I have been talking to some friends and we got into an arguement that is horsepower, not the trani or rearend. They say that it is horse power that is better. I say that horse power isnt much with something to put it to the ground. They have know idea what they are talking about or i dont. This is open to all Opinions or facts
Can't have one without the other, especially with automatics, and stall converters. Your tire size, gear, and stall converter really have to be on the less gears your running through.
Yes. But i hate how everybody with the exception of about 5 have the mind set that horsepower is everything. I try to tell them thats not so but they are stuborn.
if you dont mind waiting an hour to get up to speed you can go really fast with a stock 302 and rear gears and the AOD transmission. if you want to get to that speed faster, a little more power will help. definately a combination issue
I'd say the driver is the most important thing. A good driver can compensate for a setup that's not quite right. My dad's '95 Mustang GT isn't exactly a power house, haveing a mostly stock 302. It's got 3:73 gears, cold air intake, bigger injectors, and a ported upper and lower intake. He can flat out smoke cars that I figgured would be faster then the Mustang. I know I certainly can't get that car to go anywhere near as fast as he can.
Jamie, that is 110% correct. Case in point: Turbo cars. A LOT of people say that superchargers are better because there is NO lag (well very little anyway). If those same people would LEARN how to drive a turbo car, they will find that they are extremely fun to drive. I had an SVO (2.3 4 cylinder) that I modded a little...Holset turbo from a Dodge diesel pickup. It was VERY laggy...full boost was not achieved until around 3800 RPM give or take, but once I learned how to drive it...I managed to put a spankin' on some unsuspecting and over-confident modern sports car drivers. Put a supercharger guy behind the seat of the same SVO and it'd do a 1/4 mile in.....18 seconds at 120 mph with a 3 second+ 60' time. A good driver could easily have put that same car in the 12's because he knows how to drive it. Oh and to add, you cannot have horsepower if you don't have torque. It is mathematically and physically impossible. And since hp is a calculation of torque and time, the faster you can do it, the more hp you're going to have...which is where gears come into play. Put a set of 2.79 gears in a 9000 RPM 302 and you'll be rewarded with a lot of lag....and a very slow car. But put a set of 5.86's in there and you'll get it up to speed a LOT faster. It's all about the combo...just putting 4.11's in a Mustang that has a bone stock 460 won't accomplish anything but make a great tire cooker....but gear it down to take advantage of the 460's great low RPM power, and you'll actually have a pretty decent running car.
The number that you're really after is AVERAGE HP. For instance. If you average 200 HP between 2000 and 6000 RPM and 300 HP between 4000 RPM and 6000 RPM, then you're going to want to keep the engine in the higher average range. That is where gear ratios come into play. HP is the measure of work done in a certain amount of time. This could be turning a crank in an engine at X RPM or moving a car down the 1/4 mile in X seconds. So, they are right in saying that HP really is everything, but then you have to make the distinction between average HP and peak HP and what your average HP to the ground is in a quarter mile. If you have a top loader and only hit 3 gears in the quarter, then your average power to the ground will be lower than a guy who can hit all 4 because he has more gear.
In general terms, HOW do you drive a turbo? I have seen it said several times that you have to know how...Is it a function of gunning it earlier or revving it to get the turbo going, or something? Just wondering.
I Agree.... And Here's My Opinion Like Everyone Else's: It's More Of A Combination Issue Than Anything..ranging From Horsepower/torque, To Transmission Whether It Be C4-aod Or 4speed, And Rear Gear Ratio/tire Size. All This Needs To Be Taken Into Affect When Trying To Find Out 'what's Faster' Than The Other. It's All About The Combination And How It's Set Up. That's My
It is a balancing act... you need a combo. Yes, you can compensate and band-aid if you go to heavy one direction or another, but you are always best to balance your gears, tires, trans, Hp, and torque. Although not scientifically accurate, the best way to think in terms of a car is: Torque= How much muscle you have HP= How fast you can use that muscle Rear gears are there to keep you in your optimum power band, and should be chosen as such. Trans gears are there to spread your power band as wide as possible without causing flat spots at any given speed. Seamless power... Tires are for best traction possible, and can either fine tune or defeat your choice of rear gear. My Powerstroke diesels are very muscular at 500 ft/lbs torque, but are equivalent to a muscle-bound weightlifter because it only has 200 hp. It is strong, but can't use it's strength quickly. On the other hand, 4 banger ricemobiles can brag about having 300 hp, but if they only have 80 ft/lbs torque, they are not strong. The HP rating means that the engine can reach it's top strength very fast, however it is still weak. This sort of spread in the ratings also usually means the engine has to rev to the moon to get it's top torque. The place you want to be is a balance between TQ and HP. You want to be 'athletic', as in strong enough to get the job done, AND able to do it quickly. Then find out where your power is tops and gear it appropriately. Now get tranny gears that give you seamless power for your application. My .02 Dave
Horsepower is a measure of time, in it's simpliest form... therefore speed or 'how fast'. Torque is a measure of force as in 'on a lever'... so I equate it with strength. Although not the nit-picky perfect definitions, they are the most relavent terms in relation to a car.
