ok i know the terms "horsepower" and "torque" are used alot but i dont really know what they mean. like the official definitions and how are they measured.and i figured someone here would know.

Let me see if I can give a good definition of torque. Torque is what actually how much power your engine has when you give it full throttle. I can't really explain hp that well.

but i thought horsepower was how much power your engine produced at full throttle.....who made up this stuff.why cant they just like rate engines on a scale of 1-10.

torque Pronunciation Key (tôrk) n.

The moment of a force; the measure of a force'* tendency to produce torsion and rotation about an axis, equal to the vector product of the radius vector from the axis of rotation to the point of application of the force and the force vector.

In layman'* terms basically its the amount of force the engie and tranny produce at the axle to turn the wheels. More force usually indicates quicker acceleration.

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horse·pow·er Pronunciation Key (hôrspour) n. pl. horse·power
Abbr. hp

A unit of power in the U.*. Customary System, equal to 745.7 watts or 33,000 foot-pounds per minute. The power exerted by a horse in pulling.

I believe this came about as cars replaced horses...Not sure what a Model A or T put out but im guessing it was so low that it was measured in the difference between horses pulling the car and the engine driving it.


-- Rogue

Torque isn't at WOT, it'* not even clost to peaking at WOT...

Torque is what you're putting on a wrench when you are wrenching somethign. It'* a weight at a measurement. Therefor my car makes the equivalent of 1 lb of push, 225 feet from the middle of the crankshaft.