Horsepower vs Torque, Which is Better
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 ต.ค. 2024
- Horsepower vs Torque, Which is Better, how to DIY and car repair with auto mechanic Scotty Kilmer. The difference between horsepower and torque. Horsepower and torque explained. Why some cars have more torque than horsepower. Is it better to have more horsepower or more torque in your car? Torque and horsepower, how it works. What is horsepower? What is torque. Car Advice. DIY car repair with Scotty Kilmer, an auto mechanic for the last 51 years.
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Thanks cause I didn’t know what torque is.
I have to agree with the first poster in this comment section. If you get a V8 with a comparable displacement inline 8, the inline is going to produce more torque. Ford 300 for example, or the older Jeep 4.0 inline six. The problem with inline motors is there length, which is why manufacturers went to V8's. Imagine trying to fit a comparable displacement inline 2 cylinder into a harley frame, it would be super wide and would not look like a harley, but would make more torque. I am surprised a mechanic like yourself would forget these factors. The thing with the sports bikes and their inline 4's that have equal displacement as the V twins is that the 4's have smaller pistons lighter pistons allowing for more horsepower. The stroke of the motor too bends on torque. And engine with a longer stroke will produce more torque, where as a short stroke will allow for higher rpms equating to more horse power.
@@pantherplatform don't need to thank me lol, you were stating facts and I just elaborated on your facts. But you're welcome. 👍
Hello Mr.kilmer, I really enjoy watching ur videos,u explain subjects thoroughly,.thankyou.
@Ocean Lives yeah computers can do a lot, but is difficult to get a motor to have equals amount of torque and horsepower, with out a lot of and ons like turbos or superchargers with the right programming. The Ford EcoBoost comes to mind with decent amount of both torque and HP. Subarus tend to be pretty equal too between HP and Torque.
At now 44 years of age and many cars/trucks under my belt I'm honestly embarrassed to say I did not know this. This guy explains things awesomely
You learn something new every day
Why didn’t you ask 😂?
@@smd2030 never occurred to me to do so lol.
Didnt explain it well. Hp is where your speed/acceleration comes in, torque is just how much you can tow. Torque is twisting force, while hp is how quickly/fast it twists
IAN McB This is not to make fun of you by any means, but I find it funny that every middle aged - senior on TH-cam seem to have a profile picture of their dog! It’s so cute haha
Rev up your Mitsubishi Mirage with 78 horsepower
😝🤣
You're just mad my mirage is a 2018
My 2000 Mirage (1.8) had 92 horse. Great on gas, but as Scotty says, "couldn't get out of its own way."
I have a moped with 50cc does that count it wimpy so let me rev it
In simple terms Horsepower is how fast you hit the wall and torque is how far you take the wall with you.
Rev up your two-horse powered chariots with unlimited torque!
rev you motor to the sky with 1gram of tq
BTW The average horse has 15 horsepower
@@ajsalinas8418 so 1 horse = 15 horse
From various videos talking about the differences between torque and horsepower, your explaination in this video is the only one that nails it.
What's better? Torque or horsepower?
I'll tell you what's better:
A 94 Celica!!!!
Ew
that doesnt have much torque lol
@@ad356 doesnt have much hp.either
@@richdf5664 my 1996 Z28 camaro with 248K miles on it will blow its doors off LOL. the transmission was rebuilt and upgraded last spring. it had a high stall converter and a shift kit. other minor bolt ons and upgrades.
@@ad356 ...yeah? You're comparing a built (wannabe) "muscle car" vs a completely stock economy car that's has ZERO intentions of speed. Cool.
My twin turbo'd audi a6 has 191k miles with new bigger turbo's and a new(ish) clutch that will blow the doors off your camero
Scotty, this is the first human friendly explanation of torgue vs horse power video I watch on the internet. Others are complicated, explaining this stuff with horses pulling boxex or very scientifically. It is amazing how simple explanation is the most effective way of learning new things in the beginning! Your video is knwledge extract for the people. Thank you!
Torque and HP are apples and oranges, two very different things. Torque can be measured, HP cannot - it has to be calculated. Torque is best achieved by longer stroke, larger pistons, and more combustion pressures. Unfortunately, longer stroke makes for higher piston speeds which limits your RPM. If you want a lot of HP, you need the engine to survive higher RPM, which means a shorter stroke is better. HP relates directly to gas flow rate (cubic feet per minute) that you can get through the engine, so big intakes, big exhaust, big valves and big ports in the cylinder heads is where HP is made. There are a lot of compromises between big torque engines and big HP engines. Is the variable stroke and variable valve lift and valve timing the best of both worlds? What do you think Scotty?
Thanks for this comment. Very well said. I learned from it
Yeah this is true. This is why many big American engines are limited to 6,000 rpm or below.
And Asain cars can go up to 9,000 rpm. American cars can tow more, but have lower top speed.
