Thread: Horse Power or Torque what is more important?

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I have this argument all the time with my other team members as well as most of my friends. Here is how i see it...

If you have two identical cars say 2 Chevrolet Camaro RS's both with 350ci engines same options etc..only diffrence between the two cars is one was tuned with High Horsepower in mind and the other one was tuned for High amount of torque. I believe that if these two cars were to race on the 1/4 mile the car with more torque would win.. The way i see it is torque is the amount of power turning the wheels it does not matter how much HP you have if the torue on your car sucks. I truly believe that if two identical cars meet on the track the one with more torque will win hands down everytime. I myself have beaten cars with more HP then mine just simply because i had a higher ft lb of torque then they did.
What do you think is more important Horsepower or Torque?

Torqe and horsepower are not independent of each other. Horsepower is calculated from torque. Further, torque and horspower are always equal at 5252 RPM, obviously because:
Torque = (HP x RPM) /5252

You might want to read this:

http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles/868/

Are you ready? Torque is for "Take off". Horsepower is for "High speed". The need of both is equally as important in most aspects. You can argue these points forever unless you are specific on your purpose. Drag racers will use both torque and horsepower. Circle track racers will tend to use/need more of the horsepower side. Rockcrawlers, tractor pullers, towing will use more of the torque side. It's all in your seat pinning, head snaping, tire smoking way of life... Hope this will either clear this up or really confuse you even more.

Good point Cobra

i have beaten cars on the track that have more HP then me...last race on July 2nd i raced against a old camaro ss that had a 454 he had more hp but i had more torqe i won.

Torque is the throw you back in your seat power you feel when you take off...not horsepower..

My Camaro....has beat cars with much more HP then mine but they had lower torque numbers

If you just look at max torque, the assumptions are misleading. What really matters is the breadth of the torque curve, and the RPM where peak torque occurs.

Take a look at the following website and read the section on "At the Drag Strip.)

http://www.ls1.com/handt.htm

Henry, well put. Also depends on how the car is set up. a car that doesnt have alot of low speed torque likes steep gears & loose convertor, its all about the entire package. me personally I like a flat as a board torque curve

Streets, your right, but whoever races the clock better wins

I lean towards torque, but thats cause I buy motors that are designed for that to start with. Its always easier to get more torque from a high torque motor than HP from the same motor. What it comes down too is what do You want to do with the motor?want 800HP? better go street racing. Want better fuel economy? get a high set of gears and a torque motor. or a 4 cylinder(eeeew).Want to throw back your head till your eyeballs pop out? get a Big block my friend. HP has its uses, but im big on torque myself.

Streets Says... "This is so funny.. Someone actually goes drag racin' and believe's that they are racing the guy in the other lane.. You race the clock and if you mess up in your stagin', launchin', clutch setup, track/lane conditions, or any number of other thangs, YOU LOSE!!"



I do drag race and in drag racing there are two types of drag racing there is the Bracket kind where you pick the time you are going to run and the person closest to his time wins...this is the "Racing the clock drag racing"

I on the other hand race in "Heads Up" Drag racing in this type it IS the FIRST PERSON to cross finish line works does not matter clock speed nothing...does not even matter if you get off the line first i have beaten people who have beat me off the line. All that matters is who gets to the finish line first. In the drag racing my team and i participate in you ARE racing the guy in the other lane.

Here at Southwest International Racway in Tucson I race in class called simply " Street and Imports" Steet Legal Cars Only...this is what they call the class...only regs are your car must be street legal..I.e. working lights etc when you go through tech inspection you must have working lights, hood, windows that roll up, car must me registered and insured, must be "street legal'


I hold the record for my class on my team, my best time was 10.04 secs 147mph with a .002 Reaction time, they use a Pro Tree for this it happend on July 2nd 2004 Midnight Madness at Soutwest International Raceway Tucson Arizona.

Dark-Night,
You ran a 10.04 at 147 mph with a 302 HP motor?

And with an .002 reaction time on a Pro Tree, you musta been staged awfully deep and really took a shot at the tree and guessed right.

Please tell us a little more about your car, those are impressive times for street legal through the mufflers. Would be interested to know about the chassis. I saw the picture of your car, Can't see a roll bar or cage. I am suprised that your track allows that kind of performance without one.

Pat

Someone doing a little leg-pulling here?

302 HP will get you about 12.5 at 108

750 HP gets 9.24 at about 147.

. . . and that's rear wheel horsepower.

If you're running 147, you hae a LOT more than 302 hp . . . and the car ain't hooking up too well.

What's the real story?

as i said in the other post Torque is the more important factor over horsepower my friend...car looks stock on the outside on purpose i love to make them imports think they can beat me. The track only requires a roll bar if your car runs faster then 10.00 but if your car runs faster then 13.00 you are required to wear helmets

Here is the website of the local track if you guys are interested http://www.sirace.com

Track Website says the Midnite Madness race isn't until July 30.

So I'll bite, what is your torque figure? @ what RPM?

Still want to know about your chassis.