Torque or Horsepower

[nthfinity]

someone said 'both, SL65 AMG' or something to that nature

well, ill hand over to American V8's... high torque levels, and high power levels.

i do however, prefer more power then torque

[RC45]

^^^ this is the truth... most of our decent pushrod V8's have equal hp/torque ratings... maming the poll moot...

[caneswell]

There seems to be a lot of people here rather confused by torque and power!

Peak torque figures are completely irrelevant. You need to know the speed at which this torque occurs! Which funnily enough is where power comes in! As power is torque x speed.

So for example the modern turbo diesels boasting massive peak torque numbers, are funnily enough about as fast as their petrol counterparts with the same power to weight ratios. Because they don't rev high, the gearing required to get them to high speeds reduces the torque proportionally. Its this torque at the wheels which does the accelerating, not the flywheel torque. So ideally you want high torque at a high engine speeds, or power as its more commonly known!

Its a little more complicated when you have to change gear, but basically a wide power band is what you want.

As for BMW torque figures, see if you can find a naturally aspirated car engine with a higher torque per litre than a CSL. I challenge you!

[RC45]

OMG - now we have "torque per litre" :roll:

[ferrarif1fan89]

Originally Posted by SPEEDKILLAR Originally Posted by dani_d_mas Both... the Mercedes SL65 AMG... 8) Totally agree with dani Why choose, when you can have both in abundance.

because some of us prefer a house than a glorified mercedes-benz. my vote goes to power.

[mindgam3]

Originally Posted by RC45 OMG - now we have "torque per litre" :roll:

Well technically torque per litre is a better way of comparing engines than hp/litre, only in the form of BMEP - Brake Mean Effective Pressure. Which is how any engine engineer from rolls royce turbines to go kart two stroke would compare engines

[thekillingroad]

Originally Posted by caneswell As for BMW torque figures, see if you can find a naturally aspirated car engine with a higher torque per litre than a CSL. I challenge you!

Hell yeah...

And,

I'd prefer torque. but not as a diesel. ie
Definetely a Z4 3.0i than an S2000..

but, its not only torque vs power..
I'd also definetely choose an E90 M5 than an E55 AMG..
torque wins the race right.. but if only you have the race equipment haha

[Z3uS]

Horsepower

[beauty&fast]

Well, without horsepower one can't ever reach its top speed, and without torque it will never or take more time to accelerate. So one can't have without the other. But for small and economy car, it will more likely have more horse because it will reach to 60m/h at some time.

[ae86_16v]

HP is what sells, Torque is what you drive. . .

Or as my friend put it, "There is not replacement for displacement."

=)