@@angelgjr1999 Completely inaccurate generality
It is true that the big push rod engines have more torque and less horsepower and are also lower revving, so American muscle fits the profile, but beyond that, it's a mixed bag.
HP can be measured just like Watts, just because a calculation is needed to measure it, doesn't make it any less of a measurement. For instance we use the term measured for the distances of celestial bodies in the universe, which can only be done through calculation. Now onto the subject of which is better, horse power is, plain and simple, horse power is the overall power output, and torque that is applied to the wheels can be infinitely increased by simply gearing down(think of it like using a longer lever to lift an object).
Horsepower is the ultimate determinant of vehicle straight-line acceleration performance.
An engine torque figure alone is meaningless without knowing the rpm at which it produces that torque. Engine torque can be arbitrarily amplified at the driven wheels through gearing.
That being said, there is a positive correlation between peak torque and peak horsepower numbers on production cars. In order to make big horsepower, you usually have to make big torque (exception Formula 1, liter bikes, etc) because engines can only rev so fast before balancing becomes an issue, valve float occurs, or piston speeds exceed the combustion flame front velocity. Formula 1 engines push these limits and produce the most horsepower per ft-lb of torque of just about any engine. This requires very high engine speeds, which also rapidly accelerates engine component wear and drastically reduces the service life of the engine. In terms of longevity, engines with relatively high torque compared to their horsepower are superior. These engines typically operate at slower rotational speeds and are used in applications requiring long service life and large load-moving capability, for example in semi-trucks, diesel-electric locomotives, and tractors. In these applications, the horsepower produced is of secondary importance to the service life and reliability.
True. Why don't the torque people understand this?
As an Engineer and a physics enthusiast, I couldn't go by without expressing my appreciation for the fact that your understanding of the matter in hand is very accurate. Cheers
When a engine have high torque (sylinder-filling) on high rpm it gets high hp
Horsepower means speed!
Torque means pulls!
Just like amps x volts = watts rpm with torque = horsepower. Torque at zero rpm = zero hp. RPM with zero torque = zero hp.
Gibbon that’s cool!
@Gibbon time to slap on a twin turbo and NOS in that bish!
You are absolutely wrong dude. The pulling and accelerating is about "Horsepower" not the engine torque. If you can create same Horsepower in both cars, the acceleration and top speed is THE SAME. Just put same top speed gears on both car, you will get "SAME ACCELERATION". You wanna hear that again? " S-A-M-E ".
You don't need high torque to pull. The Army proves this every day with the M1 Abrams. They have turbine engines.
THANK YOU!!!! 42 yrs Old, I have read articles, watched videos, and YOU are the first person to explain HP/TORQUE so I understand.
This is about as layman as it gets. Torque is work and horsepower is how quickly you accomplish that work. If you generate more torque than power, then you can do a lot of work but you'll be slower to accomplish it. If you generate more power than torque you'll perform work faster but not as much at once. Hope this helps.
King Daniel well jeez thanks for making it simpler. I have only been waiting 42 years, sheewizLol
People apparently forget that transmissions exist when they say that torque is the acceleration force
Ikr
aye
Out of all the videos I’ve watched talking about hp vs torque. You actually made it make sense with all the analogies and examples. Thanks a lot 👌👌
Now I know why my 1966 Cadillac was good on the highway but slow in town. It was a comfortable ride.
Scotty, that's the best explanation of the difference between torque and horsepower I've heard on TH-cam!
Torque it's just a force measured in an specific moment, if you cannot apply it through time you're not going anywhere and thats what power is. Power = How fast you can apply certain force. In order to accelerate fast you need both!
Scotty,
I owned 2 each Ford Mavericks, a 1968 Chevy Camaro, 1970 Camaro, 1975 Camaro (with headers), 1984 Chrysler Laser 1979 Chevy Camaro Z-28(my favorite), 1987 Chrysler LaBaron(Pace Car Edition),1985 Chrysler Voyagerr van (inherited), 1995 GMC Jimmy, and w 2 each Oldsmoble Bravadas. The Bravadas are 20 plus years and going strong. Really enjoy your you tube channel Scotty and wish you many blessed years going forward.
Your advice and wisdom have been a great help to me on so many things.👍👍👍
Scotty, I'm pleased that you used a correct unit of measure (pound feet) for torque. (Many people incorrectly quote torque as foot pounds, which is actually a unit of work.) Good job.
A noble feat.
Top fuel dragster 11,000 hp. 330mph in 1000 feet 3.3 sec.. now that's HP
I remember going to the dragstrip and watching them and as they go past the stands it will make the whole ground shake!
Not miles per gallon, but rather gallons per mile.
@InfiniteMushroom I was a kid when Kenny Bernstein broke 300 in 1/4. Now they do 298 at the 1/8th mile!
Yeah and 100.000 big ones also
@@davidstinson5095 maybe to buy one, for fun, that when it blows up, you put it on the trailer and go home. To compete you need 4 complete cars or so. . . . consumables cost about $3500 every time it goes down the track.
