torque and horsepower

[slimx]

Ok im just curious..

Whats more important to have..
What the proper definitions are (ive looked them up.. its just all technical shit.. im after practical one sentence answers).

and BTW, when installing parts.. how do u know whether it gives torque or horsepower?

[aaronng]

Horsepower is the expression of torque coupled with engine speed. Torque is measurable, while horsepower cannot be measure but is calculated from torque and rpm. So in essence, the parts give more torque, but at different rpm. The more torque at higher rpm, the more power.

[Cooker]

Both are important.
Torque gives you grunt/power, horsepower gives you speed.
Generally speaking a bigger displacement engine has more torque and has more power lower in the rev range so the engine at low revs will still pull quite well.
A small capacity high hp N/A engine generally has a low torque figure and low midrange grunt but it will shine in its top end speed.
A low revving engine generally has high torque but low hp and a high revving engine low torque but high hp in relation to its displacement.
What you want is the best of both worlds if that makes any sense haha

Mods that give power low or higher in the rev range depend on what engine as every engine is different.
Do you have a particular engine in mind?

[slimx]

lol so basicaly low torque: Top speed
high torque: Quick take off
??

In engines.. uhh just a standard vtec.. b18 one?

[slimx]

and if horsepower cant be measured.. how do they.. measure it at like Dyno's and stuff?

[WA-EG]

Ok im just curious..

Whats more important to have..
What the proper definitions are (ive looked them up.. its just all technical shit.. im after practical one sentence answers).

and BTW, when installing parts.. how do u know whether it gives torque or horsepower?

Sad to say but I don't think there is a simple sentence. From what I understand they are both as important as eachother and interlinked.

Torque is nice to have driving around town. Torque is what makes your car accelerate. It is the force applied by the engine turning on your driveline.

With smaller engines they usually require high RPM to generate power. But having to drive around at 7000rpm isn't the best on your car or for police attention.

Too quote another article that I have read "Torque is directly proportional to power".

As for installing parts. If the car is daily driver, go for bits to suit your needs. Most parts will give you an estimate of the increase you will get.

I know this is probably what you have already read but hope it helps.

Cheers

[Riced_Civic]

and if horsepower cant be measured.. how do they.. measure it at like Dyno's and stuff?

its like aaronng said its measured by torque and rpm then it gives u a read out of HP

[02gzm]

and if horsepower cant be measured.. how do they.. measure it at like Dyno's and stuff?

Torque is measured in either Newton Metres or Foot Pounds. Which is the amount of energy expended to rotate an object on an axis.

Horsepower/kilowatts are a calculation of torque and RPM.

Power = (Torque x 2pi x RPM)/Time


It's something you hear a lot about in physics.

[curtis265]

http://craig.backfire.ca/pages/autos/horsepower

Try this... helped me a lot, but i get confused still.

[trism]

torque is what you need to accelerate. The more torque you have, the faster you accelerate.

horsepower is what keeps pushing the car at the higher end of teh rev range.

thats why when you see dyno/power graphs, torque will start to die off early, but horspower doesnt start getting high until later on in teh rev range

[bennjamin]

Torque is what gets you there.
Horsepower/KW is what holds you there.




Larger the displacement more the torque. But gearing is a torque multiplier too

[slimx]

im after torque then, here in aus its pretty hard to get to 180k's and hsit lol unlike europe we dont got a unlimited speed limit lol. so i guess hp is still important but .. torque is take off.. power so i guess yeh.. lol

In my opinion take off is what matters here....
next car.. im gona grab is jst gona b 4 racing n shit lol. hopefully mid next year :) gona build up sumfn crazy.

thx 4 the help guys

[Riced_Civic]

i hope u dont do those 180kph run here, take that shit to the track.

if u do then dont come crying to us for sympathy when you get caught.

[integragsi96]

im after torque then, here in aus its pretty hard to get to 180k's and hsit lol unlike europe we dont got a unlimited speed limit lol. so i guess hp is still important but .. torque is take off.. power so i guess yeh.. lol

In my opinion take off is what matters here....
next car.. im gona grab is jst gona b 4 racing n shit lol. hopefully mid next year :) gona build up sumfn crazy.

thx 4 the help guys

yehh dont try it on public roads, stick to private or track, but if you have to do it on the road. try the putty rd, theres a couple of good striaghts and never seen a cop there

[aaronng]

and if horsepower cant be measured.. how do they.. measure it at like Dyno's and stuff?

As riced_civic explained. Also on dyno days, you get a dyno chart of power vs road speed. The road speed is directly correlated to the engine RPM. Of course, each car has different gear ratios and different wheel diameters, which is why we quote power "at the wheels".

[SHI-FTY]

to keep it simple:
horspower is how fast u can hit the wall
torque is how hard u can hit the wall

[redefine]

your butt dyno measures torque
but power is proportional to acceleration

[euromandeluxe]

http://vettenet.org/torquehp.html

good read that helps with understanding, if youve got the time