Many family cars are now too powerful for their own good
News reporter Ellis Hyde explains why it’s wise to consider whether your next car might have too much power for its own good
Back in the eighties, if you were after a car with serious power – let’s say, more than 400bhp – you needed Porsche, Ferrari or Lamborghini amounts of cash. Nowadays though, average family cars can deliver a similar amount of grunt, and I don’t know how to feel about that.
On one hand, I enjoy the idea of a car that costs about as much as a base-spec BMW 3 Series being able to keep up with a Lamborghini Countach away from the lights. But I don’t think anyone actually needs a family runabout that’s as potent as a jar of moonshine brewed under their sketchy cousin’s sink. The issue is that some of these cars simply are not equipped to handle the grunt they’ve been given.
The BYD Atto 3 EVO is a perfect example of this, because the fairly ordinary SUV that previously produced just 200bhp was recently given a whacking great 443bhp, plus 560Nm of torque – that’s more than a Porsche 911 Carrera – yet the suspension and brakes on this flagship car are the same as those on the base 303bhp version, which doesn’t inspire much confidence. Neither does the way the car handles, because while it is relatively comfy, it leans quite a bit through corners, the ride is unsettled and wallowy, and the steering is vague.
Similarly, the Chery Tiggo 9 has 422bhp and feels rather clumsy on a twisty road because its chassis struggles to cope with so much power. The ludicrously quick 429bhp MG4 XPower does get some suspension upgrades compared with regular versions, but also feels like a bit of a loose cannon as it fires you into the next county.
This phenomenon is not just confined to Chinese cars, however. The dual-motor versions of the Volvo EX30, EX40 and EC40 are astonishingly quick, but I think the amount of power they have is over the top.
It comes down to a matter of trust. For a long time, we didn’t trust a Ford Mustang to go around corners as fast as a BMW M3 and, for me, it’s the same with these cars. I’m always more tentative behind the wheel of one of them because I’m not sure what might happen if I approach a corner at the great speeds they can so easily reach.
And with these cars being so fast, drivers who have never had access to so much firepower can easily find themselves going way beyond the speed limit without even trying. A 400bhp+ family car sounds like a fun idea, plus it’s great the first time you launch it. But you might not feel quite so clever after your third speeding ticket.
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