Torque always makes anything you drive on the street more fun and deceptively fast. Drive a semi without a trailer and skip gears sometime if you want to experience the ultimate demonstration of an extreme case, it's exceptionally fun.
Tombs Clawtooth torque doesn't mean anything if the car doesn't rev fast.. a 500hp 300ftlbs car will feel quicker than a 200hp 500ftlbs diesel any day. Diesel is quicker from a dig however when both cars are at the same revs
which is better depends on what you’re doing with the engine
It depends more on where peak torque is in the RPM range. For instance 300 ft/lbs of torque at 8000rpm will give you 456 HP but 300ft/lbs at 2000 RPM will only give you 115 HP... Horse power is the overall energy output of the engine, high revving engines with lower torque but the same HP as a lower revving engine can simply be geared down to achieve the same amount of force. Think of gearing down kind of like using a longer lever to lift something, less weight is needed to lift the same amount but you have to move it further, and the higher RPMs is the equivalent of moving further.
well just put a fucking transmission on it and only then the horsepower will be the only unit of measurement necessary, as you could make the gear ratio almost whatever you want to be, remember HP=torque x revs
Phlaked Corn so you’re telling me engines don’t make peak power at any RPM?!???!!!! And they need gears which effect the end result of their output?!?!?!?? Mind blown.
@@akboomer2837 What?! Man... I don't know what you read, but it sure wasn't what I wrote.
Phlaked Corn That was actually an excellent explanation. Thumbs up.
Horsepower is universal: 100 Hp is the same performance regardless engine type gasoline, diesel, electric etc (meaning that no matter on what rpm's that 100 Hp is produced regards to performance).
Torque is not universal, the "strength" of torq is heavily related to the rpm it is produced: 100 units of torq is more effective on 2000 rpms than 1000 rpms. With a gearbox you can manipulate torq and rpm, but you cannot manipulate power that engine produces (power over gearbox remains the same). And afterall power = torq * rpm, so you really have them both always when engine is running.
Speaking and comparing torques is fairly irrelevant (but layman terms more easily understand), because should be comparing max power and overall power curves.
@Charles That's not an argument. Also, you're the one that is wrong. Torque at the wheels is changed with gearing down an engine with higher power. The power output doesn't change between the engine output and the wheels except for drivetrain losses. But the torque does - in every gear.
Your so wrong it’s embarrassing.
Watched three (no joke THREE) physics videos and didn't get the difference. Five minutes with Scotty and I got it. THANK you sir!
I always saw it as
HP= torque x revolutions
It is.
Yeah, it's a force (torque) applied in certain time (revs per min). In other words how fast you can apply the force.
Revolution is constant i.e. 5252
divided by 5252
@@MrRobot-ry7ky 5252.113
This is the third video I watched on this topic and I finally get it clearly. Thank you.
Maximum acceleration occurs at maximum torque at the wheel. Maximum torque at the wheel occurs at maximum engine horsepower. Therefore, to get maximum acceleration, you need horsepower, which is produced by applying torque over a period of time.
Absolutely true.
Outstanding way of making people understand
Torque is how much work the engine can do. Horsepower is how fast it can do it.
I would say torque is the force of the engine.
Physically horsepower describes the work. The performance over time (how fast).
zachary paris no no no and no
Why does everybody stick to that lie?
Engine torque(crankshaft torque) alone means nothing. Without rpm, you have no power. Same goes the other way.
Horsepower + gearing determines the load you can haul.
As it does acceleration. Or top speed.
Seriously, this engine torque myths are going too far.
@@milorad7226 Yeah Torque alone is not much. It is an important variable but more information is necessary.
A hich torque is still really good (unless your car is light)
D. Draber it is equally important as revs.
If you don't have the torque, you'll have the rpm. Or the other way around.
100hp is a 100hp.
One engine may have greater torque, but it will produce power in lower rpm.
Other engine may not have high torque, but it makes it up with higher revs.
Point is, both engines are capable of doing same amount of work, if their horsepower is equal, and ofc if fitted with appropriate gearing
@@milorad7226 Well, I'm not going to argue* since that wouldn't make sense. We are talking about two physical quantities.
It's just like deciding if sound or light, mass or weight is more important.
Only when it comes to a specific situation (like transport) one might be more important.
*I know I was the one who started.
Thank you for all that you do to bring information to the Masse's
I like the saying, "Tq is what gets you up to speed but HP is what keeps you there..."
Wrong though
Very very wrong
RepoDraghon torque is what gets you off the line quick, HP is what accelerates you quicker after that.
@@russellcoight1718 Nah dude, you are wrong. When average people off-ing the line, they are launching at low RPMs. And these people's car has High torque at low RPM, so it gives High HP on Low RPM. Thats why they are getting off line quickly. Torque is not power, its just a measurement of force at the crank. The "getting off line quick" thing measurement is HORSEPOWER. Because Horsepower allows more torque AT THE WHEELS. That gives MORE ACCELERATION because of HORSEPOWER.
