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Originally Posted by guybo
I'm pretty sure Enzo Ferrari knew more about engine power than either one of us. Enzo says torque is king then torque is in fact, king.
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If he really said that, context would be critically important.
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I'd rather the twins have 151 HP and 200 tq
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Than either you don't know anything about engines, or you want your car to be slower.
A great case for this is the Golf TDI. It has nearly 100 more Tq than an 86, but 50 less HP. And even though the low torque feels great in the TDI, an 86 will obliterate it in a drag race because of its 50hp advantage.
Horsepower is only a function of torque and RPM. Look at diesel trucks to flesh this out. A ton of torque at low RPM is great if you want to pull a stump out of the ground, but while torque is twist, horsepower is the actual work being done. You have to spin the engine to some amount to create work. An engine that makes 300 torque at 2000rpm is making 114hp at 2000rpm. An engine that is making 300 torque at 7000rpm is making 399hp at 7000rpm.
Since HP and Tq are functions of one other through RPM, they're related. The fact is, being able to sustain torque through revs (horsepower) is what will make the engine propel the car faster, without fail.