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lol @ 3000 ft lb

By 3000s, I meant 3000 RPM, by the way. Making sure you didn't think I was saying 3000 lb ft or something.

260 lb ft isn't too bad, it isn't super high either, though. Once you get past making 400lb ft, you're getting into the more powerful stuff (of course a lot of that depends on your demands for the engine). Usually on a street motor you want to make your peak torque in the 3000s, depending on what kind of motor it is.

or im a moron and didnt see the second page. for simplicity sake- read jonathons reply!!

your on the right track. you can think of it as torque is what gets you off the line and horse power is what wins the 60 to 100mph race. for simplicity sake, sports cars are known for horse power while big work trucks are known for torque.

Jonathan wrote:Any lack of power is due to lack of torque. Disregard horsepower figures if you mean to accelerate, and that is at ANY speed. If you see speed vs. torque graphs, you'll see that the acceleration of a car directly corresponds to the torque that the engine is making. If you want to see what an engine is capable of, look at the torque curve and where it falls into place. High torque at low RPMs=torquey, good acceleration and smooth power. Works well off the line at 1/4 mile runs as well. High torque at high RPMs= good for high speed racing, road courses, etc.

cool thanks

how is this? :
Torque: 260 lb-ft @ 4,800 RPM

is 260 lb-ft high torque? what's considered 'high'?

Any lack of power is due to lack of torque. Disregard horsepower figures if you mean to accelerate, and that is at ANY speed. If you see speed vs. torque graphs, you'll see that the acceleration of a car directly corresponds to the torque that the engine is making. If you want to see what an engine is capable of, look at the torque curve and where it falls into place. High torque at low RPMs=torquey, good acceleration and smooth power. Works well off the line at 1/4 mile runs as well. High torque at high RPMs= good for high speed racing, road courses, etc.

okay so wait...if you were researching a car to find a powerful motor...you would want to look at what exactly?

ive always just looked at HP and torque...and the way i think of it is HP is like when youre at a high RPM, it will still accelerate fast if you were to punch it, and torque is what "pulls" you when you accelerate. very non-industry terms, i know, but please help me out :)

for instance, my 150hp honda :) ? if im going 70, i have absolutely no acceleration, is that from a lack of HP or what?

if you want a better feel for the overall performance of an engine, try to get a HP and torque curve graph for the motor.
here's an example for the non-stroked version of the motor in my Charger:



that way you can see where both the hp and torque area at any given rpm range.

Horsepower is the most overrated specification in the car industry, simply because people don't take time to balance out the different variables in making that horsepower. Instead of setting a horsepower goal, people should set a goal to make high torque in the RPM range you intend to use. The reason race cars are fast isn't because they have high horsepower, it's because they chose to apply torque in a higher RPM range(the RPM range that they use). If you increase torque in a high RPM range, horsepower will naturally increase as well. HP is simply a function of the equation torquexRPM/5454, 5,454 RPM being the point in which horsepower (mathematically) surpasses torque. Anywhere above 5,454 rpm, horsepower will rise at a very fast rate, and the higher you get in RPM, the less the HP rating indicates about the actual power (torque) you're making, because those higher HP figures come more from RPM than torque. There are two ways to increase horsepower, by either increasing torque, or increasing RPM. If you have 590hp at 9,000 rpm, it is still much less powerful than a motor that could make 590 hp at 6,000 rpm, because you wouldn't need as much torque to make 590hp at 9500 RPM as you would to make it at 6000 RPM, it's simply because of the RPM being a variable in the equation. That's why horsepower numbers can be misleading. The only benefit of running higher RPMs is that you can use a lower (numerically higher) gear ratio to go the same speed, equalling more torque multiplication. But while doing that, you're also revving the engine higher, increasing wear and tear on the engine, decreasing fuel mileage by a huge amount, and increasing emissions. Any motor that makes that kind of horsepower at that RPM will be using high lift, long duration camshafts and induction to match it, it isn't going to pass any emissions tests nor make it on the street. I'd highly doubt Honda would be willing to put their typical warranty on such a motor either.