torgue..

[aaron_3719]

Is it the more lbs of toque, the better or less torque is better?

 

[bengee]

more pounds of torque... toque is force times moment arm... which means that me more pound feet or newton meters you have of it the more force is being applied to your wheels and the great your acceleration will be...

 

[Bollocks#999]

...not to mention wheelspin as well
Dodge Viper = Heaps of Torque

 

[Vasco]

Yeah, most of the big block V8s have a crapload of torque in them, waiting to be unleashed...

 

[Famine]

Torque is a myth - very much like the Loch Ness monster. In fact, it's a global conspiracy perpetrated by car mechanics - they tell us that the more ftlbs/kgm/Nm of torque there is, the better a car is. However, no-one actually knows what torque is, or does.

However, I found out that, if you were to extract the "torque" from an Aston Martin V8 Vantage, you could spread it an inch deep over an area the size of Belgium.

 

[BadBatsuMaru]

Torque itself isn't a very tangible concept, but it's a good indicator of how much balls an engine has. I poked around at fantasycars.com for a few examples.

Look at an S2000:
2.0L engine
240 hp @ 8300 rpm
153 ftlbs torque @ 7500 rpm

That's a good indication that the car has a pretty weak power band, and it's true. You have to wind it up to 8300 RPM to get peak power.

The real Gillet Vertigo:
2.0L engine
217 hp @ 6250 rpm
214 ftlbs torque @ 3500 rpm

Now that shows that the Vertigo is much more friendly. It's not tuned for a huge amount of peak power, but it has a good low end for a 4-cylinder.

Subaru Impreza WRX STi:
2.0L engine
280 hp @ 6400 rpm
275 ftlbs torque @ 4000 rpm

The Impreza has always got good torque from its flat-4 engine, and even when they only sold low-power ones, Subaru fans still raved about how wonderful it was to drive the car because of all the torque. It just drives more like a car with a big strong engine than your average twitchy high-strung 4-cylinder.

Original Viper
8.0L engine
400 hp @ 4600 rpm
450 ftlbs torque @ 3600 rpm

Dodge Ram 2500
8.0L engine
310 hp @ 4000 rpm
450 ftlbs torque @ 2800 rpm

Dodge Ram 2500
6.0L High Output Diesel
245 hp @ 2700 rpm
505 ftlbs torque @ 1600 rpm

The Viper's got so much torque you could probably start in 3rd gear without burning the clutch. Its V10 was originally from the Dodge Ram, but the truck was tuned entirely differently for low-end torque. The diesel doesn't have much power at all, but that much torque at 1600 rpm is just insane -- it could probably pull about 50 tons idling.

2003 Bugatti Veyron
8.0L W-16
1001 hp @ 6000 rpm
922 ftlbs torque @ 5500 rpm

I just wanted to include this to say HOLY CRAP! They better not include this in GT4 or the normal events will be a joke

 

[Solid Lifters]

To put it more simply, torque is a "work force" rating and horsepower is a "speed" rating.

There is a mathematical formula for figuring out hp from tq and vice versa but I forgot what it was. I think any engine has equal amounts of torque and horsepower at 5200 or 5700 RPM. Sorry, it was such a long time ago and I can't remember.

 

[Dee Man]

The formula for converting torque to hp is: (torque x engine speed)/5,252=hp
torque has to be in ft.lb and engine speed obviously is rpm.
And from hp to torque just rearrange the equation to get: (hp x 5252)/engine speed=torque

 

[halfracedrift]

Ok, Basically, the more torque you have, the better the car will be at accelerating, however, too much torque, your car can spin out easier when accelerating when exiting a corner. Understand now?

Torque is good for climbing mountains, but it's useless without horsepower on a long straightaway. Horsepower is good for a long straightaway, but it's useless without torque when climbing a mountain.

Understand what I'm talking about now? If you don't, visit the "Cars in General" Thread, and poke through the "Car Physics" thread which is a sticky

 

[bengee]

torque cannot be achieved without hp... halface... so of course it would be useless without hp... since torque is directly derived from the rotational force provided by the engine and translates to force of traction times radius of wheel.... which makes the car go... basicallty the more hp the more torque and with a few peices of technology like torque limiters sensors and engine management... a car with heaps of torque can be controlled by human or computer drivers...

things like abs are evidence of limiting torque... ie applying the brtakes individually to prevent wheel spin and loos of grip due to too much torque

 

[halfracedrift]

Bengee, I agree with that too. Just forgot to put that in