Re: fizzicks question

["Frank Amoroso" <famoroso@sprintmail.com>]

Also known as "horsepower sells motors, torque wins races."

I'm also interested in the calculation for bhp at the wheels to bhp at the
flywheel. I know there is one, however I'm sure throwing a torsen center
diff into the mix skews things a bit, any thoughts? Is there not also an
equation for torque when horsepower is known and vice versa?

                                                                Thanks,
                                                                Frank--
-----Original Message-----
>I may be wrong, but I thought there was a direct correlation between torque
>and HP. Torque is the 'best' measurement of force or 'power'. 'Horsepower'
>is just the rate at which work is being done and is simply torque * RPM.
>
>The best measurement of the performance of a given engine, or to compare
>the performance of two different engines, is to compare the area under the
>torque curve between the same lower and upper RPM limits. The engine
>with the most area under the torque curve 'wins'.
>
>This is why, for example, autos with turbo engines with high and broad/flat
>torque curves beat autos with engines with far higher peak HP. In the real
>world engines must produce high torque across a usable RPM range
>because engines do not run constantly and only at peak HP RPM.
>
>This may be a gross oversimplification or even totally wrong,