Wow, Im actually kinda suprised at the number of you guys are totally wrong.

To clear things up.
In a race between a car with 100 whp/100ft-lb tq, and a car with 100 whp/200ft-lb tq car...

they would tie.

Torque is what you FEEL. So being in the second car would FEEL like you were accelerating harder, HOWEVER their horsepower is the same. This is what matters, horsepower by definition, is a measure of the cars ability to do work(aka, apply a force) over a distance. They are both applying the same force, and therefore accelerating at the same rate.

Torque, measured alone at the crank, has NOTHING to do with a cars ability to accelerate.