How come everyone cares about HP? Isn't it Torque that gets you down the track? I thought the person who could make torque on the top end wins? Doesn't the dynomometer measure HP based on torque? <img border="0" alt="[guns]" title="" src="graemlins/gr_guns.gif" />

 

HP and Torque numbers are just bragging numbers. It's only track E.T. that means a damn thing. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="gr_grin.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="gr_grin.gif" />

Andy

 

You can make up for a lack of engine torque by driveline torque (big gears, big torque converters). If you turn a lot of rpms, and then get the torque with gearing, you'll go fast.

J.

 

The argument really means nothing. HP is a funtion of torque. Torque is the actual force of "twist" from the crank while HP is that force per unit of time. Just try and make the most torque for any given RPM an you have done your job. Try and make the most HP for any given RPM and you have also done your job. You've done the same thing in either case. That's why it is important to see the entire power and torque curve to really know the "personality" of an engine. It is usually when people infer or draw conlusions base on a peak HP or TQ number that they get into trouble.

Shane

 

Well, this is my take on it, Torque is work, work = force and horsepower is mearly the work speed calculation. We throw around the word "horsepower" as a loose interperatation to give examples of the relationship that HP has to TQ but isn't the whole story all the time. I guess what I am really saying, is that when people ask for more hp, they actually want more torque. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="gr_stretch.gif" /> . Everything that has to do with running the quarter mile is mostely torque derived...some examples, Torque converter, STR's and torque mulitplication through gear ratios, NOS makes more tq than it does hp, blowers make more torque than hp, torque arms breaking the lower your ET's gets. it's not hp directly that breaks things, it's usually torque.
Joe.

<small>[ June 09, 2002, 03:10 PM: Message edited by: JPR ]</small>

 

Look at a Grand National Dyno sheet... Typical numbers from a basic "Tweaked" stock low 12 second GN will be like 300hp and 540lbs of TQ but most people dont even really know what they are looking at when they see a dyno sheet anyways.

TQ is my Friend <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="gr_stretch.gif" />

 

i know all about buick torque <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="gr_grin.gif" /> driving the buick is a whole different animal. But what i dont understand is you have theese high HP H/C packages with the torque just barely breaking 400. And then you have theese low buck packages with 410 in the torque department. I guess it really has to do with how flat the toruqe curve is for each package.

 

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by Air21:
<strong>How come everyone cares about HP? Torque I thought the person who could make torque on the top end wins? Doesn't the dynomometer measure HP based on torque? <img border="0" alt="[guns]" title="" src="graemlins/gr_guns.gif" /> </strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Torque on the top end basically is HP.

With 2 cars...If you have the most torque on the top end then you have the most hp.

Basically tourque is how hard/force the crank twist. And HP is just tourque at a given RPM.

The harder the crank twist(more force) at higher , or a certain Rpm the more HP you have.

For instance, if you still have 558 ft lbs at 5000 rpm, then you would be making more HP than a car that makes the same 558 ft lbs at 3500 Rpm given if you could keep your tourqe higher thoughout the whole range.

(Which in this situation you most likely would unless the tourqe just fell of REALLY HARD after that point and the other car could hold it's tourqe longer.)

<small>[ June 10, 2002, 12:55 AM: Message edited by: Rpm2800 ]</small>

 

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by XtraCajunSS:
<strong>The argument really means nothing. HP is a funtion of torque. Torque is the actual force of "twist" from the crank while HP is that force per unit of time. Just try and make the most torque for any given RPM an you have done your job. Try and make the most HP for any given RPM and you have also done your job. You've done the same thing in either case. That's why it is important to see the entire power and torque curve to really know the "personality" of an engine. It is usually when people infer or draw conlusions base on a peak HP or TQ number that they get into trouble.

Shane</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">WOW! I seriously couldn't have said it any better. That brought tears to my eyes. This is all that needs to be said right here, folks. Good job, Shane.