Torque vs Horsepower

[MustangGT]

What's the advantage of having a high torque, as opposed to high horsepower? In other words, when does the torque come in, and when does horsepower count?

[jomotopia]

for many more threads on this subject:

http://www.standardshift.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7476
http://www.standardshift.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5988
http://www.standardshift.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5147
http://www.standardshift.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4106
http://www.standardshift.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4002

[Hatchman]

Gee whiz Jomey how did you find those so quickly?

[jomotopia]

lol, i remembered they weren't all that long ago so i just scrolled pages and searched for "torque".

[Sypher]

Torque gets your off the line, Horsepower keeps you going

[Perpetuus]

From a dimensional analysis perspective:

Torque: (1lb/ft) or (1N/m) = (1 kilogram meter per second squared)
1 meter
= 1 kilogram per second squared
= 1 kilogram
second²

Horsepower: (1hp) or (1Kw) = 1 kilojoules per second
= 1000 newtons per meter
1 second
= 1000 newtons per meter x second
= 1000 newtons
meter x second

Here is a site for horsepower: http://www.web-cars.com/math/horsepower.html

And one for torque:
http://www.answers.com/topic/torque


Horsepower and torque are related. Torque is created by a force that acts perpendicular to an "arm". At the end of the arm is usually something that we want to move or rotate. So, in a sense, either a longer "arm" or a bigger force (or both combined) will create more torque on whatever we want to rotate. It could be thought of as turning a bolt with a wrench. You don't have to turn it quickly to create enough energy to rotate the bolt if you have enough torque applied to the wrench.

Hope I didn't confuse anyone

[ihartmacz]

Torque FTW!!!