The Lamborghini Gallardo has cost me dearly in the pub bragging stakes

“WHAT’S the most powerful car you’ve ever driven?”

There is, in the days when top speed is considered a bit un-PC, still a certain validity about asking what’s the highest amount of bhp you’ve ever handled from one engine. Well, at least there is if you’re two petrolheads and it comes down to pub bragging rights! If you’ve ever wondered what those strange three letters – bhp – stand for, then wonder no more.

The standard way we Brits measure power goes back way beyond the dawn of motoring itself, and hails from the days when James Watt needed to show the world how brilliant his steam engine was. One horsepower – which was always measured at the steam engine’s brake, hence the b in bhp – was equivalent to the work one pit pony could do. It’s a measure which migrated from steam to petrol and, as a result, has obsessed Top Gear presenters ever since.

Naturally, I’ve got my most powerful car to date clearly jotted down in my mental notebook – the Jaguar XKR-S Convertible, which I drove last year. Its 5.0 litre, supercharged V8 churns out no less than 542bhp. Which, in pony terms, means it's enough to keep a discount supermarket supplier in business for several months.

Unfortunately, that hasn’t been enough to stop me getting outhorsepowered by my mate. He was treated to one of those ‘try a supercar for a day’ presents for his birthday and, as a result, got given a Lamborghini Gallardo to play with for a morning. I’ve been outgunned – by eight piffling brake horse power – and he hasn’t let me live it down since.

There are, of course, less childish ways to express a car’s oomph. If you want to be intelligent about it there’s the issue of power-to-weight ratio, which is why said mate is hard at work cramming no less than 170bhp into an old Rover Metro, which in theory, should give it the same sort of punch – if not cornering prowess – as a Porsche Boxster. Then there’s the mysterious world of torque, which would take the next three weeks of motoring columns to explain properly but is why so many not-that-powerful turbodiesel cars are so good at overtaking.

Raw power, however, has a certain mine’s-got-more-than-yours childish appeal which still appeals to petrolheads (and probably explains why I like TVRs so much). The best thing about horsepower, however, is that you don’t need to be a motoring journalist to outgun Yours Truly.

All you need to do is get given a certain birthday present, turn up at your nearest racing circuit, and have a blast!

Geneva Motorshow: The Life On Cars top 10

SWITZERLAND'S biggest motorshow isn't just about shiny new supercars, apparently, although looking at some of the reports from this year's Geneva Motorshow you'd be forgiven for thinking it was.

But between the brand new stunners from Lamborghini and Pagani were a few cars you might actually be able to buy, so the new models* strutting their stuff were a brilliant - but mixed - bag.

Here's what Life On Cars is saving up for:

1) Suzuki Swift Concept S

The closest yet to a replacement for the wonderful Swift Sport Life On Cars tested last month. Here's hoping!

2) Lamborghini Aventador


The long-awaited replacement for the Murciélago, complete with a new V12 churning out no less than 700bhp. Worth waiting a decade for.

3) Jaguar XKR-S


Jaguar celebrates the 50th anniversary of unveiling the E-Type at Geneva with a 550bhp modern equivalent. You know you want one.

4) Aston Martin Virage


Right on cue is Aston's ripposte to the XKR-S, boasting 490bhp from the familiar 6.0 litre V12 and a name not seen since the company's coupes of the early Nineties.

5) Ford B-MAX


The Blue Oval's response to the Vauxhall Meriva, with equally clever rear doors.


6) Hyundai i40


What do you mean Korea can't do smooth and stylish? This sleek Mondeo rival bets you a fiver it can.

7) Alfa Romeo 4C


Straight in the footsteps of the 8C supercar comes this mid-engined, two-seater, rear-wheel drive Alfa sports car. Think of it as an Italian Elise.

8) Audi A3 concept


Not too sure about the saloon styling for the next A3, but the 408bhp V8's got to stay.

9) Range Rover "Evoque"


Not too sure whether this is what Land Rover meant when it was launching the smallest, lightest and greenest Range Rover model ever, but I like it anyway.

10) MINI Rocketman


As a former Mini owner this was the real star of the show, because it takes BMW's reinvention of the classic small car back to basics. I'll probably get panned by my fellow Mini enthusiasts for saying it, but I like it. A lot.

*The new models don't include Bertone's stunning B99 concept, which Jaguar has now said won't make production. Shame.

Read more on the Geneva Motorshow in the new Life On Cars Magazine, out this week.

Virtual insanity

CHANCES are that if you like cars, you’re going to love this clip!

Aside from showcasing the awesome spectacle of seeing a Jaguar XJ220 (world’s fastest car, for about five minutes) take on a Lamborghini Cala (would have been the 1990s Gallardo, had the Italians not bottled it) in a high speed battle on public roads, I actually got seriously nostalgic after spotting this film on Youtube the other night.

It’s the very same clip which loaded up every time I fired up my favourite car racing game.

Because the rather more real thrill of punting a go-kart towards a pit wall or hurtling along a country road in a hot hatch is infinitely more enjoyable than firing up a PC or Playstation, I’d almost forgotten car racing games existed, but I’m glad they still do. I’m just ashamed to admit that – 15 years later – I’m still hopeless at almost all of them.

The problem with almost all racing games when I grew up in the Nineties is that barely any of them bore even the closest resemblance to the real thing; Lotus Challenge looked like an LSD-induced re-imagination of Tron, the Test Drive series looked like it’d been designed by a class of eight-year-olds and TOCA ’97 featured interior shots of a square hand changing gear. While the rest of you were out there weighing up whether an MGF was better than an MX-5, this is what I got lumbered with.

Gran Turismo was by and away the best technically but it took an eternity of not terribly realistic racing to buy and tune up the really nice motors, by which point every other teenager had discovered girls and the benefits of social lives. In fact the only game I actually enjoyed playing was Sega Rally, which was ancient but had the Lancia Integrale in it.

That was until Need For Speed, which technically is just as bad as the others when it comes to making a Ferrari F355 look like a Lego design, came out. Forget the later Underground rubbish and go for the retro novelty, particularly with the police pursuit option in Need for Speed III with its suspiciously easy getaways and quaint regionalised police “commentary” which make even the most hardcore drives feel as though they’re being narrated by Mr Chomondley-Warner.

But my absolute favourite is Need For Speed II, simply because it came with a short film to introduce the stunning fleet of Nineties supercars lined up to star in. If I had to spend a night with any of the old car racing video games, it’d be that one.

Only I don’t have to, because another bright spark has put all those movies onto Youtube, and if you click the video below and get past the Lambo/Jag race has clips for everything from the Lotus Esprit to the McLaren F1.

Enjoy...