When Power Feels Mismatched

The family car I used to drive was a regular-sized hatchback, but it had quite a bit of power. It climbed hills without a problem and accelerated well enough, yet something about it felt a little out of sync.

I’m no expert on how cars are engineered, but even I felt that all that power came at the expense of high-speed stability. (It was, in fact, considered to have good high-speed stability.) It was almost like watching a five-year-old try to sprint 100 meters with a massive rocket engine strapped to their back—their legs would just spin out. That’s the sort of feeling I mean.

A supercar or sports car may be engineered to stay balanced even with a lightweight body and a ferocious engine. But I wondered if that balance is harder to achieve in an everyday car.

The Volkswagen Golf

Later, a Volkswagen Golf joined our family. It had less horsepower than our previous car and was lighter, so I wondered if it would really be up to the job. What surprised me was that it felt just as powerful as our old hatchback—and it was more comfortable to drive, too.

On the highway, it felt planted. It breezed up hills, too. Nothing seemed wasted: the Golf made efficient use of its capabilities and delivered the stability, ride comfort, acceleration, and hill starts we needed.

Of course, there are many other factors at play, and the cars were from different model years and manufacturers, so it’s not quite that simple. Still, that was when I realized that more power doesn’t necessarily make a better car.

These days, I’m increasingly convinced that the balance between a car’s weight and its power matters a great deal.