Quote:
Originally Posted by DarkSunrise
Hmmm... curious why you think that. AUC seems pretty relevant to me. All things being equal, I'd expect the car with the fat midrange to out-accelerate the car with the flat torque curve even if their peak power is exactly the same hp/rpm. On every upshift when the first car lands back in the midrange, it should pull ahead due to the torque advantage don't you think?
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Area under the curve *is* important of course. But "torque to weight" is a useless stat, by itself. Doesn't tell you enough. Whereas *power* to weight, does. So yeah, the Miata's power curve being biased more to the midrange helps it there (as seen in the speed plots) but the FT86 more than makes up for it with more power up top, enough to compensate for its being 450 lb. heavier. Again, similar power-to-weight, similar overall acceleration. Put the Miata's lower-power engine in the 86 and it'd be a lot slower.