Car Terminology

[erpowers]

Does anyone know where a person can find books and/or articles in which they can get a better understanding of the meaning of horsepower and pound feet of torque? I know that the more horsepower a car has the faster and smoother the car can accelerate. However, I do not really know what pound feet of torque means. I also do not know what other car terminology means. I like cars and reading about cars so I would like to have a better understanding of what those words mean.

[Hugin]

1. Try using Google (or the search engine of your choice) to look for those phrases...

You'll find a wealth of information.

[masshole]

2. This site has a nice glossary of terms

http://www.womanmotorist.com/index.php/news/main/event=viewCat/6

[scarpa43]

3. Try howstuffworks.com

Here is a link to the automotive section.

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/

[Oeditpus Rex]

4. Torque = twisting force

In vehicular application, think of it this very basic way:

•Horsepower = how fast you can go.

•Torque = how quickly you can get to that speed.

It's sort of pointless to express either as its peak, though. Most mass-produced engines generate the most horsepower at around 5,000 RPM and torque at around 2,500-3,000 RPM. Theoretically (and sometimes in practice), an engine could put out a brazillion peak horsepower but take forever to get to that peak. Think of it as a giraffe able to lift a Volkswagen, but it takes the giraffe 10 minutes to lower its head to pick it up.*

Performance engines are built with wider ranges of horsepower and, especially, torque, so that the plotted curves of each overlap as much as possible.



*I dunno how I think of this stuff. I really don't. :crazy: