OV9

I think BHP is useful for working out drivetrain losses, but is no longer relevant otherwise..

Not sure I understand the distinction you’re making between BHP and HP. For a car they’re the same (unless you’re referring to something truly vintage with an HP rating based on the size of its engine). PS is just metric, but I prefer lb ft to Nm and I prefer miles to km so I’ll stick with imperial.

Isn’t PS just as silly as bhp - the power to lift 75kg to 1m or something daft? I guess that’s easier to use in calculations, but it’s still pretty random.

I thought hp ignored all the ancillaries on the engine, which doesn’t seem fair? i’m not clear on this though!

Presumably watts /Kw would be the most sensible units to use?

Or, just leave it. Everyone is familiar with bhp as a unit for measuring power in cars/engines. Not many people have to actually use those figures in equations, and if they do they’re probably bright enough to do the conversion - or it’s a click away online.

I’d prefer that we are metric wherever possible, but accept that I like miles and mph (although yards? Fuck off). I don’t have a major problem with km or kph - although I do the conversion in my head, so would be fine switching to those, and given that PS values are so close to BHP, I am OK with PS. I too struggle with nm though….

I’d be fine dropping pints too. I’d still say “want a pint?” Even if I was actually purchasing 500ml.

The more consistently and widely units of measure are used the better they are from a perspective of shared understanding.

Ideally it should also be based on a scientifically agreed standard rather than the length of Pinocchio's nose during winter solstice when he's just lied about farting. But that's my gripe with Imperial.

Yarp. And the fact that US pints are a different size to UK pints. And US gallons are a different size to UK gallons etc etc etc.

Everyone's arse-dyno (copyright mik) is calibrated to BHP, therefore it must stay.

Isn’t US bhp also different but very very slightly.

Kilowatts make sense and I think it’s the most scientific and worldwide measurement but the numbers look small so it doesn’t sit right with me.

As with anything measuring wise in this country it gets quoted in imperial and metric, so if you don’t like the bhp you can read the ps, and if you don’t like ps you can read the bhp

Same with mpg/ the 100km/l. I understand mpg. The other means nothing to me (ah Vienna)

(B)HP isn't a true measure really, it's a comparator...

I have no idea what 200 hp really means but I know 250 hp is better and 300 hp is better again...

jamcg wrote: Thu Nov 20, 2025 9:17 am
Same with mpg/ the 100km/l. I understand mpg. The other means nothing to me (ah Vienna)

That's mainly because it's an utterly utterly ludicrous metric, with a constant added in because someone realised that JohnQCitizen struggles with numbers less than one.

It's like deciding you don't like mph. But you don't like kph either. You'd prefer to see an expression of time required to cover a fixed distance, rather than a distance covered in a fixed time.

So 60mph = 96.56kph. Which is 0.01036 hours per km.

No hang on - that's a tricky number for displays.

So lets instead express it as 0.621373 minutes per km.

Hang on - that's a bit tricky too. But I really don't want to go for seconds per km, so lets go for the number of minutes required to cover, ermm, how far is it to my mum's house again? 42.7km. OK.

60mph = 26.53 minutes per 42.7km. (Realistically everyone will just say "mp42.7km" of course).

Perfect!

But how may football fields per season is that ???

DeskJockey wrote: Thu Nov 20, 2025 8:13 am The more consistently and widely units of measure are used the better they are from a perspective of shared understanding.

Ideally it should also be based on a scientifically agreed standard rather than the length of Pinocchio's nose during winter solstice when he's just lied about farting. But that's my gripe with Imperial.

The world would be a far more boring place if we standardised everything though. Different ways of thinking are part of being human. And the mish-mash we have (particularly us Gen Xers) isn't really a big deal to cope with is it?

And @mik you can Foxtrot Oscar if you think I'm giving up 12% of my alcoholic beverage for the sake of standardisation

Vive la différence.

Swervin_Mervin wrote: Thu Nov 20, 2025 10:09 am And @mik you can Foxtrot Oscar if you think I'm giving up 12% of my alcoholic beverage for the sake of standardisation

Pfft - an evening just consists of 11 rounds at the bar instead of 10, with each round costing 88% of the imperial price (And yeah we all know they'd all try to make 500ml 95% of the price of a pint, but you know what I mean).

They'll make 500ml 100% of the pint price...

mik wrote: Thu Nov 20, 2025 10:36 am

Swervin_Mervin wrote: Thu Nov 20, 2025 10:09 am And @mik you can Foxtrot Oscar if you think I'm giving up 12% of my alcoholic beverage for the sake of standardisation

Pfft - an evening just consists of 11 rounds at the bar instead of 10, with each round costing 88% of the imperial price (And yeah we all know they'd all try to make 500ml 95% of the price of a pint, but you know what I mean).

You could also look at this another way - it's one of those curiosities of British life that foreign tourists love - who are we to take that moment of them having their first "pint" away from them? Maybe they all secretly wish they could order 568ml of cerveza back home. You know, like when we go abroad and marvel at the cleanliness, the public transport working, the lane discipline on the motorways, etc, etc.

Swervin_Mervin wrote: Thu Nov 20, 2025 10:09 am

DeskJockey wrote: Thu Nov 20, 2025 8:13 am The more consistently and widely units of measure are used the better they are from a perspective of shared understanding.

Ideally it should also be based on a scientifically agreed standard rather than the length of Pinocchio's nose during winter solstice when he's just lied about farting. But that's my gripe with Imperial.

The world would be a far more boring place if we standardised everything though. Different ways of thinking are part of being human. And the mish-mash we have (particularly us Gen Xers) isn't really a big deal to cope with is it?

And @mik you can Foxtrot Oscar if you think I'm giving up 12% of my alcoholic beverage for the sake of standardisation

Vive la différence.

As a general statement I absolutely agree. For units of measure I don't.

i like our daft systems with every measurement specific to the context.

People height in feet and inches, but car height (carpark barriers) in metres.

Construction all in mm but property rented in sqft.

Fuel sold in litres but consumed in gallons.

etc…

I’m also a big fan of paper sizes…

A0 is 1 m2, then each size is halved with the width becoming the length of the next size down. Someone thought that one through!

I drink a lot in Holland and Norway.

I'm always disappointed in the size of glass when I ask for a large beer. It's like a lady beer.

I shall not be disappointed at home!

Unless we bring back the Flagon which is 10% morebetterness at 1.1 litres.

Or maybe a yard of ale.

Dave!