ferdestake is a german unit of measure but I forget the American
equivalent.
I believe ferdestake is equivalent of horsepower, but it could be a
measure of distance. I dont recall if it is one word or two - ferde
stake, and probably dont have it spelled right.

Hello acrobyte

"Pferde starke" is the German horsepower measurement you're thinking
of.

'Horsepower (PS)' is the way the German horsepower is expressed in the
conversion table I'm linking to below, while the horsepower
measurement for the English-speaking world is called 'horsepower
(HP)'.

The table includes:
horsepower (PS)   horsepower (HP)   0.9863  
horsepower (HP)   horsepower (PS)   1.014  

So - 
     to change German (PS) horsepower to American, multiply by 0.9863
     to change American horsepower to German (PS), multiply by 1.014

Scientific Conversion Table
http://www.petrik.com/PUBLIC/library/conv/conversionsFH.htm


There's an on-line horsepower to PS conversion calculator at:
http://www.mr2ownersclub.com/converter.htm




"PS is short for Pferde starke, the term for metric horsepower. Don't
ask - I haven't seen it used anywhere either, but if you want to
dazzle your friends, one horsepower is equal to 1.0139 PS."
http://www.canadiandriver.com/articles/jk/020327.htm

I found a BMW Z3 described as a "321 Pferde starke Z3 Roadster von
BMW" in this German article:
http://www.zeit.de/2001/25/Kultur/200125_l-beigbeder.html

'Pferde' means horses and 'starke' means strong, by the way.


I hope this helps. Please ask if anything needs clarification.

Regards - Leli


search terms:
pferde starke PS horsepower