If two cars are exactly the same, gears, weight and rwhp but one has much more torque than the other, will it be faster than the other in the 1/4 mile?

Say a corvette with 300rwhp and 300rwtq vs. another corvette with 300rwhp and 400rwtq run the 1/4 mile. How much faster would the one be with more torque?

Just curious.

 

You gotta remember, torque and horsepower are equal at 5250 rpms...so there shouldn't be as big a gap as your example.

Also, peak hp and tq are not as important as the torque curve.

to answer the example, the 400rwtq car would be a good bit faster, if he hooks 'em good.

 

to have that example be true the second vette would have to be making peak torque much earlier than the first. It might actually not be any faster as it would strugle for traction and you'd have to short shift it to keep it in the torque band.

The key is a good SPREAD of torque across the rev range.

 

So more torque just as long as it has a good curve will definately improve your times.

 

I thought http://www.hemipanter.se/ had a nice explanation of things. Scroll down just a little to engine.

 

You're basically pinning a slightly modded LT1 vs. a built L98. To use the torque more efficiently, the gearing would have to be within the powerband. More doesn't always mean better, but if the setup is right then you will hook up and pull hard.

 

How is this for a torque curve? I was trying to figure out if this would make me substantially faster in the 1/4 mile.
I still have my 2.59 gears so this thing screams at higher speeds.

 

Quite a difference there. I am wondering why the new one drops off? Shouldn't the TQ and HP rise over time? Something does not look right . Tune mabey?

 

That is a before and after tune. The higher number is my second tune.

 

Looks like a usual L98 dyno graph to me.

But to the original question, there are too many other things I could play with to make the car with less TQ just as fast if not faster. Gear optimization, TC, where it peaks, etc. Generally I'd have to say more TQ would be faster.

 

The endless debate of horsepower vs torque....the answer to your original question is there is not enough information provided to give an answer..

....but your dyno graph does give a basis for some discussion...

For discussion sake assume an overall gear ratio of 1:1 so that rear wheel torque equals engine torque...if we accelerated from about 3400 to 5100 without changing gears,the acceleration would be strongest at 3400rpm where you are at 235wrhp/360rwtq and the weakest at 5100rpm where you are at 290rwhp/300rwtq........makes one think that torque is king...however what is king is rwtq which can be maximized with horsepower and gearing..

So now when we are 3400 rpm, instead of just accelerating lets downshift so that the motor jumps to 5100 rpm or 1.5 times faster...now the motor is at 300 torque, but the rear wheel torque is now 330*1.5=450 rwtq...everything is at 290 horsepower...It should be obvious that with 450 rear wheeel torque the accleration will now be much greater than it was originally with 360rwtq...

290 vs 235 horsepower will be king IF we gear it right

So horsepower with proper gearing will always win!

Some food for thought...enjoy

 

So my car would be faster if I changed my intake to say a mini ram. I would lose torque and prob gain some pretty good hp.
Now would it feel faster? Or would it be as fun to drive?

 

If you left the 2.59s in there, it would be dreadfully slow in lower rpms.

 

How about torque with the proper gearing. Higher torque, higher gear ratio to keep it even with a car with higher hp lower gear ratio?

 

What makes a car like the L98 a really fun street car is you don't have to drive it like Mario Andretti to get it to perform......while you might not be obtaining the ultimate performance with a high torque engine it gives a really great performing car at relatively low rpms..street friendly...long engine life

...but just remember it is horsepower that ultimately enables the highest performing car.....the lower torque engine with higher horsepower gear to be at the peak horsepower rpm will always put more rear wheel torque to the ground and that is what causes acceleration..

more torque at the rear wheels means more horsepower required from the engine...always true..

 

Your question is not well enough defined. By , "faster", do you mean the 1/4 mile speed or do you mean the time? Furthermore, it cannot be determined which car would be faster no matter what definition you meant. The acceleration of the car is determined conclusively by the area under the horsepower curve delivered to the drive wheels during the run. Not knowing that, peak hp and/or peak torque tells you nothing!

 

 

http://www.vettenet.org/torquehp.html

 

Does anyone have dyno graphs of some really good power curves? Im just interested to see in comparison to mine.

 

I'n not saying that my car has the best power curve but it's a good comparison for you.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/phot.../ppuser/209765