Wall Street Journal reporter Joseph B. White sees a growing tension between the insurance industry’s desire to stem losses and the car industry’s desire to give their consumers ever more horsepower and performance.

Consider that a 1981 Honda Accord had a 75 horsepower engine. Today’s Accord packs 177 horses.

Not surprisingly, with faster cars has come more speeding, and with more speeding, more frequent—and heftier—insurance claims.

The Highway Loss Data Institute recently released the results of a study that compared the collision losses from a 140-horsepower Pontiac Grand Am to a 260-horsepower Nissan Altima. The losses for the Altima were 20 percent higher than for the Grand Am.

The unfortunate result of increasing horsepower has been higher insurance premiums for everyone (not to mention dangerous highways).

Is it time to reign in the muscle car?

Hat tip: Autopia