torque. I'll let you take a guess what units they'd standardize on. Hint: it's not newton meters. Remek On Feb 1, 2008 7:33 PM, Michael G. Koerner <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: From the 2008-02-01 Milwaukee, WI Journal-Sentinal (ran on the front page below the fold): http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=713480 "Seems the term, 'horsepower' is going the way of the buggy By RICK BARRETT [EMAIL PROTECTED] Posted: Jan. 31, 2008 When you buy lawn and garden equipment this spring, a familiar old term - horsepower - will be missing from many engines. Blame it on lawyers, or engine makers who might have fudged the numbers, but horsepower is no longer the gold standard for small gasoline engines. Sears, for example, now advertises some lawn mowers rated by horsepower, others by torque, and still others by cubic centimeters. And some mowers have no such designation at all. "Unfortunately, we are not giving consumers the answers they want," said Bill Rotter, an owner of National Ace Hardware stores in the Milwaukee area. There's no longer a horsepower rating for many Briggs & Stratton engines. Last year, Briggs chose torque as its rating system for push mowers, snow throwers, pressure washers and generators." (See link for rest of article) No mention of watts, but it appears to be a start. -- ___________________________________________ ____ _______________ Regards, | |\ ____ | | | | |\ Michael G. Koerner May they | | | | | | rise again! Appleton, Wisconsin USA | | | | | | ___________________________________________ | | | | | | _______________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ
