what does torque feel like?

[Dattebayo]

I always figured its like my friend said once:the bigger the wham, the better the ma'am.

Kinda like cars almost.

[Jesda]

If I walk up and kick your ***, thats torque.If I keep pushing you through with my foot, its horsepower!

Experiment on your best friend.

[hannibal]

1) ok so what will a car with 1000 lb ft of tq and 200 HP do?2) and what will a car with 1000HP and 200 lb ft of tq do?

1) A torque-erTHis is like the freightliner engine c-kwik linked to. A relatively large displacement engine.That freightliner was a 7.2L I6 (1.2L per cylinder, 3 times the size of a B16 cylinder). Doesnt like to rev and has a relatively low redline. I doubt that 7.2L I6 revs above 3500-4000 rpm. These engines are designed for 'power' (pulling/hauling heavy loads. remember inertia, its harder to get a heavy object moving than it is to keep it moving) thats why they need high tq at low engine speeds.2) a rev-erThis is the F1 type motor with relatively small displacement (3.0 V10 => 0.3L per cylinder). Has to rev to make any kind of power.F1 motors regularly run up 15-18000 rpm. The motors are designed for speed, as compared to carrying a load. Think about 600cc 4 cylinder bikes. They make about 100hp at 12-15000 rpm but only 40 lb-ft of tq. A 750cc V-twin Ducati (bigger displacement, fewer cylinders) makes the same 100hp at lower rpms (8-10000rpm), but has lots more tq, maybe 60lb-ft)

Heres a MS paint dyno of both kinds of engines...torquer on the left, rev-er on the right

[red240ne]

I'll take my KA-T torque, thank you very much.

[MainEvent212]

screw all the technical stuff...most likely his friends dont know all this...

what htey MEAN is

"wow this engine is torquey"-translation-"this engine feels like it pulls hard right away"

"wow this engine is NOW torquey"-translation-"this engine lacks punch"

[dubstyles240]

wow i didnt expect to get so many technical answers, thanks for the info.

so in theory, we can just say torque is pulling force (towing force, and how much it pulls you back in the seat), and horsepower is how fast it can accelerate.

[C-Kwik]

no...As I said, torque is the force you feel. Acceleration is also a function of torque. HP is really just a different way of looking at the same thing. But the advantage of looking at a peak HP figure on a car is it gives you a broader view of the actual output. You can compare two motors much easier by looking at the HP figures. If you looked strictly at the Torque figures, you'ld know very little about the overall performance. I mean, if all you knew about a motor was that it had 1000 lb-ft of torque, would you be able to know how fast the car will be? Nope. With HP, regardless of torque output, you can make a pretty good approximation of how fast a car can accelerate.

HP is not a force of any kind. In a way, it's a measure of how efficiently torque is used by a motor.

[hannibal]

Wouldnt knowing hp at xxx rpm provide a much clearer picture than just peak hp value??

[C-Kwik]

No...because the torque output at the wheels at a given wheel speed will be the same anytime the HP is the same at that given wheel speed regardless of engine speed.

As an example, if you have 100 lb-ft of torque at 1000 RPM, that is 19 HP. If you have 50 lb-ft of torque at 2000 RPM, that is also 19 HP.If you use a 2:1 gear ratio on the second motor, the torque will increase to 100 lb-ft whild the outpt speed will now be 1000 RPM. This now ends up yielding the same exact output as the first motor and is still making 19 HP. Or to look at it another way, lets look at a motor that puts out 100 lb-ft of torque at 2000 RPM. This will have 38 HP. It still provides the same max twisting force as the first motor. But through a 2:1 gearing, it will have double the torque of either of the first two motors at the same final speed.

So, if you were to look at strictly the peak torque you would only know it's maximum twisting force. But looking at the HP alone would tell you more about the motor's ability to use whatever torque it has effectively. So what is the difference between 240 HP at 8000 RPM and 240 HP at 6000 RPM. Absolutely nothing. There are of course differences in the way the motor has to be designed to make thse kind of outputs,which can affect the HP around the HP peak, but at the peak power level itself, it is essentially doing the exact same thing. Well , as far as the wheels know anyways.

[C-Kwik]

Wouldnt knowing hp at xxx rpm provide a much clearer picture than just peak hp value??

I should clarify that my last post was only when thinking about the overall effect. Certainly, knowing the HP peak and RPM it is made at will give you a clearer picture of the type of motor you are dealing with(800 HP at 18,000 RPM would tell me it's a high revving motor), but I am only talking about what the difference will be at the wheels...

[IvoryJ30t]

basically.

get in a honda. hit the gas. its weak down low, but once the revs get up, it starts moving. low torque.

get in a vette. hit the gas. tires start spinning, and you get thrusted into the seat immediately. as soon as you hit the gas, the car starts pulling hard. high torque.

[hannibal]

As an example, if you have 100 lb-ft of torque at 1000 RPM, that is 19 HP. If you have 50 lb-ft of torque at 2000 RPM, that is also 19 HP.If you use a 2:1 gear ratio on the second motor, the torque will increase to 100 lb-ft whild the outpt speed will now be 1000 RPM. This now ends up yielding the same exact output as the first motor and is still making 19 HP. Or to look at it another way, lets look at a motor that puts out 100 lb-ft of torque at 2000 RPM. This will have 38 HP. It still provides the same max twisting force as the first motor. But through a 2:1 gearing, it will have double the torque of either of the first two motors at the same final speed.

So, if you were to look at strictly the peak torque you would only know it's maximum twisting force. But looking at the HP alone would tell you more about the motor's ability to use whatever torque it has effectively.

Good example, I gotcha now. Thanks!