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Post by surfinboy on Jun 24, 2022 16:30:36 GMT -5
I’ve never totally understood this concept. When I downshift in my car I get it, that I don’t go as fast but I have more torque at my disposal but i’m still confused about how more torque equals less speed. Am I correct? I have no idea what I’m talking about.
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Post by LeftyMeister on Jun 24, 2022 17:06:14 GMT -5
Speed (RPM) and torque are inversely proportional. It's the way God made things. If you want more speed at the same torque, you'll need more horsepower. If you want more torque at the same speed, you'll need more horsepower.
Torque = HP x 5252 / RPM RPM = HP x 5252 / Torque HP = Torque x RPM / 5252
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Post by modbus on Jun 24, 2022 18:09:59 GMT -5
Think of it like wrenching on a bolt. If you have a really long wrench or a long breaker bar, you can develop a lot of torque, or rotational force, to break the bolt loose. However, to generate that torque, you have to move your end of the wrench or breaker bar a long way to get the bolt to turn just a little.
Once the bolt is loose, though, you'd probably switch over to a much shorter wrench or even your fingers to take the bolt out the rest of the way. you produce much less twisting force (torque) that way, but movements on your end produce a lot more turning on the bolt head, so it comes out faster.
So, to put it into car terms, you are like the engine, and the various wrenches are like the transmission gears, and the bolt head is like your drive tires.
When your car is in low gear, the engine has to rotate a lot to produce a small amount of rotation in the tires, but the engine force is multiplied greatly. The tires don't turn fast, but they are going to turn.
In high gear, the engine doesn't have to rotate very much to produce a lot of rotation at the tires, but there is no force magnification. The tires spin fast, but they are much easier to stop, and harder to get going if already stopped.
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Post by Seldom Seen on Jun 24, 2022 18:10:02 GMT -5
In simple terms torque is a rotational force created by applying a force vector through a lever arm. Given the same power input (force) a larger diameter gear (larger lever arm) will turn slower with more available torque while a smaller diameter gear will rotate faster with less available torque.
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Post by K4 on Jun 24, 2022 19:56:45 GMT -5
Torque is how hard you are pushed into your seat. Horsepower is how long you are pushed.
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Post by Lesterstrat on Jun 24, 2022 23:37:41 GMT -5
Torque gets you to the promise land. Horsepower keeps you there.
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