Bob, yes on the drag strip, but if you are autocrossing, then you need
torque, as you are not going to be able to run at the hp peak all over
the course.
Beside, one of the beauties of the Ford small block is it can develop
good torque, which works well with a light car.
Larry
Bob Palmer wrote:
>Larry,
>
>Probably the only thing that might disabuse you of your opinion on torque
>versus horsepower is for you to take your car to a drag strip and test our
>respective theories. First, make a few runs keeping the rpm's centered on
>the "sweet spot" of the torque curve - perhaps around 4,000 rpm. Then make
>some more runs setting your shift points to keep the rpm's centered on the
>horsepower sweet spot - say around 6,000 rpm. You could also do this
>"virtually" using one of the available software emulation programs and get
>the same result - the result being that maximizing the average horsepower
>over the 1/4 mile gets you much quicker times and much higher trap speeds
>than shifting to maximize the average torque.
>
>So what is torque good for? First, it's a lot sexier word than horsepower,
>so if you are looking for a name for a really bad movie, "Torque" beats
>"Horsepower" hands down. Also, and more seriously, if you are an engine
>builder, then looking at a torque curve gives you more direct insight into
>an engine's operating efficiency than the horsepower curve does. Although a
>drop in torque will also show up in the horsepower curve, it won't be as
>distinct and the rpm point will be shifted.
>
>Bob
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