Horsepower vs. Torque — What’s the Difference?

Wednesday, 27 September, 2017

The internet has changed the game of car shopping and buying over the years. We know our Landers Kia customers love the convenience of having a desired vehicle’s information right at their fingertips. While this convenience can help lead you to a well-informed purchase, all of the performance specifications and auto jargon might just make your head spin.

Here at Landers Kia in Little Rock, Arkansas, we value a well-educated customer. This is why we want to quickly explain the difference between two commonly-seen performance specs: horsepower and torque.

When reading vehicle reviews, these two performance measurements are often lumped together, leaving many mystified as to what aspects of the vehicle’s performance are actually being measured.

Are torque and horsepower the same thing? Well, sort of. They’re closely related, but they represent two distinct measurements of work.

Simply put, horsepower is the pure power than an engine produces. To make it more confusing, one horsepower represents the power needed to move 550 pounds one foot in one second. To determine horsepower, a measuring device called a dynamometer places resistance on the engine and measures the force of the crankshaft against the resistance of the dynamometer.

The Dynamometer is actually measuring the engine’s torque. Torque is defined as the rotational force generated by the engine. Torque is essentially what you feel when you put the pedal to the metal and fall back in your seat.

You can have a ton of horsepower with very little torque, and a ton of torque with very little horsepower.

Generally, the more horsepower you have, the more powerful your car is going to be. This means it will accelerate faster, enjoy higher maximum speeds and have the capacity to handle a heavier load.

The more torque you have, the more in-gear acceleration you will have as well as a lower engine speed at a given load.

Hopefully this helps demystify the relationship between horsepower and torque, and doesn’t confuse you further. If you would like a more in-depth explanation, call us at Landers Kia at the one of the numbers above right.

Categories : Parts , Car Tips

Tags : Engine , Power , Torque , Horsepower