Glenn
Well-Known Member
http://www.epi-eng.com/piston_engine_technology/power_and_torque.htm
Do you agree with this guy's explanation?
Do you agree with this guy's explanation?
Think of it another way: In cars of equal weight, a 2-liter twin-cam engine that makes 300 HP at 8000 RPM (197 lb-ft) and 400 HP at 10,000 RPM (210 lb-ft) will get you out of a corner just as well as a 5-liter engine that makes 300 HP at 4000 RPM (394 lb-ft) and 400 HP at 5000 RPM (420 lb-ft).
In fact that artice backs what has aways been my "rant" on this subject...
Notice the two engines have the same HP numbers but very different torque numbers yet they are basically equal.:;
It's all about HP. Torque is just one of the variables to get to the HP.:cheer:
So in that sense we can hook up to a lightly modified pickup pushing 425 HP at the flywheel and it'll move 80k down the road just as good as the old volvo with a 3406E caterpiller that's rated at the very same 425 flywheel HP and they'll pull the same. Looks like we've been doing it all wrong and should junk the heavy turbo diesels that only get 6 MPG for ls series gasser V8's that'll get easily triple that! :cheer:
:haha: No ****ing way can a pickup move that kinda weight with ANY sense of speed or hill climbing ability. You're dreaming mang. :haha:
I agree that torque alone doesn't do a whole lot but when I have 1600 ft lbs of torque under my right foot and the pickup has 500ish I win every single time.
I run down the road at about 1600 rpm, peak torque is somewhere around 1400 rpm. You can gear a pickup all you like but it won't move that load anywhere near as well if it can move it at all. If you ran an infinite geared auto trans it would have half a chance but I don't see it being anywhere nearly as fast getting up to speed.
In this context, torque refers to the total amount of work that the 3406 engine can do, while horsepower is a rate-based measurement of how quickly the engine can perform that work.
In this context, torque refers to the total amount of work that the 3406 engine can do, while horsepower is a rate-based measurement of how quickly the engine can perform that work.
This pretty much sums it up as far as I can tell.
What's the "context" it's referring too?...But basically I don't agree with the first part. Torque isn't a measure of how much work a engine can do. The second part is right that HP tells how quickly the engine can do the work.....
Getting deep again but given that you can have torque at zero RPM. Think about it, how much work can an engine do at zero RPM?
So the race is on, car 1 has 500 HP and 525 ft pounds of torque and weighs 4000 pounds. Car 2 has 500 HP and 950 ft pounds of torque and weighs 4000 pounds
Car 2 will waste car 1 in a quarter mile
Torque will always win over HP in moving an object with equal parameters
This is why trains are electric over fuel, Industry uses low HP, low RPM, hi torque 3 phase electric motors