Torque vs. HP

[CaminoRacer]

Interesting read by Hot Rod.

http://www.hotrod.com/how-to/engine/hrdp-0401-torque-horsepower-guide/

[12,000 RPM]

For the street, give me torque any day of the week. For the track, HP, low weight and wide tires rule. Torque at the track is just more difficult traction management.*

*This is based on my experiences in Forza.

[CaminoRacer]

Your Forza experience is pretty accurate. Lower HP peaks can be good for tight autocross courses, but the longer the course the higher the HP range you usually want. That's why I do very well on small autox's compared to a lot of faster cars, since at the lower RPMs we actually have similar power. But they kick my ass otherwise.

[MrH]

For the street, give me torque any day of the week. For the track, HP, low weight and wide tires rule. Torque at the track is just more difficult traction management.*

*This is based on my experiences in Forza.

Treating torque and hp as two different things to choose between is a sure fire way to show you don't understand either

[12,000 RPM]

Treating torque and hp as two different things to choose between is a sure fire way to show you don't understand either

By "torque" and "HP" I mean a torque curve that is peaky and peaks early vs a torque curve that is flat and winds way out. Strange that CaminoRacer knew exactly what I meant; he must not understand the terms either, along with the drag racing, engine building author of the article and all the folks he cited.

Desperately scrambling for a "gotcha" moment in any kind of technical discussion is a surefire way to declare your chronic butthurt

[12,000 RPM]

Your Forza experience is pretty accurate. Lower HP peaks can be good for tight autocross courses, but the longer the course the higher the HP range you usually want. That's why I do very well on small autox's compared to a lot of faster cars, since at the lower RPMs we actually have similar power. But they kick my ass otherwise.

Yea, it all comes down to max average HP over the RPM range you will spend the bulk of your time in. That is why I really dislike wind-up motors on the street. Wrong tool for the job.

[Eye of the Tiger]

ummm, horsepower. torque on its own does not imply motion.

[Cookie Monster]

Yea, it all comes down to max average HP over the RPM range you will spend the bulk of your time in. That is why I really dislike wind-up motors on the street. Wrong tool for the job.

I love winding out motors on the street, as long as the power output is low. Winding out my friend's RX8 to 9k rpm in both 2nd and 3rd was just mesmerizing.

[MrH]

By "torque" and "HP" I mean a torque curve that is peaky and peaks early vs a torque curve that is flat and winds way out. Strange that CaminoRacer knew exactly what I meant; he must not understand the terms either, along with the drag racing, engine building author of the article and all the folks he cited.

Desperately scrambling for a "gotcha" moment in any kind of technical discussion is a surefire way to declare your chronic butthurt

You're grossly oversimplifying it.

Do you want a car with 300 lb/ft of torque of 150 lb/ft of torque?  Which is faster? 

Torque is meaningless without the context of RPM and gearing.

[Eye of the Tiger]

I always torque my lugnuts down an extra 100 lb-ft over spec. That extra torque goes straight to the wheels.

[shp4man]

Apples and oranges, gentlemen. Two different things.

[Eye of the Tiger]

Apples and oranges, gentlemen. Two different things.

More like apple seeds and apple sauce.

[CaminoRacer]

I always torque my lugnuts down an extra 100 lb-ft over spec. That extra torque goes straight to the wheels.

Genius

[12,000 RPM]

You're grossly oversimplifying it.

Do you want a car with 300 lb/ft of torque of 150 lb/ft of torque?  Which is faster? 

Torque is meaningless without the context of RPM and gearing.

No, you are overcomplicating it. It's pretty clear what was meant by the two terms in the context of the article in the OP. Did you read it?

[Soup DeVille]

I long ago concluded that this topic was meaningless to anybody who didn't understand calculus. It's a simple concept, if you have a basic grasp of math.

[giant_mtb]

HP = (RPM x Torque)/5252

There. Battle it out over some elementary algebra.

[AutobahnSHO]

torque is best experienced at an even level at a large rpm range   

[BimmerM3]

HP = (RPM x Torque)/5252

There. Battle it out over some elementary algebra.

*when Torque is measured in lb-ft, if we're gonna get specific.

[MX793]

Power = torque X rotation speed.  The rest is unit conversions.