Is horsepower at the crank the same as horsepower at the flywheel? lol. I think crank hp is before it goes through the transmission then the wheels and all that.. basicly like the raw power the engine makes.. i think.
Then theres NET horsepower.. i think thats what the car dealers use
damn we're pathetic.. i would feel so stupid if someone asked me what it was
Horsepower at the crank or flywheel is how much power the engine puts out before drivetrain loss.
At the wheel is how much power it has at the wheels.
http://www.answers.com/topic/horsepower
Brake horsepower was a term commonly used before the 1970s in the United States, and is still common in the United Kingdom. It indicates the brake, the device for measuring the true power of the engine. Stating power in 'bhp' gives some indication this is a true reading, rather than a calculated or predicted one. However, several manufacturers started to strip their engines of essential ancillaries for the purposes of getting a high horsepower figure to use in marketing the car.
In the United States the term fell into disuse after the American Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) recommended manufacturers use "hp (SAE)" to indicate the power of the engine, given that particular car's complete engine installation. This may also be stated as "SAE net hp" or simply "net hp". The British market seemed not to need the correction.