Kw and torque

[letemlaf]

we always hear about kw or hp, but which one do we need to chase when talking about acceleration speeds and top speeds?

and if anyone knows...why?

[4door_Sleeper]

torque wins races, kw wins dyno shootouts.

[letemlaf]

so why do we always hear so much about hp?

btw what is the standard torque of a r33 gtst?

[predator]

Torque = (HP * 5252) / RPM

Here is a good guide: http://vettenet.org/torquehp.html

or

http://science.howstuffworks.com/fpte4.htm

[51jay]

so why do we always hear so much about hp?

btw what is the standard torque of a r33 gtst?

Because big hp numbers seem to impress a lot of people regardless of how drivable the car is.

Stock torque is I think 294Nm at 4800rpm

If you want a Very quick Skyline that will kill most others but not it's own mechanical bits and pieces aim for an engine that puts out as close to 400Nm as you can get between 2500 and 6500 rpm

[4door_Sleeper]

Remember that you can convert the HP of your engine into more torque by using a gear box. Its sole purpose is to provide a useful amount of touque at a specific rev range to overcome a lack of torque.

Good example - try taking off in top gear, tour engine has the same amount of HP but lacks the torque down low when you need it to get you started. Its also why you cant accelerate as quick in overdrive because you reduce the amount of torque to achieve the higher gearing and hence higher top speed.

[blx]

ouch my head hurts!

What is the best way to achieve more torque? Are there specific mods that will do this?

[calvintys]

i dono about all this but i know if i want more torque on my GTR, i can just use my torque control and shift full torque to my real wheel... it speen like hellll...... i cant even drive it proper on my 1 and 2 gear....

[4door_Sleeper]

Calvintys - your torque control only adjusts where the torque is directed ie. 100% to the rear wheels or a %rear and the rest front, it will not give you any more torque.

blx - the normal mods you do to any engine will improve torque, its more about how its tuned to ensure you end up with a big flat torque curve rather than tuning for a high RWKW figure ant a narrow torque curve.

Think of it like this - I am sure you've heard of cars with incredible KW figure that can't be driven daily because they only make there power at the top end (5500 - 7000rpm) and hence are cops to drive - these cars are tuned with a narrow torque curve because they are chassing high KW. However a track car will be tuned with a wide torque curve and although the KW figures may not be as impressive, it will go like the clappers.

Hope this helps :-)

[Birnie]

Also, quick note that HP and KWs refer to exactly the same thing...power measuerments.

I'm not sure exactly how they are measured though.

Just like Gallons and Litres are both liquid volume measurements.

[4door_Sleeper]

Birnie - I cant quite agree with you on that one. There is a relationship between them, but are you saying that two cars with say 200rwkw will also have the same torque? - I dont think so :-) it also depends on the RPM that the kw are made at.

check out the site preditor posted above : http://vettenet.org/torquehp.html it explains it quite well.

[Birnie]

No, i didn't mean that.

He says in the opening staement about whether to chase HP or KWs.

I just wanted to point out that they are both measurements of POWER.

I realise power and torque are 2 different things but KWs = power and HP = power, just using a different measurement scale.

Clear as mud yeah??

Like psi and bar are both measurement of pressure and in that sense are the same thing.

So if someone said "should i be going for 14psi or 1 bar?" its the same.

Or should i be chasing 250Hp or 187 KW's???? Its the same thing.

Well i know what i mean anyway...weehee !