Just to throw in a couple of other points. As you increase the power of the engine in, say, a Defender, you have the choice of :-
More easily breakable drive train
or
Higher gearing
or
Heavier drive train
or
Manual transmission not available.
Defenders are lower geared than most if not all of their competitors - and this becomes very important for driving over very rough ground or in confined spaces without slipping the clutch, but can only be maintained if maximum power is limited.
A completely separate question is whether for a given power you are better off with a small high boost engine or a large N/A or low boost engine. And the answer to this depends on what factors you rate most highly. The big advantage of the small engine is that it is invariably much lighter than its large capacity equivalent, and this translates into advantages in everything from ground pressure to handling to chassis and front suspension durability to tyre life. The large capacity engine in theory is more durable, but only if everything else is equal, which is rare - actual durability seems to be unrelated to this, more related to detailed design and manufacturing.
John
John
John
JDNSW
1986 110 County 3.9 diesel
1970 2a 109 2.25 petrol
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Originally Posted by PhilipA
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