Which car is faster in the 1/4 mile if all things were equal except one car was making 480RWHP and 515RWTQ and the other car was making 515RWHP and 480RWTQ? And why?

 

There's a LOT more to the equation than just hp and torque. Weight is a HUGE factor, aerodynamics, final drive ratio, transmission, ect.
Assuming the gearing is suited for one the other of the two choices you list it could go either way. The car with more hp and less torque would do better ONLY if is has stiffer gearing, same goes for the car with higher torque and less hp. Gearing that is numerically too high would hurt that car. Lots of variables here.

 

He said if all things equal...

 

There's not really enough difference to make a difference, the advantages in each scenario are pretty much offset at the low/high ends of the RPM range. The 2 theoretical motors probably would each require different gear ratios that benefit their respective power curves the most.

 

The one with the better driver

 

Edit for further math before answering.

 

Everything else being equal AND given that the transmissions / diffs are geared correctly for each engine, then I would give the note to the higher HP car. POWER is what causes accelleration (and yes, I know that goes against the old yarn about how you "feel" torque... Which is also true!).

Around town, the torquier engine would probably feel stronger, but that is because high torque usually also means lower rpm where torque peaks which means you are making more POWER at lower rpm than the high HP engine does.

Once you are on the drag strip, the engine spend most of it's time spinning between peak torque and peak HP if the tranny is geared correctly. The high HP engine will be making more power in this high rpm, limited "area under the curve" than the high torque engine, so the car will be accellerating quicker and will win the race.

 

Yea there is too many variables, and really the question doesn't really mean anything. There are other factors that are torque/power curve specific, like using a (numerically) lower gear ratio on a setup that pulls up top, like turbos or centrifugal blower that eliminates the 3/4 shift to save time. The formula is always sooo specific to a given setup or goal. Driver of course is the most important part, I see KB cobras at the track with all kinds of mods running in the friggin 13's...

 

The quick answer, is my car would win! LOL!

The higher HP will net you a higher Trap Speed, but not necessarily the faster ET.

Which car would I rather drive? The car with more torque!!!!

Don't worry G, your ride will easily take 90% of the cars out there!

 

The only relavent info is where they're each making their torque numbers. The car with the higher peak RPM will prevail. If car "A" peaks at 4k and car "B" peaks at 5k then car "B" will continue to walk away while car "A" loses time shifting. That's my .02 anyway.

 

The 07 GT500 and the 07 Z06 make about the same hp and torque, but the Z06 is a few hundred pounds lighter. With the same driver and the cars in excellent condition, the Z06 will run faster times in the 1/4 mile.

 

He said all things equal so that assumes that the peak torque and hps are the same rpm on each car.

 

hp=torque*rpm/5252. So there is no WAY for one engine with more torque than HP (meaning torque peaks well before 5252 rpm AND torque is falling faster than rpm is rising) to have the same peak torque rpm and peak hp rpm. Simply not possible.

 

I don't think you understood what i was saying.

I meant that the two engine. one is 515lbs torque 4000rpm and 480hp at 6000rpm and the other 480 torque at 4000rpm and 515hp at 6000rpm.

 

I've always been told that HP is how fast you can go and TQ is how fast you get there ...

 

hp and torque are meaningless in a poorly designed chassis, suspension, and drivetrain.

 

Man has this one gotten off track. Would the original poster care to elaborate and possibly expand the inquiry?

 

+1 (extra characters to meet the 4 character minimum?)

 

Well I was wondering if you had two cars one with 480RWHP / 515 RWTQ and the guy in the next lane has 515RWHP /480RWTQ and both are using stock gearing 3:55's mathematicly who would win the race with all things being equal. Is there a simple answer? I guess not. Not a biggie I was just curious.

 

Troublemaker!

I keeed of course!