Does torque matter to you?

Does torque matter to you?

  • Total voters
    115
It matters to people like us with normal cars, fairly slow cars. I think that above 250 ft.lb is very tricky and not as important. Ferrari's proove this point. And also tuned Mercs - when they put a turbo or a supercharger on a Merc V8 the torque becomes ridiculously big and actually hurts the car, instead of making it faster.
 
_HighVoltage_ said:
It matters to people like us with normal cars, fairly slow cars. I think that above 250 ft.lb is very tricky and not as important. Ferrari's proove this point. And also tuned Mercs - when they put a turbo or a supercharger on a Merc V8 the torque becomes ridiculously big and actually hurts the car, instead of making it faster.
Click to expand...
How would it hurt it?
 
Since most regular cars (esp. Japanese) have a lot less torque compared to horsepower, why do people prefer to install a turbo instead of a supercharger?
 
^ Probably because superchargers are parasitic (belt driven) while turbos come for free. When you've got a big V8 you can afford some loss off the accessories whereas on a small 4 cylinder taking the parasitic loss hurts more.

Plus I think the European/Japanese focus on efficiency lends itself towards reusing existing energy (turbo).
 
Am I the only one here that thinks this is a bit of a silly question? HP is just a calculation of the torque number...

so the more the better...........no?
 
Seems like a good opportunity to repost my dyno sheet comparing my TA (5.7L LS1) vs my 951 (2.5L turbo)...

http://img524.imageshack.**/img524/2152/996dynocomparison944vstkj9.jpg
 
mkiv808 said:
How would it hurt it?
Click to expand...

Traction or lack there of. With grippy tires (I.e. slicks) lots of torque can lead to lots of parts laying on the track rather than you going quickly down the track.

Lambos r4ever said:
Since most regular cars (esp. Japanese) have a lot less torque compared to horsepower, why do people prefer to install a turbo instead of a supercharger?
Click to expand...

Turbos when setup properly can build low end torque. Look at most factory European turbo engines, they all make great torque.

I think the import guys took to them because:
1) many factory japanese cars came with them
2) if you're willing to put up with a horrible power band you can get high hp numbers 3) It was different from the domestics
4) easy to adjust boost for street vs track or fuel
5) the parasitic losses/efficiency.

Guys see "the SC is sucking up 30hp" but ignore the fact that it doubles your torque figures at 2000 rpms and still gives you a 50% gain in hp (I.e. a factory 160hp B16 with SC will actually dyno 240hp).
 
kaBOOMn said:
Rather, when does the torque band start? I want it to start at idle dammit!

I value throttle response and the size of the powerband most over outright power. For example I threw my turbocharger in the bin and went to a positive displacement supercharger (and a extra 500cc of capacity).

Any time, any gear I can get decent throttle response. Before, nothing really happened till 2000rpm-3000rpm (I spoze when you bounce off 7200rpm quite a bit it really doesn't matter) while it was fun, it was actually not that fast. While going to the blower wasn't the best for outright grunt (its quite a limited little unit and displaces far less air than the turbo did) the car is now considerable quicker point to point, with 7psi of boost avalible instantly.

Basically it means if I muff up a corner, I'm not totally caught flatfooted (low rpm, wrong gear). And since I'm far from God behind the steering wheel its really the best outcome.

I suppose the ultimate solution is a turbo and supercharged engine, and while it has been done with my particular type of engine, the compressors that where used where, well a little out of my budget. The other option is another 400cc of displacement, however you then run into crankshaft problems and the like. Still I keep the rpm down (pegged at 7200) so it not really a problem then?

The other issue is how progressive the torqueband is. A nice flat torque curve please, no dips or sudden peaks.

Sorry I hope you didn't goto sleep there!
Click to expand...

Necx0 said:
what car was that in???
Click to expand...

Uh somthing you don't like, 5 Speed VL Calais Turbo.......The motor is a Hybrid of all bits nissan (twincam RB30) so yeah....