So wrong
This is the best explanation of horsepower and torque till date.Hats off to Scotty
Scotty, I am a mechanical engineer and today I'm sad to say that you, as 99,9% of people that try to explain what is the, let's say, practical difference between horsepower and torque, are wrong. I'll not try to explain it here and I do understand why you think what you think. Once, I did think like that too, because it is kinda of the intuitive idea. The only thing that I could ask you is this: if you have the oportunity, talk to a real engineer, someone that works with cars and really has some background on how car works and how maths and physics works. That person will say to you, without a doubt, that what you say in this video is actually not quite right. Wish you the very best.
I agree. This is not correct physics.
Yup...
Explain the truth. Now I am curious. You must feed my curiosity (please). Thank you.
@@DrDreams23 power is a function of torque. You can have a harley or a tractor with a lot of torque, but neither will accelerate quickly. If you take the hyabusa Scotty was talking about with high power it will accelerate significantly faster than the Harley. There is no way the harley will accelerate to any speed faster than the busa. Same with the F1 car, they accelerate very quickly, due to the high power. Additionally, a high power engine will tow a load up a hill faster than a lower power but higher torque engine provided you have adequate gearing. So unfortunately Scotty got pretty much everything wrong in this video. Power is torque at speed.
@@DrDreams23 Keep this “ LEARNING HUNGER “ going brother, never stop learning 💪🏼 🧠
I thought horsepower was a function of torque x revs. Engines are tuned differently, so the peak torque per rev is rated somewhere in the middle for most cars with lower down peak torque per rev for diesels and lorries that pull stuff, whereas horsepower is just torque (at the current rev) x rev. Engines use to tow with lower down torque also have a lower ratio gearbox and the speed between the engine and no movement is much much less versus lighter faster cars.
A lot of lorries in countries that do not use the same big vehicles as the US, they tend to use the same engines as smaller vehicles, only coupled with a different gearbox and tuned for more torque at less revs so that when it starts off the line the less speed difference between the engine, transmission and wheels lets it move carrying heavy loads without destroying the crankshaft, transmission or drivetrain.
autoexperttv explains horsepower as a function of torque x revs, i do like his explanation and he was an engineer as well, whereas you are trying to give an explanation that a non engineer can understand based on the different scenarios. Its also not necessarily true that a v config provides more torque, as an example the vw ute with the v6 outputs the same amount of torque as other engines but at higher revs so the numbers given if you look are the amount of torque at a higher rev. This makes the v6 look weaker than the straight 4 or 5 cylinder engines in both hp and torque. super/turbocharged engines also do make huge amounts of torque that increase their horsepower because of torque x revs, so these things also help engines tow with higher cylinder pressures giving more torque. Diesel engines are heavier in order to survive the bigger explosions for providing more torque at lower revs rather than higher revving engine that burn less per rev but burn more per minute than a low revving diesel engine with lots of torque.
This channel is fun. Scotty puts on a great show, practical advice for regular folks, engaging viewers and light hearted user comments.
Torque is a twisting force.
HP is that twisting force multiplied by the RPM it is twisting at.
HP is arguably the more important number to worry about because it takes into account both torque and rpm in whatever you’re doing (racing, towing etc.) Think about what a transmission does. You can multiply torque all you want with a tranny but you can’t ever multiply HP without increasing the performance of your engine.
Hp is almost never more important except for straight line top speeds. Tq is more important for basically every single other application
Richard Conklin Disagree. I’m not saying torque isn’t important because it is but high HP is the number you want in just about every application. HP is a measurement of power which is the amount of energy made per unit time. Racing? Aka high amount of kinetic energy (speed) in a short amount of time. Towing uphill? Aka creating high amount of potential energy in a short amount of time? Maintaining top speed? Aka maintain a high amount of energy wasted in wind drag? Generators? Aka maintaining high electrical energy in a given amount of time? It all boils down to power.
Thanks Scotty, so many other vids I tried to watch where over explaining both. You made it easier to understand and know. 👍👍😌
..too bad its wrong.
Torque can also be a measure of an engine's efficiency.
At highway speed (on a gasoline powered car),
you want the rpm to be near the bottom of the torque curve
for the best mpg.
Just my opinion.
Never knew the difference, but now I do, thanks Scotty! Good explanation.
