Torque vs. Horsepower. Which is more important?

[Ascendent]

And go.

Let's see how many people know anything about cars.

[MontelWilliams]

torque

i think, but idunnolol

yo, i got an 08 si braaaah

[Ochosiete]

torque, its what makes a car pull like a freight train ... my camaro makes more torque than horsepower

[Funds]

And go.

Let's see how many people know anything about cars.

single turbo mkiv supra or gtfo

[Pauly-Walnuts]

Very vague SSgt, are we talking drag racing, towing, top end, mudding, boats, tow offs, twisties,etc...

[GrokTheCube]

And go.

Let's see how many people know anything about cars.

That's almost impossible to state generally, without comparing two cars directly.

Area under the curve and gearing have a tremendous effect.

[zpaintballer]

ITT fast and furious knowledge

[Stripez]

i have a horse

[Pauly-Walnuts]

single turbo mkiv supra or gtfo

BBC and twin 108's, goo night ladies!

[Ascendent]

torque, its what makes a car pull like a freight train ... my camaro makes more torque than horsepower

Interesting. I make roughly twice the horsepower that I make torque, but still trap 120. There's no pulling going on with my car though.

[IVEverLow]

Very vague SSgt, are we talking drag racing, towing, top end, mudding, boats, tow offs, twisties,etc...

pretty much this.

A diesel locomotive has a total horsepower of about 4000. Yet it can still pull up to 200000 metric tons.

Torque by far is more important. Without torque, you ain't **** cuzz

brb accelerating to top speed of 30mph in .25 seconds

[Phaggotron]

Torque just because its generally more useful than horse power.... if you're going in a straight line race for miles, horsepower will determine the race... but quarter miles, twisties, ect... torque is where its at.

[Canadas_elite]

I'd say torque ....but it really depends on what you do with your car though...Im removing my block plate to get a bit more low end torque

[Ascendent]

Very vague SSgt, are we talking drag racing, towing, top end, mudding, boats, tow offs, twisties,etc...

Sgt, for now but thanks. Let's go with day to day driving, with the occasional "spirited" runs down the highway.

That's almost impossible to state generally, without comparing two cars directly.

Area under the curve and gearing have a tremendous effect.

Repped, because I typed almost exactly that in another post.

[midniteOG]

depends on what your doing.. towing, hauling, racing. there both important, but if your a ricer, then hp is better, but if you into muscle then tq plays role. into diesel performance? torque by far.

vague question is vague

[Pauly-Walnuts]

I'm a drag racer so I heart teh Tq. TQ gets you outta the hole and hp carries you on the big end. In DR'ing its all about your 60'ft so I build cars for TQ, the spray def helps my 97 Z28 get it down low.

[Ascendent]

depends on what your doing.. towing, hauling, racing. there both important, but if your a ricer, then hp is better, but if you into muscle then tq plays role. into diesel performance? torque by far.

Throwing the term "ricer" around makes you sound ignorant.

[dbluevette]

neither are important if you cant put it to the ground with some good sticky tires. Booya!

[BaSsSiKk]

Torque is great for standing starts off the line, bhp dominates top speed runs.

BHP sells cars, torque wins races. Usually get good torque off diesels.


(yes obvious)

[bustermac]

People with car knowledge will say Torque.

Honda fans will say HP because they have no torque.

[Idragmazda]

depends on what your doing.. towing, hauling, racing. there both important, but if your a ricer, then hp is better, but if you into muscle then tq plays role. into diesel performance? torque by far.

what does that even mean if your a ricer? ? ? ?

and for those who dont understand the concept of the torque/horsepower/rpm relationship, the reason why small engines make less torque is because they rev so much higher.

torque is directly related to engine speed.

if you make 800 hp @ 9000rpm your torque is going to be wayyy lower than if you make 800hp @4500 rpm

[bustermac]

Throwing the term "ricer" around makes you sound ignorant.

No, farting by my house with a Civic makes you sound ignorant.

[Pauly-Walnuts]

neither are important if you cant put it to the ground with some good sticky tires. Booya!

Mickey Thompsons 315 on a little 15" rim works for me, great answer!

[Ascendent]

I'm a drag racer so I heart teh Tq. TQ gets you outta the hole and hp carries you on the big end. In DR'ing its all about your 60'ft so I build cars for TQ, the spray def helps my 97 Z28 get it down low.

And here we are. Torque gets you off the line, horsepower keeps you going.

Kind of reversed for me and most small displacement engines with peak torque/horsepower being higher in the powerband. Sucks coming out of the hole.

[CLK-GTR]

id take a high revving, high hp, low torque engine any day

neither is really better though...just depends what its used for



and lol at those saying torque wins races. maybe someone should inform ferrari and mclaren?

[tacojuice]

Horsepower sells cars, but Torque wins races.

[jo_black]

Horsepower sells cars
Torque wins races

Or better yet horsepower is how fast you hit the wall and torue is how much of the wall you take with you. Since i like taking stuff i go with torque.

[Pauly-Walnuts]

So are you car guys into drag or auto X style stuff? PS a nice stall converter in an auto can do wonders for most cars.

[BigMatt302]

Horsepower is an imaginary number, it is a measure of torque. Look at every dyno graph, at exactly 5252 rpm the hp and torque lines cross.

[midniteOG]

Throwing the term "ricer" around makes you sound ignorant.

what does that even mean if your a ricer? ? ? ?

and for those who dont understand the concept of the torque/horsepower/rpm relationship, the reason why small engines make less torque is because they rev so much higher.

torque is directly related to engine speed.

if you make 800 hp @ 9000rpm your torque is going to be wayyy lower than if you make 800hp @4500 rpm

lol, before you "come at me" let me clarify, when i meant ricer, i meant like honda, mexi-stlye, big winged, body kit etc style.

basically what im trying to say:

People with car knowledge will say Torque.

Honda fans will say HP because they have no torque.