I really get narky when people go on saying "but but the japanese do/don't......" Uh, sorry I'll stop there before I get nasty :mad: In short you want the powercurve of a V8. Deal with it.
 
kaBOOMn said:
Uh somthing you don't like, 5 Speed VL Calais Turbo.......The motor is a Hybrid of all bits nissan (twincam RB30) so yeah....

I really get narky when people go on saying "but but the japanese do/don't......" Uh, sorry I'll stop there before I get nasty :mad: In short you want the powercurve of a V8. Deal with it.
Click to expand...

Wait... what about an Alfa v6?
 
The problem is that a perfect world and reality are two totally diffrent things :(

Or we could go onto Alfa Romeo V8's like in the Montreal ;) The basic idea is this: four powerpulses per revolution are better than 3 or 2.....same then with a V12, with 6 power pulses per revolution (and the sound!)

Sadly since we can't have a perfect world, we must make do....
 
When did I say I didn't like VL Calasis Turbos??? Is it because I drive an R31??

There is a bloke down in hobart with a early 80's skyline with a supercharged RB30 in it, goes like that clappers.
 
same reason he thinks i dont like vl's, cause you have a skyline. everyone loves a vl :D
 
But we all not that tourqe isn't cheap!!

sorry....
 
driving a car with no guts at all certainly makes you think about what your doing alot more.

i basically have to plan all motorway merges and overtakes well in advance, because if i get in the shit...i aint got no torque to get me back out! to keep a little 1.4 on the pace you have to drive very smoothly,carry as much momentum as you can in all manouvers and be prepared to change gears like theres no tomorrow.

if in my car, if i arrive at a merge and find a HGV next to me...well.... i havent got the torque to acclerate past it in the limited space i got, i cant gear down because it'll go into 5000rpm where theres no torque anyway....all i can do is break and then hope theres nothing else coming because now i havent got the torque to get back up to speed quickly.

if i had a torquey car, i could arrive at the same situation and simply put my foot down.

but since i dont.... i must plan.... if i can see the traffic flow of the m-way im going to merge, ill pick it up as far back as i can so i can pick my spot.

still i love winding the crap out of the engine in my car, out of all the ford petrol engines they put in the mk1 focus, the 1.4 actually sounds the best.

yeah i dont go fast because i cant, but i have the right noises at least :D

as for torque over power? well more torque = more power, i think what i'd like is a car where the torque comes in at a usefully low revs, but then doesnt wash out after 3000rpm.

with cars like ferraris....well, your supposed to drive everywhere with the rev needle in the clouds, thats where the engine sounds best, wailing its head off. you have to be heard coming, and once your there make sure that people still notice you. those engines really sing and thats where they should be....so it doesnt matter that theres not alot at the bottom end... you shouldnt be there anyway.
 
thedguy said:
Traction or lack there of. With grippy tires (I.e. slicks) lots of torque can lead to lots of parts laying on the track rather than you going quickly down the track.
Click to expand...
Yeah, but you need to be producing A LOT of torque to break the driveline. Most people beef up their drivelines before that happens. And a lot of it comes down to how good the driver is.

Speaking from experience as a Supra and Corvette owner, there were Supra's pushing 1200ft/lb on the stock 6-spd tranny/rear-end that held up beautifully. A friend of mine has a 600rwhp twin turbo C6 Vette that is completely stock in the transmission, even the clutch! No problems at all, it runs amazingly well.

You need massive torque to get into the really impressive times at the strip. It's just a matter of being smart about it.
 
You are right. Those parts are built pretty well. But then there are cars like the NSX which from my understanding don't take well to engine mods partially because the transaxle just can't handle it, especially with lots of traction.

OT:1200lb-fts from a 2jz? I wanna see that dyno sheet. I'm not calling you a liar, I just want to see it. I don't quite see one making that kind of torque down in the low rpms.
 
Our Volvo has nearly 240 lb/ft of torque at less than 2000 rpm, I like the feeling of it but then again I've been in 4-cyl Accords that have around 160 lb/ft that don't feel very slow.
I'm sure this has been mentioned, but people say the RX-8 feels quick and it puts out less torque than I do. I haven't driven a large variety of cars so I can't say I prefer power to torque or vise versa.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top