Need some help understanding.

[ManweCoD]

Hi guys, I know this probably sounds ridiculous but I'm a total noob when it comes the automotive stuff.

I've never totally understood what horsepower and torque are. From reading some articles on the internet, what it seems to me is that torque is how much an engine can push (or turn) and horsepower is how fast it can turn that. Am I at least close or am i way off.

Thanks

 

[carlsbadbronco]

torque is how much force acting on an object causes that object to rotate. so in other words.....it takes less torque to move a small car (to make those tires turn) and takes more torque to make the tires on a heavier bigger truck turn.

horsepower is equivelant ( i'm sure it's not exact but....) to 33,000 foot pounds of torque in one minute. A long time ago they used to measure how much work one horse could do. A **** raising coal out of a mine could either raise 33 pounds 1000 feet in one minute, 330 pounds 100 feet in 1 minute or any equivelant. Does that make sense. They just convert it to mechanical power nowadays instead of animal power.

 

[ManweCoD]

Yea I read that "analogy" but I don't really get it. I kind of need a "modern real life" analogy. But thanks for your input.

 

[snowman74]

Here is an article I found that explains torque and horsepower as detailed and plain as I have seen. Hope this helps you out!

http://vettenet.org/torquehp.html

Snowman74 >-

 

[Bully Bob]

I think what your asking/answer is;

Torque comes into play at low RPMs

A 454 BBchev. eng. in a boat, gets it going pretty quick due to the torque qualities.

Horsepower is rated at higher RPMs

Some examples are small V/8s reaching max. HP @ 4500/5000+ BUT,

most folks never have a reason to run in those areas of the power curve.

 

[carlsbadbronco]

CX\hech this out if you ever get a chance.....ANYONE! http://www.howstuffworks.com

type in anything and you can learn. shows pictures, toons and everything. very informative!

Added data to make link work. Seabronc

 

[snowman74]

Yea I read that "analogy" but I don't really get it. I kind of need a "modern real life" analogy. But thanks for your input.

Do you have a better understanding now? I was going to send you to "How Stuff Works" it is one of my favorites...but I found that other link and it was pretty thorough. How Stuff Works will teach you just about anything. Let us know if you got it...if not, we'll try something else.

Snowman74 >-