please excuse my ignorance when it comes to cars, but i am a newbie. what is torque? can someone define it for me? thanks.

 

torque is how fast u can get up to speed i beleive but acualy i dont rly know how to define it or totaly understand it either so im interested in what people r going to say

 

Torque is what makes the car move.

 

The moment of a force; the measure of a force's tendency to produce torsion and rotation about an axis, equal to the vector product of the radius vector from the axis of rotation to the point of application of the force and the force vector.


This basically means that it is the amount of raw power you have to turn your wheels around a axis (axle). In layman's terms, how well can you spin your tires!

 

An old saying is that torque gets you moving and horsepower keeps you there.

 

Torque is what pushes your car off the line, horsepower is what pulls it down the road.

 

Torque is actual twisting force. Torque is a true measure of an engines power, horspower is not. Horsepower - 1hp = raising 33,000lbs off the ground 1' for 1minute. Not a very good measurement IMO.
-P.

 

Here you can find a very detailed explanation of torque, rpm and horsepower.

http://www.modulardepot.com/?show=articlesdet&aid=44