I’d like some help from you gearheads out there. Let’s start with a quote from a tuning book
“When it comes to moving a car down the road, horsepower is useful in creating a maximum top speed. As the frictional loads of the machinery, the resistance of the road, and the drag of the wind all pile up against the engine’s output, it is horsepower that does the work. However, overcoming the inertia of a car and accelerating it up to that speed is a function of torque, not horsepower.”
Now let’s look at some data regarding 0-150 miles per hour acceleration. According to Car and Driver (Aug., 1998), an NSX took 35.9 sec. and 5191 feet, and a C5 Corvette took 37.8 sec. and 5616 feet. The Corvette was 8% heavier, but had 56% more torque than the NSX’s 224 lb-ft. Both cars were six-speed and presumably had similar amounts of drag. If torque is indeed the motivator during acceleration, how could the NSX beat the Corvette?
“When it comes to moving a car down the road, horsepower is useful in creating a maximum top speed. As the frictional loads of the machinery, the resistance of the road, and the drag of the wind all pile up against the engine’s output, it is horsepower that does the work. However, overcoming the inertia of a car and accelerating it up to that speed is a function of torque, not horsepower.”
Now let’s look at some data regarding 0-150 miles per hour acceleration. According to Car and Driver (Aug., 1998), an NSX took 35.9 sec. and 5191 feet, and a C5 Corvette took 37.8 sec. and 5616 feet. The Corvette was 8% heavier, but had 56% more torque than the NSX’s 224 lb-ft. Both cars were six-speed and presumably had similar amounts of drag. If torque is indeed the motivator during acceleration, how could the NSX beat the Corvette?