What is torque, in an automobile ?

Question

In every tech.specification of an automobile this term is mentioned along with 'rpm'. I want to know the answer in simple lay mans term.

Answer 1

Torque is a force that tends to rotate or turn things. You generate a torque any time you apply a force using a wrench. Tightening the lug nuts on your wheels is a good example. When you use a wrench, you apply a force to the handle. This force creates a torque on the lug nut, which tends to turn the lug nut. Hence the stated RPM (Revolutions Per Minute) with torque.

So what is horsepower then?
The story goes that Watt was working with ponies lifting coal at a coal mine, and he wanted a way to talk about the power available from one of these animals. He found that, on average, a mine pony could do 22,000 foot-pounds of work in a minute. He then increased that number by 50 percent and pegged the measurement of horsepower at 33,000 foot-pounds of work in one minute. It is that arbitrary unit of measure that has made its way down through the centuries and now appears on your car

Break it down farther, torque means brut power, horsepower means speed. Tractors have massive amounts of torque but are not fast. A turbo Harley V-rod has lots of horsepower and is fast.

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Answer 2

Horsepower is the number that describes the amount of work the engine can produce. How you use it is entirely up the the guy who sets up the gearing. Torque is the ability to twist, as in axles and tires. The more torque you have, the less speed. That's why manual trans. have multiple forward gears. First is a high torque low speed ratio, while overdrive is a high speed, low torque ratio. In the O.D. gear, the engine cannot produce enough power( torque) to get the vehicle up a steep hill. If you are looking for a fast car, Look for a high torque first gear with at least a 30% drop between every other gear. This will let you take off from a standing start quickly, and as you shift, keeps the power curve ( transition from torque to speed) at a nice smooth curve. You can have a 1,000 hp engine in a car and with the improper gearing ( too high), you can grab the rear bumper at full throttle and hold it back because it doesn't have enough pull power. But, once it starts moving, it would be lightening fast. On the other hand, the same 1,000 hp engine with a 2,000:1 reduction first gear could pull a building off its foundation, but it would travel at a maximum speed of 1 mile per hour, full throttle.

Answer 3

What Is Torque In Automobile

Answer 4

simply put, torque is a direct measurement of the twisting force than the engine can apply. The amount of that force varies depending on how fast the engine is spinning ( the rpms) .

Horsepower is a calculation based on the torque measurement and the rpms.

To get horsepower you take (torque * RPM) and then divide it by 5252. It seems random but HP tends to be a better measure of how fast a car really is. HP and torque will always be the same when the engine is spinning at 5252. When you look at both numbers together ( hp and tq ) it gives you a better idea of how the engine behaves. Wether it is a high revving screamer or a low revving stump puller or something in between.

Answer 5

Torque is a force that tends to rotate or turn things. You generate a torque any time you apply a force using a wrench. Tightening the lug nuts on your wheels is a good example. When you use a wrench, you apply a force to the handle. This force creates a torque on the lug nut, which tends to turn the lug nut.
English units of torque are pound-inches or pound-feet; the SI unit is the Newton-meter. Notice that the torque units contain a distance and a force. To calculate the torque, you just multiply the force by the distance from the center. In the case of the lug nuts, if the wrench is a foot long, and you put 200 pounds of force on it, you are generating 200 pound-feet of torque. If you use a 2-foot wrench, you only need to put 100 pounds of force on it to generate the same torque.
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m.p.sharma
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Answer 6

Torque is a twisting force usually measured in foot pounds, it is used to tighten bolts and also used to measure the output of an engine. Horsepower is a result of torque and rpm.

Answer 7

You could call it "pulling power". It is the attribute of the engine that is called upon to Move the car from standstill or to climpb up a slope. Typically for the same overall power output, if you have more torque, then it is a very good thing.

Torque is no substitute for raw power though.

Answer 8

Torque is the force the engine is producing. When you twist on a locked door knob the force you are applying is torque. Horsepower is the speed the work can be done.

Answer 9

Torque = pulling power

Answer 10

torque is twisting force