Horsepower And Torque Whats The Deal
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stevieturbo
RMS Regular
Torque will let you chug along all day long. But without power, you'll never accelerate.
As simple as you putting a wrench onto a wheel centre nut. You could easily generate 1000lbft of torque with say a 200lb person standing on a 5ft long bar.
But the car is never going to move very quickly.
Or if you put say a motorbike engine into a heavy vehicle. It might have all the power in the world. But unless it has some torque, it's never going to move in the first place.
As simple as you putting a wrench onto a wheel centre nut. You could easily generate 1000lbft of torque with say a 200lb person standing on a 5ft long bar.
But the car is never going to move very quickly.
Or if you put say a motorbike engine into a heavy vehicle. It might have all the power in the world. But unless it has some torque, it's never going to move in the first place.
Lucy Fir
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Horsepower is how hard you hit the fence. Torque is how far you drag it into the field. 
SAMD
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BHP sells cars, torque wins races you mean
Yip, in Formula Ford world its, bhp sells engines torque wins races.
Brilliantly written stuff Stoney. Put as simply as possible and funny as well.
Cheers.
yamaharaptorturbo
RMS Regular
torque is where its at! for me, its all about the illusion of being fast!. after a certain speed, say 120mph, its not fun because it starts to get dangerous. so the fun part is getting there!. no replacement for displacement because big displacement usually means big torque, and big torque feels goooooood! add diesel to big displacement and you get mega torque that defys the laws of physics.... such as a 3 ton hillbilly pickup truck smashing the quarter mile faster than a yamaha r1 crotch rocket with much more bhp/ton. i love torque, its all about the illusion and that big acceleration surge u get when u floor it. im just not into stiring gears and screaming. lazy torque.com.
horses for courses, everybody has different preferences.
horses for courses, everybody has different preferences.
yamaharaptorturbo
RMS Regular
not sure, no one interested in dynoing it, prob scared it will break the dyno lol.
its claimed circa 750pounds feet to rear wheel, which isnt much in cummins world. one day i hope to have 1400 odd.
yamaharaptorturbo
RMS Regular
yeah and serious transmission upgrade too!
Mark_C
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Aye, but the R1 doesn't have to sit building boost - much faster in the real world.
A lightly breathed on sports tourer like a hyabusa or a ZZR1400 - and not much would see where they went.
yamaharaptorturbo
RMS Regular
of course, lol, but you are missing the point.
- Thread Starter
- #43
Sooooo, say your happy enough with the power you have. The only way to increase your torque would be via the gearing & wheels used??
I've lost everything after lunch to this thread!!
I couldnt tell you John Im still Lost. I guess I like to be able to see and touch things so forces as such are harder for me to grasp. But I certainly understand it as a twisting force now and some of the analogies above are very helpful.
svensktoppen
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BHP ~ Torque x revs
Torque is what creates motion. BHP is a measure of the energy generated in the process. Same torque at higher revs = more power. Two sides of the same coin.
Hence why ideal torque curve is flat, which gives perfectly linear power as revs rise.
Most diesels have a big torque peak low down, then dips fast, hence no point reving most diesels.
Most n/a petrols have a fairly flat torque curve, hence peak power at peak revs. More aggressive cam = less torque low down and more torque at higher revs = all the power at the top.
A turbo increases torque in the low-mid range, then drops off again. Hence normally no point revving the nuts off a turbo petrol either, mid range torque is the deal there.
Torque is what creates motion. BHP is a measure of the energy generated in the process. Same torque at higher revs = more power. Two sides of the same coin.
Hence why ideal torque curve is flat, which gives perfectly linear power as revs rise.
Most diesels have a big torque peak low down, then dips fast, hence no point reving most diesels.
Most n/a petrols have a fairly flat torque curve, hence peak power at peak revs. More aggressive cam = less torque low down and more torque at higher revs = all the power at the top.
A turbo increases torque in the low-mid range, then drops off again. Hence normally no point revving the nuts off a turbo petrol either, mid range torque is the deal there.
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