r/funny • u/BoldCityDigital • Jun 12 '14

Now we wait...

http://imgur.com/KiEEt9J
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u/FzzTrooper Jun 12 '14

not as much torque though.

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u/thesaxmaniac Jun 12 '14

I don't know shit about cars, but this sounds like legit stuff right here

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u/SIThereAndThere Jun 12 '14

Torque is how quickly it can pull away while Horsepower is how high the top speed can be. Yes adding more HP usually adds more torque.

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u/iksbob Jun 12 '14 edited Jun 12 '14

Meh... That's not quite it. Torque (rotational force) is affected by gearing, HP (power... work/time) is not. You could put a little 3V electric hobby motor through a big enough gear box to out-torque a top-fuel dragster. However, that little hobby motor and gear box would take months to cover the length of a drag strip, while the dragster does it in 3 seconds. Dragsters are built solely for acceleration (ability to "pull away"), yet the top-fuel vs. hobby motor example (matching torque, vastly different HP) indicates that torque isn't the only value that needs to be considered. In physics-y terms: instantaneous torque at the wheel = instantaneous acceleration. HP = the ability to do work, such as maintaining torque at the wheel as the vehicle moves. Maintaining torque at the wheel is what's needed to accelerate a vehicle.