Hp and torque

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A question: imagine you have something like this - 33.4 kgm @ 5100 rpm and 390 hp @ 7200 rpm. The maximum torque is the maximum power the engine can produce isn´t it? So at 5100 rpm will this car be producing full power? What´s with the horsies then? One other thing: once I saw a graphic by pupik showing the power to weight ratio. How do I calculate that?
 
Warning: I'm not an expert...

Torque is a measurement of the work the engine can do. Think of torque as the power required to move a car from a rest. You'd prefer that to be in the lower end of an engine's rev renge, since that's the point when the car just starts to move.

Well, the best acceleration is achieved when the torque curve is towards the bottom of the rev range. According to Newton's 2nd Law of Motion, an object at rest tends to stay at rest, unless moved about by another force. So a car at rest needs torque to get it moving from a rest. It also states that an object in motion tends to stay in motion, unless halted by another force (wind resistance, gravity, brakes, et cetera).

Push a heavy object on wheels: at first, it seems difficult, but once it's moving, it's a lot easier to keep it going at a constant speed. You can increase the speed by adding more power. Think of torque as the initial power required to keep the car moving (as with hp, higher is better, especially at lower rpm's).

I calculated those graphs using Microsoft Excel. You can make your own calculations of power to weight ratio by:

weight in pounds
max. horsepower

...very simple. I told Excel to make graphs with a realtionship of car names and their ratios.

I've wanted to make a table and graph of torque data, but i just don't have the time right now.
 
Then a car can have a high torque (thus acceleration), 600hp for example and still be slower (top speed and higher gears) than a car with lower torque and higher hp? **** I just tested almost every freakin car in GT2 using best torque/ lowest weight as the main priority :banghead:
 
Um, maybe.

Let's just say that some cars just seem to run out of steam if they are overweight, and don't have a good bit of torque where it counts.

The Mazda Cosmo Type-E, Jag XJ220, Mine's R33-34 act as if they're out of steam when you want to pass other cars. Many others, too.

And some cars use it to their advantage. Like the Vector W8 Twin Turbo; very heavy, but loads of power and torque!

Try driving a car like the Calibra TC or the Alfa TC around Seattle short, you've really got to tighten the gears and shift like mad because the max torque and max power is way up in the high revs of the engine.

Try a top speed contest with the Espace F1, look at the stats and you'll see.
 
Thanks it´s just... man I´m not gonna test everything all over again . Anyways the ones I choose for my garage are (almost) always the more beautiful ones... and since I can tell you also have a good deal of experience in gt2 i´ll - from time to time - ask you - and other gt members - about your conclusions in certain models cause sometimes numbers aren´t everything some driving experience is also required
 
Higher hp always wins.

Bu two identical cars with the same hp but different torque will perform differently when the gradient of the road changes. The car with the higher torque will go faster when climbing up a hill.
That why 4WDs need torque and can easily beat a S2000 up a slope.
 
Another doubt - will HP and torque always tell us the speed and acceleration of the car. I don´t know if there´s such a situation but I guess there must be something similar so imagine I have two cars with same HP torque drivetrain weight etc. but one has a 3.5 V8 and the other has a 6.0 V12 - will they have different power ?
 
hmm about the heavy cars, i went and baught a whole new skyline r34 v spec because the previous one i had had all the weight reduc done to it, and was flying everywhere. But with the new one i didnt do any weight reduction because itis my theory that i can get better weight transfer to initiate a drift. This a good idea?
 
The weight reduction can be followed by race mod and then you can play with aerodinamics to make it more stable. I know just what you me by "flying everywhere" but if you use LSD and some suspension work as well you´ll get it fixed although a heavier skyline will probably drift in a more constant way but I wouldn´t know about that.
My GT-R34 is all loosen up no LSD no nothing :D

But you know aside all stability bull if you want to drift with him just use that sidewinder ;)
 

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