Why do 1970's and early 80's Corvettes have such a lower horsepower rating?

[Kenny]

Looking at some of the 70's and early 80's Corvettes specifications I see that they had a significantly lower amount of horsepower than the 60's etc. I know that they had to meet emission regulations and other things so that cut back on the horsepower rating but are these Corvettes really THAT much slower than the earlier ones? Were they rating the horsepower differently or something because a 1969 had a h.p. rating of 300 @ 4,800 rpm while the '79 had a rating of 220 @ 5,200. Sorry, I don't know much about these old cars and I'm just trying to figure out if they are truly that much slower. Thanks. -Ken

 

[Barry White]

Skyrocketing insurance rates caused manufacturers to switch from measuring "gross HP" at the engine to "brake HP" in 1973, effectively causing horsepower ratings to appear about 10-20% lower. Additionally, added emission controls hurt horsepower ratings starting about the same time, and greater consumer interest in fuel economy due to the perceived gas shortage in the 1970's drove down the demand for high performance vehicles.

I hope this explains it for you a little.

 

[fst64_v8pwr]

thanks for the answer