I'm sorry but that is a bit misleading. A torque figure is "sort of" irrelevant (more on that a bit later) as you can have more torque with gear reduction, however, you cannot multiply HP as you can with torque. In reality, both HP and torque are two sides of the same coin, HP is how much work you can do with certain force (torque) during certain time (per minute for example). That said, while a torque number doesn't mean anything (you can have diesel engines with over 1000lb-ft and they don't accelerate that quickly) a torque curve is very important, a low end torque means there is lot of power available and ready to be used, and if we have constant torque, it means a constant HP build up, and thus, great and constant acceleration (as the case with electric motors, especially if we're not wasting time changing gears to work on a limited powerband). Now why is it irrelevant to think if having more hp than torque is better or vice-versa? If we measure torque in kg-m we almost always will have more HP than torque, it depends on the units we use. In conclusion, HP vs Torque? They're two sides of the same coin, we measure one to calculate the other, and given we can change the torque with different gearing, is better to focus on HP. A torque curve IS very important, as it can say if our engine will have enough power in the low end (as in a semi truck) and feel powerful and responsive or if it will have power in higher rpms (like some Japanese cars).
And F1 cars can't put all the power without spinning their wheels, that's why they don't really accelerate that well from a stand point.
You're trying too hard.
This video isnt intended to create experts it's intended for people who drive a basic passenger car from A to B.
@@richdf5664 well... I guess you're right, it was just a rant from a random stranger on the internet.
This is probably one of my favorite videos of yours
Scotty is great at making good videos, however this video is filled with inaccuracies. So for entertainment he is great, for education around this topic... not so much.
Gotta love the torque from a V8. My 94 Caprice launches pretty good for a 4,500 lb car because of 330 ft-lbs of torque lol
Despite the inevitable lag from older injection systems, I was actually surprised with how much pep the dinky little V6 in my crappy old Taurus had. Definitely not impressive as far as high speed goes, but put your foot in a little and it really takes off compared to a lot of traffic.
If you really press the throttle from a standing start you can probably raise the front end off the pavement!
3L Vulcan had the torque of midsize pickup.186 ft lbs is nothing laugh at when your passing power on the highway was easy reached at 40 percent open throttle. Its slow engine (153 hp)but a reliable one.
Also the GM 4.3l vortec V6 made 190HP but 250 ft-lbs of torque. My 2000 Astro also picks up pretty well.
Great explanation on why the 2 measurements are relevant
I'm Torque Flexington and i approve of this video. Explosions!!!
This is the explanation I was looking for
NO REPLACEMENT FOR DISPLACEMENT
(Coming from a guy that drives a 1.5L subcompact) lol
Whaaaaaat????? Let me guess....wife and kids???....☹️
@@Anth230 nah broke college student with no gf
@@jorgeroque1995 Oh...whew ...I was worried about you for a second.. 😉
@@jorgeroque1995 Same but I drive a 1.7L. Haha.
Drove a 1.0 3 cylinder Ford focus. O regretted it. It was just simply a grocery go-getter
I knew the difference between both. However, I think he has the best explanation.
Torque × RPM=HP, and torque is wheel turning strenght not acceleration.
This has been a burning question on y mind for awhile. Thank you Scotty for answering this!
The f1 cars are so light that the torque they give out is well good enough for a sub 2 second 0-60 time... except the Williams...
Yeup but put that in a modern day full-size pick up.
@@BaronBoar Why would you do that?
@@afonsoferreira5171 how about, why not put an F1 engine in a modern full size pickup truck?
@@BaronBoar Because they were not designed for that purpose, the same way that if you put a truck engine in a F1 car it would not work properly.
@@BaronBoar The F1 engines are not at all reliable they have to change those engines every season and the expected lifespan of one put into a production car would be little more than 30,000 miles or a few years it stands no chance pulling a truck. Its 1.6 litre V6 it couldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding. An F1 car weighs about 1600-1700 lbs. Trucks weigh 5000 lbs.
I have known the difference for some time, but not what the two mean for practical use. This is the best explanation I have come across. Now I understand. Great job Scotty!
Horsepower sells cars. Torque wins races.
Nice video Scotty!
Learn so much from your channel. You do it in an interesting and entertaining way!
Not the best explanation I’ve heard. An engine with half the torque and double the RPM (same hp) can be geared twice as low. At the wheels performance will be about the same because at any given speed, they produce the same force to the wheels
blurglide, if that was true than you would see more gasoline engines in trailer trucks
@@murph55 It's a simplification, but largely true. The higher revving engine will probably have a narrower torque band (have to stay in the high revs to make torque), so relies more on shifting gears for responsiveness than throttle position. Also, as cylinders get bigger, torque naturally goes up and rpm goes down. Diesel also has a lot of advantages for a heave truck, and those tend to be naturally low revving for a variety of reasons.
I agree:) Finally someone understand how it works:)
Very good explanation, thanks Scotty
Horsepower is how fast you hit the wall. Torque is how far you bring the wall with you
Great explanation with examples 👍
A big strong man twisting a big nut with a 1 meter wrench with a pressure of 100 newton for example, that’s a 100 nm of torque, like a Harley.
A smaller man twisting the same wrench for shorter, weaker strokes, coz he’s not as strong, but can twist again and again fast, that’s a Honda cbr 600 :)
I really appreciate your explanation..
