View Single Post
      05-03-2013, 07:38 PM   #43
Alpine*
Brigadier General
Alpine*'s Avatar
Australia
1281
Rep
4,092
Posts

Drives: M2 G87
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Australia

iTrader: (0)

Quote:
Originally Posted by KoenG
Quote:
Originally Posted by ovekvam View Post
What is the point of comparing engine torque anyway? Power matters. Not only peak power, but the entire power graph. Torque is a meaningless figure for car performance unless you know the RPM, so you can compute the power. Torque is interesting when selecting dimensions inside the gearbox, though.

If you doubt what I say here, think about what the gearbox does to the torque. The power tells you how much torque there is left at the wheels at a given speed, which is what counts. The torque at the engine tells you nothing about how the car will perform.

100 hp at 2000 RPM and 100 hp at 4000 RPM will perform the same way.
100 Nm at 4000 RPM will perform a lot better than 100 Nm at 2000 RPM, since it equals twice as much power.
Endulge me... Put a 125i and a 125d in 3rd gear at 20mph. Now ask full throttle in both. Which one will be arriving first at 60mph??

I'am certain you know the answer...
Change back to second gear, bye bye diesel.
Appreciate 0