Fundemental car question

Capri306 · 10-03-2001, 12:44 PM

Just an FYI here:

Torque is the twisting force an engine -- or anything else for that matter -- exerts. For example, if I have a breaker bar on a fastener, and I apply 50 lbs of force (at a direction parallel to the tangent) one foot from the center of the fastener, that would be 50 foot pounds (or pound-feet if you like speaking an engineer's bass-ackwards English) of torque applied to the fastener. Just the same is happening at the flywheel, the wheels, etc. In fact I have some rather lengthy formulas to determine torque applied to the ground on a car if you know the engine's torque.

Horsepower is the ability to do work, which of course envolves time. Time is the crucial element here. One horsepower is the amount of work required to move 550 pounds one foot in one second. That is the very definition of it.

So to clarify, torque is that "push" feeling you get when accelerating, and horsepower is the ability to keep doing it over time...at least that's the way it works out mathematically.

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Capri306, Moderator, The Mustang Works Online

"PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!!!"

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10-03-2001, 12:44 PM	#1
Capri306 Moderator Join Date: Sep 1998 Location: Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA Posts: 1,001	Just an FYI here: Torque is the twisting force an engine -- or anything else for that matter -- exerts. For example, if I have a breaker bar on a fastener, and I apply 50 lbs of force (at a direction parallel to the tangent) one foot from the center of the fastener, that would be 50 foot pounds (or pound-feet if you like speaking an engineer's bass-ackwards English) of torque applied to the fastener. Just the same is happening at the flywheel, the wheels, etc. In fact I have some rather lengthy formulas to determine torque applied to the ground on a car if you know the engine's torque. Horsepower is the ability to do work, which of course envolves time. Time is the crucial element here. One horsepower is the amount of work required to move 550 pounds one foot in one second. That is the very definition of it. So to clarify, torque is that "push" feeling you get when accelerating, and horsepower is the ability to keep doing it over time...at least that's the way it works out mathematically. ------------------ Capri306, Moderator, The Mustang Works Online *"PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!!!"*