The Definitive Torque vs. Horsepower post
Year after year, I keep seeing the same old debates about torque vs. horsepower. Everyone seems to have a general idea that we are referring to power, but most don't really understand the relationshi...
Forum Discussion
ah64id wrote:
It's hard to compare the efficiency of gas vs diesel because diesel fuel has more BTU's.holstein13 wrote:
Meaning, you only get that maximum horsepower in top gear at top speed and depending on how your vehicle is geared, you may never be able to achieve that top gear at maximum RPM because your vehicle is too heavy or has too much wind resistance or has some other friction
Why do you have to be in top gear to make peak hp? In factory form my motor made peak hp at 2900 rpms, I could hit those rpms in any gear and be wide open making full power. Now in lower gears there will be some torque management, but that goes away at approx 35 mph.
Good point and this is a bit confusing. You could theoretically achieve your peak horsepower in any gear (especially while climbing a mountain). But most of the time, we are driving on a level surface and if you hold steady your maximum RPMs constant, your torque will decrease because you don't need the power.
Therefore, if you have any room for acceleration, that means you are not producing your maximum horse power. Mathematically, you will only achieve your maximum horsepower at maximum torque times maximum RPM and that almost always happens in top gear (unless you are climbing a mountain)
Another way to think about this, is that you will only achieve your maximum horsepower when you are burning fuel the quickest.
