03-10-2010
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#1
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flips McGee
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Good article on torque, horsepower, and gearing
Basic and over-simplified, but gets the brain working pretty good 
http://www.jacobmcdonald.com/weblinks/hptq2.html
That article is good, but it is *way* over-simplified. We all know that engines don't produce their peak horsepower through the entire powerband. His logic in the end really would only stand if the theoretical cars were equipped with CVT's and held at peak horsepower.
Still, the logic is fairly sound. More horsepower = more acceleration. But I can tell you, having tons of torque down low just means you have more horsepower through your powerband. My BBK makes over 300whp at 4000rpm, but a SC61-powered car making similar peak power won't make it until 5500. Which car is faster? In the correct situation, mine; I don't have to shift as much to keep on accelerating!
Torque wins races really means having a wide powerband wins races, right? As long as peak output is similar, the car with more torque down low is going to be faster.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Murlo26
I need to listen to Scheides more often i think :)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by turbotalon1g
...I realized that I can't keep up my shit talking without anything to back it up.
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by JV
S2000: For those of us that know the Miata is the best car on the planet, but also want extra power and to not have to turn in our man cards.
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03-10-2010
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#2
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formerly ecoli
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: On the dyno
Posts: 4,892
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Re: Good article on torque, horsepower, and gearing
Horsepower band, gearing, weight, traction, suspension, and driving wins races. Some high peak TQ is the least important thing, unless you are stuck in the 1960s. |
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03-10-2010
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#3
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flips McGee
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Re: Good article on torque, horsepower, and gearing
what's the difference between a 400whp supra and a 800whp supra? :P
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by Murlo26
I need to listen to Scheides more often i think :)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by turbotalon1g
...I realized that I can't keep up my shit talking without anything to back it up.
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by JV
S2000: For those of us that know the Miata is the best car on the planet, but also want extra power and to not have to turn in our man cards.
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03-10-2010
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#4
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AznKraut
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Stillwater
Drives: '03 325i, '98 Ranger '03 Duramax
Posts: 1,374
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Re: Good article on torque, horsepower, and gearing
Quote:
Originally Posted by scheides
what's the difference between a 400whp supra and a 800whp supra? :P
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How big the kid's trust fund is? 
__________________
A//// Guy: putting a dsm on a website as your fleet vehicle is like asking people to shop elsewhere
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03-10-2010
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#5
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Re: Good article on torque, horsepower, and gearing
So basically, swiftys car wont be fast?
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03-10-2010
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#6
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Transmission destroyer
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Cambridge
Drives: G37, 91 TSi
Posts: 7,150
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Re: Good article on torque, horsepower, and gearing
Quote:
Originally Posted by scheides
what's the difference between a 400whp supra and a 800whp supra? :P
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If the 800hp Supra has a crap driver then nothing. With good drivers, the difference probably would be about 4 seconds.
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by scheides
I swing from the nuts of cold hard data. Anything less is a guess.
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03-10-2010
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#7
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formerly ecoli
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: On the dyno
Posts: 4,892
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Re: Good article on torque, horsepower, and gearing
Quote:
Originally Posted by LingLing
How big the kid's trust fund is? |
Good answer! |
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03-10-2010
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#8
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Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Prior Lake
Drives: Icarus
Posts: 1,375
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Re: Good article on torque, horsepower, and gearing
The thing most people fail to realize is it's about average wheel thrust after factoring in TQ multipliers (such as gearing, or wheel size) , rather than average engine HP or TQ.
This is one of the better articles I've found over the years that explains the basic concepts:
http://craig.backfire.ca/pages/autos/horsepower
Dyno graphs can be very deceiving because they don't show you the actual wheel force curves for each gear.
__________________
"The moment money becomes your motivation, you're immediately not as good as someone who is stimulated by passion and internal will"
-Sebastian Vettel
Last edited by Tachyon; 03-10-2010 at 12:34 PM..
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03-10-2010
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#9
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Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: The land of the next-gen HMMWV
Drives: A BMW
Posts: 1,875
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Re: Good article on torque, horsepower, and gearing
I think you make a valid point, Tachyon, but I think scheides points were mainly along the lines of power and torque distribution. Like you said, scalers bring it down or up, but don't change the shape/distribution of the curves.
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Style's automotive engineer
Sponsored by DB Performance (dbptuning.com)
A dsm, a bimmer, a DORGE CUMMINZ, and a non running DSM race car... for now.
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03-10-2010
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#10
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Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Prior Lake
Drives: Icarus
Posts: 1,375
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Re: Good article on torque, horsepower, and gearing
Quote:
Originally Posted by s1ngletracker
I think you make a valid point, Tachyon, but I think scheides points were mainly along the lines of power and torque distribution. Like you said, scalers bring it down or up, but don't change the shape/distribution of the curves.
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I was more appending to his information, rather then suggesting contrary 
__________________
"The moment money becomes your motivation, you're immediately not as good as someone who is stimulated by passion and internal will"
-Sebastian Vettel
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