whats better torque or horsepower??

Answer 1

Need both BUT torque is a little more important.

Answer 2

This is a difficult one, even I had to sleep on the difference between horsepower and torque. Ready, here it goes:

Horsepower is a measure of work. The more horsepower a something has, the more work it can do in any given instant. The car with the most horsepower will have an overall higher top-speed, given that all-else is the same (body shape, weight) because one engine is doing more 'work' than the other.

Torque, as informal is this may sound, is the amount of spin-force the engine can produce to turn the wheels. Since inertia makes it hard to move something that isn't moving already, it takes a decent amount of torque to get that darn wheel rolling. That's why most car sites equate torque to acceleration, the more torque a vehicle has, the stronger the spin force is to start moving, or to accelerate.

Taking these into account, it truly matters on what you mean by better. A tow-truck needs to have a tremendous amount of torque because it is trying to spin wheels carrying a ton of weight. Yet someone trying to break the world record would need to rely on HP because, overall, he is looking for top-speed.

In any case, you'd want to be wary of a short-coming on any end. As torque is nothing without horsepower, and vice-versa.

Answer 3

There's a line in an old song ("Love and Marriage"): "You can't have one without the other". Since it is torque that overcomes inertia and gets the vehicle moving, torque is obviously important, but then why do Chrysler-hemi-powered drag racers insist upon building 8,000 horsepower engines (and, no, that is not a typo)? Since horsepower and torque are interrelated, it is nonsense to talk about one without the other.If you're building an eight thousand horsepower hemi, you KNOW they're putting out awesome amounts of torque as well.

For a fairly comprehensive explanation check the source I've cited.

Answer 4

Torque gets you off of the line, horsepower maintains the speed you choose to cruise at. That is why a wide power curve is wanted, so that, as has been explained, both can be maintained with a fair amount of ease which translates into drivability.

Answer 5

There are a lot of good answers here.
Torque is potential to do work.
While Horse power is work being done.
When torque is at it's highest, horse power is at it's lowest.
The inverse is also true.
The point where both are equal in where cruising should be done.
Cars are rated for max horse power which means that at that point there is no more torque (or at the place where the rev limiter is set).
Torque will determine rate of change, while horse power defines max speed attainable.
One is not better then the other, as they are interdependent.

Answer 6

Torque, Horsepower is for bragging but torque does the work.

Answer 7

torque is rotational force
horsepower is a measurement of work

torque is better
horsepower=torque*rpm/5252
horsepower is a measurement of torque
one horsepower 33,000 foot pounds of torque an hour

Answer 8

torque for pulling. horsepower for fly'n! Ilove them both!

Answer 9

If you like a 9000 rpm V-Tec engine near redline, that's HP.
If you like a classic muscle car that pulls like a freight train from idle to 4000 rpm, that's torque
Grap a locked door knob! The amount of force you can apply to turn that knob is torque.
It's all good!

Answer 10

Torque gets ya moving. HP gets ya top end ! So what do you want?