"Horsepower wars" might be the most overused phrase in automotive journalism (aside from "award-winning 3-series"). Like most abused terminology, it's a little inaccurate, reflecting some laziness on the part of the user. In a war, there are battles; there are strategies, movements, fronts. What we've been experiencing since the late 1990s is more of a horsepower revolution, a wholesale overthrow of slow by maniacal power mongers. It doesn't matter what type of car you're building or what segment of the market you're playing in, there's ludicrous horsepower everywhere. (Go ahead, check the bottom of your shoe. Aw, you stepped in horsepower.)
When faced with the staggering number of humongous-horsepower cars out there, 400 ponies almost seems like too little to care--until you consider how fantastically thrilling that output can be. Including body-style variants, there are almost 60