Torque or Power ?

[RTHolmes]

depends what you like really, most fun car ive owned redlined at 7800rpm

[CAP1]

i've always driven fast. it never took my 12 second mustang anything over 5800rpm to do what i wanted it to do.........nor any of the hot rods i've driven. hell, my track car ran 9.9's shifting at 6400rpm.

[Skuzzy]

The best RPM for any engine will be dictated by a number of factors (cam, heads, intake, headers, main bearing size, rod length, valve springs and others).

I was riding with a friend, in his AC Cobra, and we got caught ona two lane, behind an 18 wheeler doing 50MPH.  He decided to pass the truck and by the time he got passed the nose of the truck, the speed-o was reading 135MPH.  I was grinning from ear to ear.

His engine dynos at 705HP and 695ft/lbs of torque at 5500RPM.  Running 3:73 gears through a T56.  Sixth put his 80MPH cruise RPM at around 1,900RPM, which was fine for his engine.  Oh, it is a 582 cubic inch Robert Pond engine.  It is in a pretty mild state of tune.....relatively speaking.

Cubic inches,...oh yeah, definately the way to go.

[Reaper90]

See Skuzzy, Carroll Shelby was right! 

[CAP1]

The best RPM for any engine will be dictated by a number of factors (cam, heads, intake, headers, main bearing size, rod length, valve springs and others).

I was riding with a friend, in his AC Cobra, and we got caught ona two lane, behind an 18 wheeler doing 50MPH.  He decided to pass the truck and by the time he got passed the nose of the truck, the speed-o was reading 135MPH.  I was grinning from ear to ear.

His engine dynos at 705HP and 695ft/lbs of torque at 5500RPM.  Running 3:73 gears through a T56.  Sixth put his 80MPH cruise RPM at around 1,900RPM, which was fine for his engine.  Oh, it is a 582 cubic inch Robert Pond engine.  It is in a pretty mild state of tune.....relatively speaking.

Cubic inches,...oh yeah, definately the way to go.

i like 3.73's for the street. they're perfect combination for pretty much everything.

[RTHolmes]

See Skuzzy, Carroll Shelby was right!  

... says the man who races Hondas




ok heres a question - if low end torque is so great, why arent you all driving turbo-diesels? can you buy a turbo-diesel vette or viper?

[CAP1]

... says the man who races Hondas




ok heres a question - if low end torque is so great, why arent you all driving turbo-diesels? can you buy a turbo-diesel vette or viper?

aahh...he runs hondas? that would explain the need for rpm. 

[Skuzzy]

i like 3.73's for the street. they're perfect combination for pretty much everything.

They really are, especially with a 6 speed tranny.

He road races his car and last year at the Texas Motor Speedway road course, there were 25 Cobras, and about the same number of Porsches on hand.  His Cobra could keep up with the Porsches in the curves and blow them away coming out of the curves into the straights.

One of the Turbo Carreras was bound and determined to beat him.  The Cobra would top at about 165MPH before braking into the first turn, the best the Porsche could do was about 150MPH and they stayed even in the turns.

In the middle of the straight, the Porsche engine blew.  You could hear his engine screaming.  My guess is he missed a shift as he was pushing to red line (if not farther).  My friend ended up with best time of the day and won out.

What he likes about his car is he can push it around the track all day long and then, swap out the tires and drive it home.  Most of the Porsches were trailered in.  Too radical for street driving.

That is not a ding against small engines.  Small engines can be far more efficient, per cubic inch, but they will strain a lot more to produce the same horsepower as a bigger engine can.

[Hajo]

My R/T crusies at 75mph at 1400 RPMs'.......has a 3.73 rear end.   By the way it's a 6 speed manual.

Gears folks....gears.    Don't forget'em...  Torque/HP + Gearing......decisive factors

[zack1234]

my wife has the power of talk

[Captain Virgil Hilts]

Robert Pond is a major player in my chosen arena, NHRA Stock Eliminator. He's a long time racer and builder of Ford FE engines. A Robert Pond engine is certain to be an outstanding piece.

[Reaper90]

... says the man who races Hondas

aahh...he runs hondas? that would explain the need for rpm.  

Hey hey, I road raced Hondas and Acuras with NASA and SCCA because ..... :drum roll:  I couldn't afford to do it Corvettes!

Trust me, if I had the budget to road race a Corvette in T1 or Super Touring, I'd be doing it. I do enjoy the Hondas, tho.... 7000+ rpm all day long, bouncing off the rev limiter (yes, I do like rpms, my ITB class '87 CRX Si had a 4.93 FD   ) and never break a sweat... you just can't kill a Honduh. All ever used to have to do in a whole season of road racing was keep adding gas, every 3rd weekend or so a set of tires, once a season a set of brake pads, and once every 4-5 events an oil change. Otherwise those "race cars" thought they were just plain old street cars and were reliable as you could ever want.

My '87 CRX Si, 2006 SEDiv ITB champion




My 86 Acura Integra LS, 2002 NASA Honda Challenge H5 National Champion



For reference sake, the lap times I turned in that CRX in race trim were within 1.5 sec a lap of the times I was able to turn in the 1990 Corvette, with 200 fewer horsepower (granted the CRX weighed 1500 or so lbs less )

[Curval]

I don't know the numbers but after I bought this 2010 Camaro SS, I put a Billy Boat custom performance exhaust on it.  They claimed it increases HP by at least 40, but I got it for the sound more than anything.  Stock SS has 423hp apparently.  Love this car.

[CAP1]

i'm waitin for the 2012 boss 302. 5.0L DOHC 440hp and 425 lb/ft of torque at 7500rpm. street car. runs 12's. laps laguna seca faster then the m3's and the other euro cars there. pulls over 1g on the skid pad.
 they say the boss will be starting at $40k. 

[VonMessa]

Displacement   4.0L/242 in-line 6     At least it's not a 4-cyl

SAE Net Horsepower @ RPM   190 @ 4600    meh...

SAE Net Torque @ RPM   235 @ 3200    not going to win any burn-out contests @ Wildwood

Final Drive Axle Ratio (:1)   3.73

Trans Type   6-speed Manual  (gives me 2200 rpm @ 65 mph in 6th gear)

Ability to go anywhere I want to, anytime I damn well please?

Priceless




If I feel the need to go fast, my dad has one of these that he has had since he was 16 that we are almost finished restoring and not to stock specs, either