Originally Posted by shabarivas

you guys are funny... do you even know what torque is? Torque is force applied over a radius... the ONLY thing torque affects is how quickly you accept change... think inertia of motion. You are sitting at rest and you need to move - the tq you produce tells you how much easier it will be for your system to resist rest (please go brush up on your physics)...

Klubb is absolutely right - when he says that the torque helps out more down low - let me try and explain why...

When your car is traveling 0 or 20 mph (low speeds) your TQ speaks volumes of how quickly you can accelerate... once you get up to 100+ (in most cars) you are only going to be increasing your speed by a few mph per instance (as compared to down low where tq plays a much more significant role)... so your car does not have to overcome rest as much - since its only going from lets say 100-105 compared to like 20-40 (takes about the same time)... up high it all comes down to how much power your car makes.

Torque = r x F = |F|*|r|*sin(theta) where the force being applied is your instantaneous forward force being generated by your engine (it needs to get converted to angular momentum etc etc etc)

"Torque is the static measurement of how much work an engine does, while power is a measure of how fast the work is being done. Since horsepower is calculated from torque, what we are all seeking is the greatest-possible torque value over the broadest-possible rpm range. Horsepower will follow suit, and it will fall in the engine speed range dictated by the many factors that affect the torque curve."

So in essence - these are things that are inter-related HEAVILY - i mean one is simply directly proportional to another (per rpm). Its like asking whats more important? steering wheels? or brakes? LOL... What you CAN infer from a HP / TQ curve is simply how efficiently that engine is making power - take the numbers together - they mean a LOT more...