I am collecting data about cars and putting it in a database to decide which is the best car for MY needs and your explanation helps me to make sense of these numbers.
It's kind of a stupid question... appropriate gearing is used to balance each...
I LEARN SO MUCH FROM THIS CHANNEL!!! THANK YOU, SCOTTY!!!!
Acceleration and terminal speed, both depends on HP.
Further Mechanical Principles...good lesson!
Hey Scotty 😀 I can see your personality has Horse Power and Torque 💪
My CRX Si had great torque.. My bro that hated Honda back then loved my CRX... now I converted him
0:25 Chemical Energy of Gasoline not Potential :)
Also Formula 1 cars have some kind of hybrid battery which helps in acceleration on straights
gasoline is chemical potential energy, don't know who told you otherwise
F-1 cars have a lot of gears, not some electric gas hybrid motors
Stop being one of those people that correct every little thing about others, make a video yourself
Chemical energy is a type of potential energy... So scotty was right and you are correcting him without knowing the definition yourself.
I liked torque. It came in handy when you hit the pedal on a autotranny. With my present eco car,pressing down makes more noise than go. So,yes,I miss that part of the power band.
In my experience of watching a million drag races, torque never made a difference, the car with more HP always wins. (With similar weight)
You are right, and most people commenting are totally wrong. Torque is not a measure of power, and power=acceleration.
I want to make 3 points:
***Disclaimer
First of all, we need to make a distinction between horsepower at a given moment and MAX horsepower (most people are mistaken because under HP of car we refer the MAX HP. Open some car specification site and see that it says MAX HP which is the technically correct word)
We can calculate the horsepower at given moment(RPM) by the formula: POWER = RPM * TORQUE
1. HP(not the MAX horsepower) is more important than TORQUE
2.First of all, if we have 2 cars with identical MAX POWER that doesn't mean they are equally fast.
3. In order to determine which of 2 cars is faster(in drag) than the other we weed the whole graphic from the dyno.
Let's make a drag race between 2 cars with maximum output of 150hp . For example, a bmw 320d with high torque and 4k RPM redline, and a Honda civic with 8k RPM redline but low torque (lets say everything else is the same - weight, aerodynamics, tyre pressure, etc. ).Also we must know what type of transmission we use.We will make 2 runs - one with CVT transmission and one with non-CVT. In perfect scenario, if we can keep our engine at max power all the time, during our race (which CVT transmission does), no doubt the more powerful car wins, because at any given moment the transmission can change the gear ratio in a way, which uses the engine most efficiently. Howerever, if we have a NON-CVT transmission car (which is the case for most cars). Maximum power is reached just at given moment(the begining of the redline usually) and when we reach the redline, then we shift to next gear and the RPM's drop from 8000 to let's say 5000. At that moment our honda will have let's say 160NM of torque. 160*5000 = 800 000 units of power. The bmw shifts as well and i goes from 4k rpm to 3k RPM but there is has 330NM of torque so at that moment the engines are out of their maximum power range and here it comes the TORQUE which will help them to reach MAX power as fast as possible. At that very given moment the BMW has 330* 3000 = 990000 units of power. We should make the same calculation for every RPM till Redline. And values will give us Horsepower at any given RPM(we can just see that on the dyno graphic). So, in our case, the bmw will win the dragrace, even though there will be a moment where their maximum horsepower output will be the same. In general, to see which if 2 cars is faster, we look at the dyno graphic and one engine HP curve stays most of the time above other curve in the high RPM(between gear shifts) we can say that car is gonna be faster (except any other conditions like weight, etc., etc.) even if the MAXIMUM HP output is the same. To summarize, a car with perfect transmission (which can use the maximum engine power at any given moment) the more powerful car will win, but in real-life, if our car transmission is not a CVT, torque is more useful.
Can you explain how Horsepower/Torque all play a role with different gear ratios of the axle?
Go back to school
You can transform torque/rpm over gearbox ratios, but you cannot transform horsepower transferred over gearbox.
I.e. That leads to on lower gear you get more torque but lower speed, and hp (over gearbox to wheels) is still the same that engine produces.
1:27 the dodge spins the engine before taking off so it can also have instant torque when the light goes green then it can spin the wheels so it doesn’t explain motor performance over ice. One advance of tesla is AWD, another is less gear transport losses then no shift losses until it actually needs to change gears and it falls behind quickly. At low speed you need less power for acceleration so tesla can begin with high torque low rpm (even form 0) which is low power, then it gets to the max power range so it doesn’t need to shift until it gets that sector
Torque - strangth of the rotation.
Horse power - is the work the engine does to rotate the wheels
I love this
Actually no. Rpm =speed of rotation. Torque×rpm÷5252 =hp
Horse power - strenght of the rotation multiplied by the speed of the rotation. You can get torque from HP, but you can not get HP by torque alone. That's why HP is the most important thing - no matter how hard you push, it's the speed of the push that matters.
