Originally Posted by Orion ZyGarian

I personally define torque as how much the car actually pushes you back to the seat and hurts your neck if you try to resist it, whereas horsepower is how fast you actually will be going.

For example, an old pushrod 4.0 Ford Exploder...once you put your foot on the throttle, it rips the heck out of your spine, though you arent going very far very fast. Meanwhile, a car with a decent amount of horsepower but lacking a bit of torque will get going fast without you even noticing it or much force against you.

Theres always gear reduction though, as the first link pointed out. My MX5 for instance has a 4.1 or so rear end and 14" tires...it actually kicks you back pretty well until about 20-30 mph and it falls on its face. If you want more "horsepower" getting to the ground to go faster, put a rear end with a lower number and bigger wheels/tires on the car. If you want more "torque", get a higher number'd rear end and smaller wheels/tires.