i've always been confused about the 2,

and i never knew which one would be better in higher numbers
for example

car 1
330bhp
370lb ft

car 2
340bhp
360lb ft

which one would be the better car? in any way whatsoever

 

Martin Brundle once explained it thus;
Torque is how hard you punch, bhp is how fast you punch.

Of the two cars you've posted, I'd go for car 1 as it's the torque you feel (although 10lb/ft difference you'll struggle to notice the difference).

 

what colours are the car?


Seriously though, the numbers are so close that they'd be hard to tell apart. If you're looking at the differences in driveability, think BMW 330D, doesn't rev hard but goes like stink and Civic Type R, all revs and little torque, but again, goes like stink - so it depends on your driving style.

 

Now it's me with the double posts.......................

 

That's too close to call.....

My experience is that mine 392 bhp / 360 ft.lb.s, feels quick because you have to rev it, and it spools like a crazy thing....

Lee's 2.5 has 360 bhp / 390 ft.lb.s, and is just as quick, but does it with little obvious effort from 2500 rpm onwards.

So in top gear at 70 mph mine is fast asleep, whereas the 2.5 is off and running.

HTH

dunx

P.S. Then there's the fact that I've got a six speed and Lee runs a five speed.

 

Here is my own personal analogy:

BHP is a piece of paper with a figure written on it.....thats it. You are not going to feel or experience BHP whilst driving your car.

Torque is what you feel whilst driving the car, torque figures can be the difference between the car being lovely to drive, and absolutely crap to drive.......although the one with crap torque may have a high bhp figure!

Greg

 

torque = more fun!

 

Biggest powerband wins the day. Its not all about peak figures.

 

It is all about the area under the curve

Banny

 

Its about spinning four wheels .

 

Banny

 

Id definately say torque is better than big power. Just look at races like Le Mans. The Audis and Peugeots are all down (slightly) on power of the petrol cars but are still winning races due to the amount of torque they produce. A mate of mine has a Audi A5 TDI which has had a remap and got over 450lb ft of torque and pulls like a train

 

 

me and k8ller done some testing he had his 2.1 with meth and 18G his car had 411/392 and mr car had a built 2.5 with 20G no meth i was running 385/418 both type rs, both had passengers both had exact supporting mods same wheel size. we done lots of rolling starts i always got the jump by a car or half a car but he always cought up till we are level and stayed neck and neck. we done rolling starts from 20mph rolling starts from 50mph and rolling start from 70mph onwards on a private road. it was very tight it nice really to have a bit of both and like banny said its all bout the curve on the graph.

if your planning the car for the strip then i would say more bhp is always better as when you change gear you fall on the sweet spot and the car will pull harder toowards the redline. if its for the road or track depending on the track then more torque.

 

nice graphs boys

 

I still remeber that day Mus . On a 2.5 the midrange is just deadly!

 

lol that was fun

 

to choose one,

A,
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SUBARU-IMPREZA...#ht_1112wt_962

or B,
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1633707.htm

 

Someone once said too me "BHP turns heads, Torque turns wheels"

 

Torque gets you going, bhp keeps you there

Banny

 

A saying i was told a few years back...

Understeer is hitting the the wall the front side off your car,
Oversteer is hitting a wall with the back side of your car,
BHP is how fast you hit the wall
Torque is how far you take the wall with you

its stuck well

 

lol good one trell

 

Car one, because it has a wider torque spread. BHP is an expression of the relationship between torque and engine revolutions.

 

Yup, the easiest way for me to understand Torque and Power is to look at exactly what it is. Torque is a turning force produced by the engine and BHP is the "work" done by and engine at a certain speed. If we look at BHP and lb/ft then Power = (torque x RPM)/5250. This is why power and torque lines cross at 5250 (as long as we are still talking BHP and lb/Ft and the scale on the graph for both is the same). So if you have two cars, one produces 300bhp at 6000rpm and another produces 350bhp at the same revs. Then the one with the higher output has more torque at 6000rpm and so will pull better at those revs. Same if you look lower down the rev range, if a car is producing more torque lower down then another car, it will pull better. It will also be making more power at that point.
I had a friend that couldn't understand why my car was so much faster than his when mine was rolling roaded at 300bhp and his was 296bhp. Ignoring the fact that his was tested at Well lane I told him it's because his peaked so much higher up the rev range, where as mine was a fairly flat power curve that peaked at 300, but made more torque accross the whole rev range especially lower down.

As already stated, the shape of the curve and the area under it will determine which is the quicker car overall. Peak figures are not much use except in a pub. My opinion anyway.

 

 

I much prefer the driveability of a modern diesel compared with its petrol equivalent, people go on about the noise of diesels, but I'd rather not hear a 4 cylinder at all unless it is a Scooby. The rush of torque can be quite fun and you can make good progress without making a scene. Shame they are often plagued by injector/pump/DPF/clutch/flywheel issues.

 

280hp at 4000rpm, 619hp by 6500 rpm ... that must be some rush

TX.

 

Big power (road) cars tend to have big torque too though whereas the diesels tend to be high torque, lowish bhp eg modded scoob vs modded diesel. I've not checked albeit would guess that a scoob may be 450/450 (hp vs torque) whereas a diesel would be 300/550? Scoob must be quicker, assuming in correct gear

TX.

Edit - very informative posts above BTW.