“Give me a place to stand, and a lever long enough, and I will move the world. ”
― Archimedes
Sounds about right bro. Horsepower includes the momentum and inertia whereas torque is only measuring the force exerted on the crankshaft by pistons. Thanks Nick
Hp isnt speed of rotation. @5000rpms, the its rotating at.......@5000rpms regardless if its making 200 or 2000hp at that engine speed.
Great simple explanation! Thank you! I applaud you!
3:35 “… formula 1 don’t accelerate” ?.???.?
There is a thing called “gear box” you know…
There isn’t anything faster, quicker and with better acceleration per liter of engine displacement than a F1 car
Last weekend at Austin’s COTA things were put in perspective
“They start slow”
Really? 0-200 km/h is under 5.5 seconds? 0-100 under 2?
And that’s not even what makes F1 the best, it’s the changing direction and the braking power… the Gs in lateral forces
If you are up to let’s meet at COTA this year during the GP, I think you misspoke about this issues because of the t8me video. Let’s talk, I will buy you a coffee or a beer (or two or three lol) at downtown Austin
But… Mr Plow… all is forgiven he he
The coffee/beer proposal is still on
Thanks Scotty.. very educational as usual
High speed is illegal, quick acceleration is not. Torque is more practical, can be a safety feature and hence is more important.
In Arkansas you can be ticketed for "excessive acceleration". Whats worse isnt the ticket, its the cop trying to explain why
"Well you may not have spun a tire, but you took off significantly faster than everyone else" In a retirement town of 2500 people, it isnt exactly a f&#$in feat to do lol
@@elidames6889 he, he :-)
Wow
This is the best explaination of torque and horsepower I've ever heard. Those physics explanation were just too complicated.
Thumbs up Scotty👍🏻👍🏻
This is not correct physics what scotty said
My 1986 YUGO has 54 hp, 56 lb-ft of torque. In Relation to this whole video, I still don’t know what exactly I can expect, better acceleration, or higher top Speed? Technically, I do have more torque than horsepower !!!!
Joe Mikey
If you raced a car with 30hp and 100lb-ft
That car would accelerate quicker off the start line ONLY while you have equal revs, as it's making more torque, so with equal revs it must have more hp.
However as the race goes on and you build up revs, you'll have more horsepower and your engine will be doing more work hence overtake the other car.
How he explained it is confusing.. high torque is very good for getting off the line but doesn't always correspond to top end acceleration.
"Technically, I do have more torque than horsepower" this is like saying I have more weight than height. No sense made.
Scotty is great, but like sooo many he doesn't understand power at all.
Power determines all things relating to going forward - acceleration, top speed, towing ability and hill climbing ability. Torque is part of how an engine makes power.
This type of video is GREAT!! You learn a lot like this. Thank you Mr. Kilmer 👍
You buy horsepower, you drive torque.
Well spoken
Not true because a car with 200 horsepower and 150 torque will always be faster than a 150hp 200 torque ..on initial hit that torque will jump a tiny bit bit once you get in that rev range.....
Completely wrong. Think of torque as a twisting force, and hp is how quickly/fast it can actually turn.
except a car with 150 hp and a car with 500hp can both turn at the same rpm (speed).. so
Modern F1 cars have a lot of torque now because of the hybrid systems they use and I think they are pushing over 900 horsepower at the same time. The ERS system they have eliminates that pesky turbo lag with the electric motors and they have much better acceleration than they did back in 2013, which were the cars you showed along with the mid 2000s Ferrari. Amazing engineering they have.
F1 cars during 2006-2013 had v8 power plants.
So if more torque means more acceleration.. then how come diesels have less acceleration than their gas/petrol counterparts?
Torque = Rotational force, Horsepower = Torque x RPM. Diesels don't normally have a low rev limit so they don't make much HP. While Scotty is correct, I don't care for the way Scotty explained this in the video (but it is rather hard to explain). You can have lots of torque and still be moving quite slowly. A diesel though will maintain speed easier with a load due to the torque that it delivers at that lower RPM. High horsepower engines may make a lot less torque at a lower RPM, but when they at the peak they are multiplying the output of that torque very quickly and that makes you go fast. Ofc gearing a low RPM, High torque engine can make it accelerate faster just like gearing can make a high hp engine have more torque at the wheels. This is why drag cars install lower gears into the vehicle to make up for that lost low end torque.
The torque crowd can't rationally explain this because power=acceleration, and torque is not a measure of power.
When I was younger I liked the idea of more horsepower, but now I am more interested in torque figures.
I always wondered why buses had low horsepower, but still could still keep up in traffic with 50 or so people onboard. Now I know.
not always the case look up gasser buses 6.0 400 small block , not bast because of Gearing! scotty completly left that out
Like my semi. Around 2000 lbs/ft between 1100-1500rpms yet has like 400hp. It needs a 10 speed transmission to travel down the road at 65mph. Gearing play an massive role in a vehicle.
