The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk "Taxable" horsepower?

I was browsing through the information kit (from GM Heritage Center) on my 58 this evening and ran across a table that lists the "taxable horsepower" as 48 and the "advertised horsepower" as 137.

Anyone know what taxable horsepower is or was?

Apparently still in use in Missouri for tax purposes. It's based on the piston crown area of the engine.

It used to be used more widely and still is in many foreign countries. The formula is Piston diameter squared x number of cylinders divided by 2.5. It used to be pretty close to brake horsepower back in the very early days, but engine improvements increased the power over that rigid formula.

Yeah, I am seeing that. I was just reading the RAC derivation of that formula.

https://web.archive.org/web/20201124043924/https://www.designchambers.com/wolfhound/wolfhoundRACHP.htm

The concept is as interesting as it is wrong. Even back in the 50s those numbers were out of date.

When it comes to TAXES the concept or reasoning is almost always flawed.

It appears that the system of calculating taxable HP was based on very low compression engines. One of the extremely few times the politicos underestimated their ability to pick our pockets!
Jerry

Spent 6 months in Queensland. Bought car and the plates were taxed on the number of cylinders. Ours was a 6, dang. I wonder if they do that today.

On Okinawa in the 1970's, vehicles were taxed by engine displacement. A lot of cars and TINY 3-wheel pickups had 360 CC engines. Some of them were 2-stroke and left a trail of blue smoke half a block long in their wake!
Jerry

I've heard the term before ... maybe applied to aircraft engines ... ?

Could it also mean the HP (or torque) available to run peripherals like super chargers, pumps, PTO's, etc? i.e., What's left over after you account for the basic torque needed for the engine's primary purpose (moving the vehicle and supplying basic vehicle needs like the coolant, electrical system, fuel system, etc)?

Just a thought. Sometimes, engineers borrow words like that that most people associate with something completely different. While accurate, and usually not incorrect, it still doesn't mean what we assume at first glance.

Having been abused by engineers in such fashion during my 3 decades as an Engineer to English Translator, it wouldn't be the first time I've seen this.

Don't get me wrong ....

Do I appreciate engineers and what they do for society? Yes. Absolutely.
Do I enjoy working with, and for, engineers? ...

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I'll get back to you on that.

Engineers are highly intelligent people with absolutely no common sense. My youngest brother is somewhat of an anomaly- - - -he has a BS and an MS in electrical engineering, and a doctorate in plasma physics. He's also an ASE certified Master Auto Technician, a title he had long before he got "educated"!
Jerry

The concept of "taxable horsepower" was invented by politicians, not engineers. They used something simple that any "politician" could understand, with basic mathematics, rather than the slightly more complicated concept of brake horsepower that requires an actual test to determine.

Dragging engineers into the discussion and insulting them (us) is not warranted.

One of the most entertaining night classes I ever taught for Community Education with the Nashville Tennessee school system was a basic "do it yourself" auto mechanics course which met for three hours once a week for 10 weeks. When GM was about to open their Saturn assembly plant in Spring Hill TN, somebody in management decided to send five recent graduates of GM Tech (where they train their rookie engineers) to my class. Those four young men and one lady knew a lot about making cars- - - - -and virtually nothing about fixing them. Discussing auto repair from a flat rate mechanic's viewpoint was- - - -"enlightening"- - - - -their words, not mine!
LOL!
Jerry

Kevin ... it may not be warranted, but making fun of engineers is fun.

And I love Jerry's stories. Jerry!! Tell us another one!!


And FWIW, I'm a Scientist by education and degree (BS) ... a Political Scientist.

Yep- - - -poking the bear is no fun if you can't get him to growl occasionally!

When I was teaching at the vocational trade school level for the state of Tennessee, the assistant director came to my shop to ask for advice on how to get his truck started so he could bring it to my shop for some repair work without paying for a 25-mile towing charge. "It won't start- - - -I turn the key and nothing happens". I explained that sometimes the starter armature gets into a "dead spot", or the brushes get worn and fail to conduct. I suggested that he should tap the starter motor with a hammer while someone else holds the key in the "start" position. Two days later the truck came in on a wrecker. He said "That hammer trick didn't work"- - - - - -as he pointed to the windshield wiper motor with a bunch of big dents pounded into it!

The problem was a dirty battery cable connection! That guy ended up as the director of the school a few years later, after I had moved on to a better teaching job!
Jerry

But what if the bear gets really mad and bites you in the @$$. Not much fun then.

.450 Marlin Guide Gun? Just pulling your chain a little- - - - -"bartamos" is usually the one who gets his lacy drawers in a twist!
Jerry