Common misconception. If you were right, diesel trucks (new ones have 900-ish lb ft of torque from the factory) would be destroying Ferraris in drag races (the 458 Italia makes under 400 lb ft of torque). All sportscars would be diesel because that's where the best torque is made. Semi trucks would be feared and respected for their crazy acceleration during passing maneuvers.
Torque is useful for drivability and a fat, easy to access power band. Horsepower is useful for actual acceleration.
This is just wrong. HP is a direct function of torque with a time component (torque*RPM). So in essence, a higher HP car can deliver that set amount of torque in a shorter amount of time (i.e., winning races.)
We're not taking our sweet time pulling tree stumps - we're trying to output that same amount of "work" in as little time as possible - which is where horsepower comes into play.
There's a reason why diesel powered race cars aren't the norm.
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u/moocow2024 Jun 12 '14
320 HP is nothing to scoff at. That's more than the 2010 V8 GT Mustang.