Torque

[Rickzayne]

I dont understand it...

from what i understand BHP is power
Torque is acceleration?

if i got my white remapped it will end up with 210lb ft according to the thread and only 120 bhp...

but my astra vxr i use to have was 240 bhp and 236 lb ft torque... so does that mean it would have similar acceleration?

-.-

[ZACK]

Torque Is The Pulling Power...

No It Wouldn't Have Similar Acceleration Becuase HP Does Have A Part To Play In Terms Of Engine Power - Which Aids Acceleration...

[DaveB]

What makes your car go is power, simple as that. Torque figures which aren't related to engine speed are meaningless as there is no time component. To illustrate this, try standing on a pushbike pedal with the bike stationary; you're developing lots of torque, but as the crank isn't turning you're going nowhere. Now try riding at low speed, firstly in a very high gear, pushing as hard as you can on the pedals, then in a lower gear pedalling normally. In the first case, high torque & low crank speed means low power, in the second case low torque & high crank speed means more power.

Talking of peak torque figures is meaningless - the figure must be related to engine speed. As a very general rule of thumb, the bigger the difference between max power rev/min & max torque rev/min the more flexible & easier to drive in real life the engine will be. However, modern engines with variable valve timing & lift, turbos,etc., tend not to conform to that generalisation, so figures alone are meaningless - take a look at the torque & power curves to get the true picture. The torque curve will give an easier-to-understand picture of how the engine will perform as the power curve will slope whereas the torque curve will be a more or less horizontal line, so it's easier to see the peaks & troughs.

Unfortunately "journalists" who don't understand simple mechanics have latched on to torque as it sounds more "technical" than talking about power; to make things worse, some idiot then decided that his readers were thickos who couldn't understand such an advanced concept so he decided to call it "pulling power". . . torque isn't "power".

[Bigfeet]

Anyway to look at it is like this;

Imagine your car is broken down on a hill and you have two mates with you, one is a burly ruby player and the other is the weedy guy from the Mr Muscle adverts. Both of them will be able to push the car up the hill it's just that the burly ruby player will have a much easier time of it with a lot less sweat and tears!

The force transmitted to pushing the car is torque, i.e the 'muscles' of the engine if you will.

[ZACK]

some idiot then decided that his readers were thickos who couldn't understand such an advanced concept so he decided to call it "pulling power". . . torque isn't "power".

Awesome Dave...

Torque Is A Force...

Pulling Force / Pulling Power It Doesn't Matter What You Call It I Never Said It Was A Power As Such I Just Used That Word To Describe It...

Im Sorry We All Can't Explain An "Advanced Concept" Such As You Can Here...

¬¬

[Owd git]

have a read of this when you're sitting comfortably!