Originally Posted by toast
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.
wow, I don't know where you have gotten your info but shoot the bastard that gave you that idea.
acceleration by definition: the rate of change of velocity with respect to time; broadly : change of velocity
velocity=what we refer to as speed.
Torque by definition
Function: noun
Etymology: Latin torquEre to twist
1 : a force that produces or tends to produce rotation or torsion <an automobile engine delivers torque to the drive shaft>; also : a measure of the effectiveness of such a force that consists of the product of the force and the perpendicular distance from the line of action of the force to the axis of rotation
2 : a turning or twisting force
what you FEEL is acceleration, which is the rate of change in speed. acceleration is determined, in part by hp but mainly by tq. this is why honda's in general don't get off the line worth a shit ( my car is a honda). weight to hp and weight to tq ratio's play a part in the cars performance but all things being equal tq matters. the car that accelerates faster ( has more tq) gets to top speed faster.
the faster the rate of change in speed the quicker your speedo needle pegs out. if you can get to top speed before your opponent then while your at 125mph your opponent is still at 62.5mph, now stop accelerating and just sustain that speed. your at 125mph and they are at 62.5mph, it's not rocket surgery, who will win?
tq = rotational force, what are your tires doing? rotating. what is your car doing? going in a linear direction (hp). a car with 1000hp and 1lb ft of tq will take so long to get up to speed that you can go to lunch and not miss anything, however when it does get to speed it'll be a few hundred mph.
the opposite is true, a car with 1000lb ft of tq and 1 hp will have a top speed of like .5mph, but it'll get there so quick you blink and you missed it.