Hi whats the difference between horsepower & torque?

Question

and heres an example (im using the Z28 Camaros because there the most well known for any speed questions) you got a (stock) 1998 Z28 Camaro LS1 equipped with 305hp & 335 ft lbs of torque and you got a 1989 IROC-Z 240hp & 345 ft lbs of torque this says with the (IROC-Z with the 350 w/dual exaust funny i thought all Camaro Z28's Had dual exaust especially the 3rd Gens in the 1980's) (as listed on the Camarosource 3rd gen page for 1989) so why did a 9-year older Z28 Camaro list more Torque then a 1998 LS1 Z28 but less horsepower of course then the 98'? so really torque is what matters when it comes to speed/acceleration? because you know now at days take for example the 2008 Lancer evo (stock) has 291hp & 300 ft lbs of torque so it has more horsepower then for example a 1995 Z28 Camaro 275hp & 325 ft lbs of torque LT1 (stock) so the 95' would still beat the evo? in then also you got a 2008 Corvette Z06 LS7 (stock) 505hp & 470 ft lbs of torque which to me and some may think its not at its full potential powerband (stock from the factory)? and finally what is the real difference between horsepower & torque and what really matters for accelleration/speed? i mean there are some cars that make like 100 or more ft lbs of torque then they make of horses for example 1978 Z28 (outside of california model as listed on camarosource.com) has 185hp & 280 ft lbs of torque?

Answer 1

Horsepower is a way to check the amount  pulling power of a vehicle.    Touque is a the amount of power it takes to cause  a force of rotation of an object.  

Answer 2

Horsepower and torque are related mathematically and will both increase to a point in the powerband until torque falls off and hp takes over but for this example I will try to keep it simple.  Torque is the twisting force that moves the car forward and HP is the top end speed of the car.  Now in your example you cited different models of Camaro and an Evo and a Vette.  These are hard to compare because there are many variables that you are leaving out.  First is weight, second is gearing, and third is engine size.  The weight dramatically affects the acceleration of an object as it takes more force to move the object.  Gearing comes in to play here because if you have 2 vehicles that have the same amount of tq/hp and one is geared high and one is geared low the lower geared car will shoot out of the hole much faster. Lastly the car that has a larger cubic inch engine will have a power band where the torque peaks much lower in the power band than a smaller 4 cyc engine therefore the 8cyc will have the ability to get off the line much quicker..  There is so much that could be written here you should pick up a few Chevy High performance mags or goto their website and read some of their tech articles...

Answer 3

Torque is the pulling power...think about it...semi's have around 450 HP but 1550 ft lb of torque...they can pull up to 80000 lbs...so torque is the pulling power. Hp is a unit of power...just like in Australia they measure horsepower in kilowatts...so horsepower is the amount of power produced while torque is the amount of pulling power.

Answer 4

ok, well torque is twisting power, like if you notice trucks have alot of torque but not much because they have to pull things, its kind of like how much power it would take to stop the engine from turning. horsepower is power, but of a different kind. Kind of like the engines power if it wasn't being held back. As for speed/accel. torque is better for accel, cause it gets the engine in high rpms fast, cause its not east to stop, hp is beter for high speed. and the camro would beat the evo from stop sign to stop sign, but on the highway the evo has it.

Answer 5

Horsepower is a unit to measure force. Torque is a vector that measures the tendency of a force to rotate an object around a center (axis).

in other words

Horsepower = Force

Torque = Force *  Distance

as for ur car u can translate Hp as the power ur engine produces and torque as effect of that power to be carried over and rotate your wheels.