Well no. Those cars are only using something like 15-40 HP to accelerate when just commuting around on city streets. A bus is using most of it's 200-300 HP when accelerating.
Great video scotty thanks a bunch!!
All engines, *ONLY* make torque, not horsepower. Horsepower is a function that calculates how much TORQUE an engine makes per unit time.
High torque engines, have longer bore strokes, which makes a lot of low end torque. All piston engines, are limited to a certain *piston speed* . High torque, long bore stroke engines reach this high piston speed *much sooner* than short stroke, high hp engines.
The secret to big HP, is to make your peak torque, higher in the RPM band. The trade off being, low end torque production suffers. This trade off can be helped, by engine configuration (V vs inline, or number of cylinders), forced induction, and by using steeper *gearing* .... Gearing, combined with a high revving engine, is why a Hayabusa and F1 car, can accelerate so fast, with relatively LOW torque production.
This is a very short, rudimentary explanation, but I look forward to the comments!
Twobarspi, you gave too much logical info, so now the street fight will happen between the fast and the curious LoL.
Name of their drama: Wes side sorry story
Thanks though, for being factual, dude.
@@mazdarex7 thanks 🍻👍 !!
@@Twobarpsi we will now be attacked for being "square bores"
@@mazdarex7 😂😂😂😂
my father used to have a 1.8l diesel engine with 90hp.
that thing had power for days.
while i had a 1.8l gasoline engine with 115hp.
my car wasnt all that slow tho, but compared to the diesel it did felt sluggish. 200nm at 2000rpm even with only 90hp make big difference.
now i want a diesel..
unfortunately buying nowadays a diesel in germany is financial suicide.
It just the turbo in the diesel car that tricks you, in fact the gasoline one in your example will accelerate a little bit faster but you won't feel it that much bacause it's much smoother without turbo.
I love your videos scotty but i believe @engineeringexplained had done a better job discussing this topic.
Good morning Scotty!
So practically high torque engines (diesel ones and powerful pertrol V8s) are better than high horsepower in a daily city driving, correct me if i'm wrong
You're correct. Torque helps low speed acceleration which is mainly what the city is.
high torque engines are better for carrying heavy loads and doing a lot of stop-and-go motions. for city traffic in a truck, then yes, but for a light car you don't need a lot of torque
Welcome to Europe with their diesel car trends ---> 150hp ~ 400nm/torque
I will correct you because you are wrong, Higher torque in stop and go traffic is just gonna make you smash your head on the steering wheel 20 times before getting to work because you will have a very jerky ride stoping and going with so much torque. A car with more ponies will give you a smoother ride and that will be far more relaxing to drive to work in
@@Jamie-cz2xu smashing your head on the steering wheel has nothing to do with engine output numbers but rather with your throttle control skills.
Horsepower is simply a measure of work over time, with torque and RPM being the main variables. What creates a torquey experience in most ICE is having a large, flat torque curve (lots of area under the curve). That's why large displacement engines--and turbo engines that have little lag and hit boost at low revs--feel so powerful relative to the peak horsepower output.
So torque is is a bodybuilder and horsepower is an olympic sprinter. Got it.
Horsepower is like having a really massive body builder using a tiny spanner to loosen a nut..... Torque is like having a thin scrawny guy loosen the same nut with a spanner a few feet long
Now I get it. thanks for a great metaphor.
No. Those are both high power people. Ask them each to carry 100 bricks to the top of a tall building. Who knows which one will win... They are both high power. Power is work / time.
I thought this was going to be way too complicated to explain in a 5 min video, but I'm impressed. Very basic but that's all the average person really needs to know. Torque is just a really confusing concept at first.
Harley Davidsons have to have a lot of torque to tow the load. Have you seen the size of the men and women that ride them?!? I've gained 20lbs in the last year that I've owned one.
This best subscription i have & I own Lexus that all I’ll buy And especially after listening to you thank you 😊!
Torque: is a sumo wrestler pushing his way through a crowd and horsepower: is a bag snatcher running away with the handbag.
Tq is the reason you get pulled back in your seat as you accelerate 0-60 in 3.5 seconds. Hp is why your car can keep going to 150+ mph
I had a 70 Chevelle SS 396 back in the day...I now prefer my Focus ZX3 manual DOHC as an old guy. 3x the MPG too.
this breaks my heart to say this but a busa is a 1300 not 1200
You broke my heart too :-)
...also, it can accelerate faster than any v-twin.
That's really well explained. Thank you!
Need a 1.0 V12 with 180 horse power 🐴
Grasshopper, I have contemplated this issue from under the Bodi tree and the best example I can come up with is the difference between a weight lifter and a sprinter (and it might be further compared to their foot wear). A weight lifter is not that concerned with time as he is with the ability to lift a load, pure strength. Where as the the sprinter it all about time, not weight. A weight lifter's foot wear will be strong and supportive. A Sprinter's foot wear will be light so they can move fast to improve his time.