[Shotimes] Dyno charts

[BJamesjr@aol.com]

> Thats not to say it won't accellerate, though. Think about the potential in
> all that rotational weight spinning at 150,000rpm.

Understanding these 2 terms can be difficult, but horsepower is what it says, 
power.  The amount of horsepower is what is most important.  Secondarily is 
at what engine speed the peak horsepower occurs.  This tells you what gearing 
and shift points you need to extract the horsepower.  For instance a Corvette 
redlines at a comparatively low rpm whereas a Honda S2000 redlines at a 
relatively high rpm.  For quarter mile runs you would want different gearing 
for one vs. the other.  For street performance you obviously have to operate 
the Honda at higher rpm's for similar performance.

OK, what about torque.  Torque is the measure of twisting force.  This is 
already figured into the horsepower rating.  Knowing the peak torque rating 
does tell you something though.  For instance look at the rpm at which peak 
torque occurs vs. the rpm at which peak horsepower occurs and you can 
determine how wide the torque band of the engine is.  That is, 2 engines with 
similar peak horsepower ratings might actually perform differently if one has 
a wider torque band than the other.  But what about the torque number itself? 
 You can look at the peak torque for a diesel engine and it will be a pretty 
big number, as compared with a high rpm engine like an SHO engine.  So you 
put that diesel in gear and try to accellerate but you don't get much because 
to put that torque at low rpm to the ground you need to be in a fairly high 
gear.  If you want to lug the engine around town, pull a trailer, etc. then 
having the peak torque near the range at which the engine will operate is 
good.

Net result- both horsepower and torque numbers are important depending on how 
the engine will be used.