[Stingray280zx]

I'm sitting here still trying to figure out HP and what does it do. Like Torque determins acceleration, but what does HP really do. I'm thinking that it has to do with acceleration. or is it that Hp determins acceleration and Torque determins acceleration under load, so they work together, now that could make sense, but i need input on it. I went to this one webist that a guy reccomended and well it skipped around the HP topic but did not answer my question. I'm just trying to make sense of things lol. TIA

Emir

 

[John Coffey]

Re: Speed and Horsepower

Go to part 6...

http://www.esbconsult.com.au/ogden/locost/phors.htm

- John

 

[MintCondition29k]

Re: Speed and Horsepower

I think i remember reading somewhere, that for every thousand feet above sea level, you lose 1% of your engine's overall horsepower. Or something like that, unless your car is turbocharged. Is this true?

 

[zan500]

Re: Speed and Horsepower

John,

Thanks very much for that post it was very informative to me and I'm sure many others.

Stingray - on a note to help answer your question, horsepower figures are exactly that article said, a force used to keep a body in constant motion against resistance. You may be interested to know that horsepower figures are nothing more than an equation involving the amount of torque your engine is producing.
The equation is that hp = torque x revs / 5250. This means that at 5250 rpm your torque and horsepower firgures are the same, this also means that to get the maximum amount of hp from your engine you need to get maximum torque at maximum revs. S2000 Honda is a good example produces 200+ hp from a 2 litre naturally aspirated engine but that power is not produced until high in the rev range due to very high torque at very high revs. Based on this you should always be wary of people quoting high hp figures, they are directly proportional to the revs.

Hope this helps

Zan

 

[Mack]

Remember Physics in high school (grrr... mean ole Mr. Hoffman...)? Work is force over distance, power is work over time. Torque is work and HP is power.

 

[John Coffey]

Re: Speed and Horsepower

Yes.

- John