No Replacement For Displacement

Love that Torque!

I've been trying to find something political to talk about today, but, frankly, I haven't found much out there to talk about. I haven't even found any fisking material that has grabbed my attention to any degree. So right now, I am going to talk a little bit about cars. This might actually get more flames than a politics post, especially if any Honda VTEC guys are reading.

There is a saying in the car world, "Horsepower wins reviews, but torque wins races." This saying applies to cars that are involved in drag racing, or the occasional stoplight battle, and it applies to the difference in cars with peaky, high-rpm motors vs. cars with large displacement motors.(Think of the classic V-8 engine vs the DOHC motors so common today).

Let me give you an example out of personal experience. My daily driver is a Ford Crown Victoria with the handling and performance package(don't laugh--it's the civilian version of the cop car, with better cornering than the cop version). The car weighs about 3850 lbs, has a 210 horsepower engine(at 4500 rpm), with 270 ft lbs of torque(at 3500 rpm). My mother's car is a 2000 Ford Taurus. It weighs in about 3400 lbs, has a 200 horsepower engine(at 5650 rpm) with 200 ft lbs of torque(at 4500 rpm). For the sake of clarity, the horsepower numbers of both cars are pretty accurate, but the accurate weight could be as much as 120 lbs off, as both cars are pretty heavily optioned, and the Crown vic has a tow bar.

One would think, given the Taurus' obvious HP/weight advantage, 17lbs/hp vs 18.3 lbs/hp, that it would beat a Crown vic at a stoplight. However, it is only a couple of tenths faster than the crown victoria(if that), and if both cars are loaded with 3 passengers, the Crown Vic is actually significantly faster. Why is that? Torque. The torque/weight ratio for the taurus is 17lbs/ft-lb, and that number does not reach its peak until 4500 rpm. The Crown Vic has a torque/weight ratio of only 14.3 lbs/ft-lb of torque, and that extra torque comes online at 3500 rpm, 1000 rpm sooner in the powerband than the Taurus.

One can easily tell the differences between the two cars at a stoplight. The Crown vic positively "leaps" away when you hit the gas with any gusto. In fact, I have found that even when I am not flooring it, I am rocketing ahead of all the cars at the stoplight. It reaches it's power peak quickly, but then sort of "runs out of breath" as it reaches high revs(or at least, that is how it feels). However, even when fully loaded, that sensation of "leaping" is there, and when the power is needed, it typically is there.

The Taurus is different. When you floor it, especially when loaded, it doesn't give the sensation of being kicked in the ass the way the Vic does. However, once the engine hits power peak, it pulls quite well. However, there is one big problem with that. By the time the engine is revving fast enough for you to take advantage of that power, you are moving to fast to take advantage of it. The extra power makes the car a blast to drive, but the opportunities to take advantage of all that top end horsepower are more rare, and the power doesn't feel as easily available.

So what does this mean if you are going to buy a car? If you are looking for a performance car, pay attention to that torque number! It is not simple window dressing. A lot of manufacturers now build cars with very high horsepower numbers, but mediocre or even poor torque numbers. Honda is the worst offender in this regard, though they aren't the only one. Someone may buy a car with 200+ horsepower, but if that power isn't available under 6000 rpm, the driver will never be able to use it unless they sneak into Lime Rock for a few laps. When that person takes his girlfriend or coworkers out for a drive, and crows about his sports coupe, he might be in for a very rude shock when he realizes that unless he is willing to rev the engine like a madman everywhere he goes, he is going to get his head handed to him by Grandpa in a fake carriage roof Grand Marquis.

If you are shopping for an SUV or pickup, torque isn't just important. It is everything. If you are going to tow a trailer, you are going to want torque. If you are carrying heavy loads, you are going to want torque. You are going to want torque, and a high-hp low-torque engine isn't just "not as good", it is actually a very bad thing. No SUV or pickup needs a high revving engine under any circumstances whatsoever. Low torque when it comes to towing is worse than useless. A high revving low torque engine when towing means burned out clutches, a strained motor, and other bad things.

Again, let me use some personal experience to illustrate why. Before I bought the Crown Vic, we would use my brother's Ford Ranger pickup to pull the boat out of the water. The Ranger had a 2.3l motor with 100 hp and 133 ft-lb of torque. The boat & trailer probably weighed between 2500 and 3000 lbs. Every year fall we would engage in the same ritual when it came to pulling the boat out of the water. Put the truck into first gear, rev the engine up to 3500 rpm or so, then let the clutch out and hope the truck doesn't stall in the process. This would be repeated a number of times, and one could smell the asbestos as the clutch would burn off what would normally be about 10,000 miles of wear in an afternoon. One time we were lucky, and a guy with an F-350(probably with either a 351 or a 460 cubic inch motor) pulled both the pickup and the boat trailer up the ramp, with no fuss at all.

Now after I used the Crown Vic(which I bought specifically because it makes an excellent tow vehicle), the experience was wildly different, and vastly preferable. I would put the boat on the trailer, and pull the boat and trailer out of the water, with virtually no fuss. I did not need to build up a head of steam to climb a hill with the trailer behind me, and I really didn't notice the trailer was even there.

Why was the F-350 able to pull both another pickup and a boat up a ramp? Why did I have so little problem with the trailer when the Ranger could barely accomplish the same task? Again, the answer is torque. Trucks and SUVs need torque almost as much as they need four wheels. They especially need it when towing or carrying a heavy load. My experience at the launch ramp proved it beyond any doubt.

So, what it all comes down to is this: When shopping for a car, pay attention to the torque number alongside the HP number. It will make a difference in how the car performs. When buying a truck or SUV, pay attention to the torque number first. Torque is very important component of both automobile and truck performance, and those who ignore it do so at their peril.

Now, if you'll excuse, me I saw a Guardian article that urgently needs a strong fisking.