Car Talk 101 HP vs. Torque

Horsepower (HP) Vs. Torque

Which one is more important and for what reasons?

Car companies are always trying to show off how much HP their new cars have compared to others and it always seems like that is the most important number a car can have. Well, it is, and it isn't. Here are the facts about horsepower and torque.

Horsepower:

The term was originally used to describe the amount of power and work that some sort of engine or machine could produce and do compared to a draft horse. So if a machine had 1 horse power, that means 1 horse could do the same amount of work. Obviously once engines got more and more powerful it would be silly to use the same amount of horses. 

In short, horsepower is the engine's power. Usually the more power an engine has means the faster it can go. Its really that simple and that's all you really need to know and understand.

Torque:

Torque is essentially the engine's ability to produce and use power. While horsepower is the engine's power potential, torque is more related to how the engine uses the power. Torque is the twisting or turning force an engine can make. As the wheels need to turn to make the car move, torque is very important. If an engine produces too much torque, the wheels might just spin too fast and the car will never get a grip and move forward.

In short, torque is the force that pushes or pulls your car forward. It is the force that pushes you back into your seat when you step on the gas. Torque is usually better to have for lower speeds.

Whats good for what?

So to compare the two, more horsepower means the car has the ability to go fast. More torque means the car has the ability to get itself moving faster, and possibly what it is pulling as well. If you are going to be pulling heavy loads, you generally want an engine with plenty of torque, because the engine needs to get more weight moving. 

Usually, regular gas engines produce higher HP than torque. Diesels are the opposite. Turbos help with upping HP and torque for smaller engines. Electric engines have the ability to use 100% of their torque all the time, the more power you give them the faster they will go as well. 

So what is really more important, HP or torque? It really depends on what type of car you will be getting and what most of your driving will consist of. If you will be doing a lot of city driving, zipping into open lanes and through traffic, you will want to look for a car with more torque. If you will be doing a lot of highway driving on big open roads at high speeds, you want more HP. If you will be racing the car, you want more of both, but if the track has a lot of twists and turns, more torque. If it has more long straight sections, maybe more HP will be better. 

I hope this helps you with your future car shopping and decision making in the future!

J.K.